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[kageri]

I've had shy chinchillas before but some treats and careful petting usually has them improving within a couple months.  This male is just not responding.  He started out nervous and a bit spastic.  At first he would come up to sniff me when the cage door was opened.  Then he started flying around his cage when you opened the door and often accidentally fly out past you.  Sometimes he takes treats and sometimes he just starts running in circles around his cage.  Occasionally after a couple circles he hides in his pvc tube.  Every wood house I give him he flips so he mostly uses the pvc pipe and he likes to burrow under the fleece liner. 

We've had him 6 months and he's not getting better.  He's getting much worse.  Today when I tried to get him out for exercise and dust bathing I thought I was going to get bit.  I was a little reluctant when I first got chins and they complained at me but I've never really felt they were truly going to hurt me.  This one makes me fear for my fingers.  He's becoming violent.  When I get near the cage he stands on his hindlegs and yells at me while threatening to spray urine.

I don't really have any ideas left for calming him down.  I've been bribing him with sticks, rose petals, and bit of cereal with no luck.  I've started looking for a new home for him because he's clearly not happy here.  Maybe someone with more time to work with him and less animals around will make progress.  Of course I'm disclosing his behavior problems and I'm not asking any money for him.  I was told by his owner and friends of the owner that he was quite tame and friendly. 

[GrayRodent]

Some animals need to be put on a very short leash so they know they cannot dominate you but some animals just make better decorations than pets. At least, generally speaking.
Although I don't know all the details my guess is that you have an exceptionally territorial animal. In my short experience with chinchillas I've identified this kind of behavior as the chin defending its turf and trying to drive off everyone and everything. Although I've never seen it escalate to that point you describe but I did have a chinchilla that would occasionally attack me. He would usually hole up in his wood house and I pretty much expected to get attacked when I flipped it over to get him out. He was also really good about jumping through the door as soon as it was open and he actually did try to spray. I'm glad males can't shoot very far. The thing is I didn't let that stop me.

I did get bit but I always got him out of the cage and restrained him for a few seconds until he calmed down before I returned him. Also removing the house entirely helped greatly in that situation. I also learned better how to avoid getting bit by learning the hard way. It's not difficult to control their head once you figure it out. Yes bites do hurt and sometimes break the skin and bleed. Wearing gloves may be advisable.

As a result my beastly chin became way more manageable although he never became truly tame like my second chin. When I first got him I was unable to hold him at all without getting bit and having serious fur slip. Towards the end I could safely let children pet him when he was in a cooperative mood. It took working with him gently each day in addition to short periods of restraining him when he would act up. In my situation it was effective.

[kageri]

I had to sweep up all the fur slips from getting him in to the bathroom a few feet away with the dust bath and then getting him back to the cage.  I wanted him for breeding Inada, my beige female, but he doesn't get along with other chinchillas at all.  He drives them all nuts.  Inada was a solid chinchilla statue when I removed her because she was so tense.  Then with his attitude steadily declining I decided he should not be bred at all.  Mine get attention daily and random handling but only full exercise and dust bath twice a week.  I do give all of them who aren't due to give birth a double or triple ferret nation with lots of shelves.  He may just need someone who can reinforce good behavior with daily handling instead of through the bars most days.  My others are quite happy with the arrangement.  Majority won't leave their cages if it's left up to them.  I have to scoop them up and put them in the dust bath.  Aika runs to the bath, rolls,and returns to her cage.  Now if only she could teach the others how this system works.