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[Arrabella]

Are chins traditionally moody,? My little guy is often gregarious, affectionate (in a chin way and in his terms of course), and happy and playful. However, he also has his moods when he's just the opposite. When he comes out for play time, he just hides under his cage instead of bouncing off the walls and running and jumping on me. It's almost as though he is frightened . Is it just him or is this common on and off again behavior. I'm always worrying about his health, teeth and state of happiness. Any thoughts on this subject out there?

[GrayRodent]

Can you tell us what kind of timeframes you are seeing. Is it is a couple days out of a month or more than once a week? Do you notice any changes in food or water intake or changes in droppings? Do these behavior changes correlate to changes in your schedule? Is your chin's schedule being interrupted or changed?

[Arrabella]

I adhere to a strict routine with Bella. Same playtime in the morning and again in the evening. Everything else about him is normal i.e. his eating, droppings and drinking etc. when he gets quiet and just wants to stay under his cage, it is during his morning cage cleaning.  I have wondered if it is just the wrong time for him. That is, it's too early and he doesn't want to be bothered. It's usually about 7:15 - 7:30 am. I work so we need to do this before I leave for work. He will come out from under for one of two things, his dust bath or shaking the Cheerios container. He loves Cheerios and gets one when he comes back into his cage/house

[Arrabella]

I forgot to respond to your question about frequency of his antisocial mood. Probably as much as twice a week.

[GrayRodent]

Maybe someone with experience can provide some insight with this information. To me it doesn't sound like anything to worry about. If it's a tooth problem usually you'll see a decrease in food intake and signs of depression as well as less interest in chewing on toys (which is essential for chinchilla health). However it does not hurt to give him a check-up if you are suspecting something is wrong.

Perhaps it has something to do with his sleep cycles. Typically chins are active most at dawn and dusk but sleep during the day. If there isn't natural sunlight in the room then artificial light is its only reference and if that is inconsistent then so will his sleep patterns be. If the light is coming on in the morning about sunrise then this could be signalling his system to go to sleep for the day since it is designed to go to sleep at sunup. In effect it could be too late rather than too early.

This still doesn't explain why it's only two days out of the week but sleep patterns in animals aren't exact even under highly controlled conditions. Perhaps it's something unrelated or something in addition to this. Just a thought.

[Arrabella]

Thank you for your thoughts.  We've just been to our exotics vet for a check up. Vet says he's a fine specimen and teeth are just fine. He's out now and playing and full of "it". He's very affectionate and playful as per his usual self. I think it must be that my morning timing is off.  When I am having a day off and here him up and about in the afternoon, I can let him out to play and he's just fine - even if it was one of his quiet mornings. There is a window in his room and he gets natural, indirect light.  I'm thinking he's just not a morning boy. Now that you mention cycles due to amount of daylight, it's light earlier now and you're probably right. I've missed his morning frisky time by the time I'm moving in the morning. In the winter, it was still very dark when I cleaned his cage. I guess he is allowed his moods when he just does not wish to be disturbed.  He has a nice big home and he loves it.

[cuculet]

Hello. My chin Pufy also does the same. usually when i get him out of the cage he plays a little, then hides and sleeps then when he wants to he comes out. Always does that and he is always playing when he wants to. I know, he trained me well.

He has his favorite place under apiece of furniture in the room and some of the days he just likes to sit there. I did not see any change in his poop or did not change his diet.

He is a spoiled chin and yes, he has his moods

Dan

[mojito]

Slowly but surely I'm moving around my chins play schedule, it will take a while since you don't want to stress them out but it's completely doable! (People have told me its not, that no matter what you can't change their schedule. pffft)