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[mojito]

Okay so my mom and little sister recently went to visit my great-aunt in GA, and when my sister came back she was telling me about how my mom's cousin's husband (sorry if thats confusing haha) used to be a small time magician for kids (like bday parties and school events even) and had quite a few chinchillas. They kept them even after he stopped doing gigs and most lived to their late teens and even after 20 so I'm guessing he took pretty good care of them. What blew my mind was that he used the chinchillas in his shows (instead of I guess rabbits) and they had several comfort harnesses (like for ferrets) that the chins wore and would walk them even (which I've heard not to do bc of their fragile ribcage).
Has anyone ever heard of this? Southern weather is not fit for a chin so I'm surprised that he had them out on stage during his gigs, just thought it was unique so wanted to share

[GrayRodent]

That is really cool. I've never heard of a chin in a magic show before. I wonder how they did so well in the heat. I would have loved to see that!

I've heard of harnesses for chinchillas and seen them sold online and I've seen it debated on if it's safe for chinchillas to use them. I've come to the conclusion that it's best to not do that because of the risks. I think the theory itself is sound if you have a well designed harness used by someone who has a lot of horse sense with that kind of thing.

[chinclub]

That takes a special chinchilla.  I'm guessing he must have started working with them when they were very young.  Most chinchillas don't like change and wouldn't do well being moved around from show to show.  But I have had a few chinchillas with the personality to mesh and I did know of a woman who had a chinchilla she would take to nursing homes and hospitals and it loved the interaction with people.  So there are exceptions to every rule. 

[mojito]

Yea I thought it was so cool! I've always wanted to try the harnesses but so scared because I've heard they're not safe. I know I wish I could have seen a chinchilla in a magic show!

[GrayRodent]

I imagine a chinchilla would have to be trained to do this from a very young age and it would take someone who is very comfortable with the mechanics of working with such tiny harnesses and handling chinchillas. That would exclude me for sure. I believe a harness is generally dangerous for chinchillas and most small animals.

I've tried harnessing cats, a rabbit, and a Congo African Grey parrot in the past and have been very unsuccessful. I've been successful with horses and goats that we used to take to outdoor church functions and as live props in plays so it was not like we were totally clueless. Still even with larger animals there is always a danger of accidents and the animals must be supervised closely at all times.

When we (Mom and I and my brother) tried it with our three cats two of them managed to quickly slip it off no matter how we adjusted it. One cat got her front leg partially through and panicked. This situation would be very dangerous to a chin because of the fragility of their joints. If the chin manages to flail around in a loose or maladjusted harness it could easily tear muscles and tendons. If it slips along the neck while it slips a leg through or gets it caught on something suffocation can quickly occur.

There was also rabbit that we harnessed a few times when we let him roam on the floor. The harness came from a pet store but the design itself proved to be dangerous when it ensnared its neck. We managed to cut it off with a knife. Its eyes morbidly bulged out and he nearly suffocated. It was a miracle he survived and we never tried to harness a rabbit since.

This kind of thing really isn't for the faint of heart!