It is such a shame that the previous owners either did not know how to care for their chinchillas or that, even worse, just didn't care. Should you decide to re-home Polo, the odds are, it will not be good for him/her unless the person has had experience with an aggressive chinchilla and knows how to cope with them. Being swapped from one home to another is stressful, even when the new home is the better of the two. Rarely are most people willing to care for an aggressive animal. I
you for taking on this task for your two little chinnies! Now, that I have said that ... Chinchillas
scare easily, forget rarely and are extremely hard to get to learn that there are some humans out there that will not harm them. You are apparently one of those few that care enough to do so.
With Polo, it will take lots of time and plenty of patients, then one day, when you least expect it, he/she will respond to you favorably. When this, or even a hint of it is apparent, reward him with a treat and softly spoken kind words of love. Be very aware of what Polo reacts to ... good as well as bad reactions. Reward what he responds to positively and make note to avoid what he responds to negatively and try never to do it again. Chinchillas usually have several steps for warning you of the danger of a bite from them. Not all chins go through all steps, and they may go through them quickly or skip a few, if
they feel they are in danger ... even if they are not in danger. It is what they think/feel that makes them react the way they do. The normal warning signs from the chinchilla to the humans are as follows and
usually in this order:
1. They will try to run away.
2. They will try to push your hand away from them.
3. They will fuss at you (high-pitched sharp sounds).
4. Some females will spray you. (In the wild, this is the way the female would defend her kits. They can be very accurate up to about 7 feet.)
5. They will nip you firmly, but not break the skin.
If you persist ...
6. They can, and often will bite, but only because they feel they are defending themselves from potential harm. They can bite all the way to the bone. This is extremely RARE, but can happen. And even more rarely they hold on ... to make them release (but only for this reason) blow into their face. Do NOT use this as a punishment, but only to protect yourself or another person.
In my 20+ years with well over 500 chinchillas, I have only been bitten 4 times. I learned quickly, the various steps to watch for that they will use to warn you. Normally, they want nothing more than to please you, but if you frighten them bad enough or harm them ... they remember it for a very long, long time. A chinchilla's trust is hard to earn and easy to loose, especially if they have been abused in the past.
1. What might not scare one chin may terrify another one.
2. Chinchillas do not like loud or sudden noises (loud t.v., radio, fighting, screaming, items being dropped, thrown or broken, hitting the bars of the cage, etc.)
3. Never, ever, ever, ever hit a chinchilla ...
they do not bite for no reason ... even if you are not aware of it, there is a reason ... be conscious of anything that seems to startle or upset the chin and avoid it or doing it again. At all times, watch for the signs/chin warnings listed above. Stop what you are doing and make a mental note of that and what is going on around you and the chin at the time. Even if it is a dog barking outside the building, this could frighten the chin ... he probably thinks the dog can get to him ... especially if what you were told about the prior owners having a dog that could have hurt or frightened Polo. The loud barking of a dog near a chin can be very painful to their ears, even if the dog never touched Polo ... it probably scared him half to death.
Always keep in mind how you would feel if some creature the size of a huge building took you away from your family and away from other humans. If it, even unintentionally hurt you ... how would that make you feel? In proportion to size ... this is what you are to your little chins. Love, kindness, good attention and lots and lots of patients can go a l-o-n-g way to make a happy home for all concerned.
Check out my web site for other ideas and information.
www.luvnchins.com/ and/or e-mail me ... the e-mail address is at the bottom of many of the pages ... look for and click on the typing chinchilla at the bottom of the opening page.
Jo Ann