I love your chinnie pumpkin!!! That's adorable.
You may started a new trend with chinchilla owners ... wonder how many chinchilla pumpkins will be on display next year?
I have an issue with giving the responsibility of care of the chins to my son. He's 9 1/2...but he's taking to feeding them under my watchful eye. He is wonderful chattering with them. And the one chinchilla will only let him pet him...He's very skiddish...and occasionally he'll let me pet him. But let my son walk to the cage and he's up to the cage edge waiting to be petted. It makes no sense to me...how he can like my son to pet him and not I...but since I got the chins for my son...I'm glad he chose him over me in the end.
There could be many reasons this little chin is allowing your son to be accepted easier. It could be for any of the flowing reasons ...
1) Each chinchilla has it's own personality, same as humans. Some personalities seem to "click" better than others. It is a possibility this little one is drawn more to your son's personality than to yours.
2) He is the one that feeds them.
3) Chinchillas are similar to dogs and cats, as they tend to choose their "owners", regardless of who adopted them to begin with.
4) The time he spends with the chinchillas also counts for allot, but mostly the
way he is when he is with them counts even more.
5) Children tend to be more relaxed ... they have yet to contend with all the troubles of the world ... many animals are drawn to the innocence of children.
6) Does your son get down on their eye level or below with them? This is less threatening than standing over or being above their eye level (which most adults tend to do).
Just a few of the many reasons chins will choose one over the other.
Jo Ann
Added 11/04/09 ... The way and where you pet them could also have an effect ... carefull around the whiskers ... their whiskers are ticklish and chins tend not to like being tickled. Try just giving a little scratch under the chins or under the arm.
