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Author Topic: chinhilla laying down after being held  (Read 3022 times)

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mb30

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chinhilla laying down after being held
« on: June 21, 2014, 11:18:48 AM »

I am just curious if anyone has or has had a chinchilla that absolutely did not like being held and then would lay flat right after?

One of the two of my chins does not like being held. She isnt aggressive or anything. Its more of a case of being scared.
I have held her twice in the year we have had her...the first time was to check her and the other was just a case of starting to try to get her used to being held.

She doesnt make any noises or try to bite but she does try to get out of being held.
After i released her she looked genuinely stunned and scared.
Both time she laid flat almost immediately like after shes been out running for a while.

She was a pet store chin and i have no idea if she was ever handled correctly but she has always been very much anti-human haha. She will let me scratch her while shes in the cage. The other chin she came with is fine with humans.

I know its normal for some chins not wanting to be held and thats cmpletely fine with me. I like that shes more of a wild chin than the other. I was just wondering if it was normal for her to lay down like that after being held. Its almost as if the flight or fight response kicks in and it overheats her...which is understandable.

This wouldnt be a sign of an underlying heart condition though would it? Maybe it seems unusual to me since the other chin is fine with being held.
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kageri

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Re: chinhilla laying down after being held
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2014, 12:52:16 PM »

She's getting too stressed.  I think you should try to get her used to interaction more instead of leaving her be.  It's just making her more stressed on those occasions you do handle her or probably even just basic cage stuff like filling food and cleaning.  Rodents can even go in to seizures when they get really upset from handling or intros to new cage mates.  Feed her a small, healthy treat and talk to her daily.  Try to pet her a few times a week at first and eventually daily.  For treats just something like a piece of sugar free cereal, twigs can be given infinitely, there are various flower products like rosehips and rose petals that are safe for daily use, plain old fashioned oatmeal, and many feed goji berries which are tiny little red dried berries.  You have to watch your fingers with goji berries or oatmeal because they can get excited or if they are nervous they'll try to snatch the small chunk quickly getting your finger in the process.  If she won't take treats yet do not chase her around with it.  If possible don't even open the cage door.  Just push it through the bars and leave it sit if she doesn't come take it.  Putting it near a food dish or water bottle helps them notice it.  I've also put bricks in the corners and set a treat on that or sprinkled some supplement for the breeding females and growing ones.  They learn to check the bricks for tasty stuff and stand on them to beg.
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mb30

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Re: chinhilla laying down after being held
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2014, 05:12:46 PM »

I know what youre saying...i spend tons of time with them...i wake up every morning at 4:30(if im working) to clean their cage and let them run for a bit. Then again at night i will spend time with them and let them run some more.
I sit by the cage and talk to them periodically througout the day as well.

I spend alot of time with them. She is fine when i open the cage and scratch under her chin and chest...she will jump on me when i sit on the floor and shes out running. Its literally just when i try to pick her up.

As for treats they get apple sticks daily and a herd mix blend 3 days a week. Also pumice stones and nasturtium flowers every couple days.

She seems to lay down after a shorter amount of time running too than the other chin.

Dunno if shes fatter or out of shape or what. When we first got her and let her run she would hop like a kangaroo across the floor like she wasnt sure how to run correctly. I dont think she was let out for exercise before we got her.

I do believe it is a stress thing. Thats what i have thought all along.
Im just worried if she ever has to go to the vet that it might be too much for her
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GrayRodent

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Re: chinhilla laying down after being held
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2014, 06:16:28 PM »

I have to agree with kageri. Handle her at least one or two days a week, even if it's just taking her out of the cage and putting her back in the cage, just for a couple of seconds. Do that at least three times in a day on days on days when you do take her out. This will condition your pet to tolerate being handled. After a couple of weeks you should notice improvement. Break her in slowly.

You ought to be weighing both your chins at least once a week and keeping logs. This can let you know well in advance if there is a problem and whether or not something is serious enough to actually make a vet visit. My chinchilla gets weighed almost every day. He will now obey the command to stay still and knows as soon as I read the weight out loud he is done and he'll jump onto my hand. This is a good conditioning exercise as well.
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mb30

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Re: chinhilla laying down after being held
« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2014, 02:23:41 AM »

If i hold my hands flat next to the cage she will jump on them and jump to the floor or back in the cage.

Its when she feels shes being restrained that she struggles.

If i had to syringe feed her i think she would have a heart attack.
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GrayRodent

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Re: chinhilla laying down after being held
« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2014, 08:22:06 PM »

When I mean handle I do mean restrain. Hold her under the front legs and around the chest with one hand and under the back feet with the other. You can also hold at the base of the tail for stability or press the chinchilla into your chest. Do this for a few seconds at a time and put her back in the cage. Demonstrate that doing that does not cause harm and does not need to cause panic. This will get her more accustomed to being held that way. You should notice more tolerance to that the more times you do it and should be able to do it longer and more often. This technique worked great for my first chinchilla, Blue, who was not tame at all when I got him and was totally unmanageable. It should be easier to do with a chinchilla like yours that likes people and does not threaten to bite and spray like mine did.
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Jasonred79

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Re: chinhilla laying down after being held
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2014, 08:38:28 AM »

but she does try to get out of being held.

Do you release her when she tries to get away? ... I'd imagine that being held in one place while you're trying to get away would be stressful for even human beings...

Despite being good friends with me, Popsicle still protests (makes a grunting sound) when I actually hold him in a way that immobilizes him too much or "traps" him... generally, I don't hold him so much as I provide platforms for him to stand on (hands, lap, shoulder, cradling, etc)
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mb30

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Re: chinhilla laying down after being held
« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2014, 10:16:35 PM »

I know its pretty normal for a chinchilla to struggle when being held. That is why people do the burrito wrap method when syringe feeding a sick one. It's more the reaction afterwards that concerns me.
Like a previois poster said...a chin can quite possibly have a seizure if stressed enough.
This chinchilla looks stunned after being let go and her eyes are wide. Then just lays down like shes been out running for 45 minutes.

As soon as my hand starts to wrap around the contour of her body she immediately feels threatened.

My other chin had an infection earlier in the year...luckily the baytril worked and she made a full recovery. She struggled when wrapped but settled soon after with little spurts of trying to escape. She never once looked genuinely stunned or ever laid down immediately when released.

This is another reason why i wondered if maybe there was an underlying heart condition.


Ever having only had to syringe feed and restrain one chin i dont have much experience when it comes to their reactions.
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GrayRodent

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Re: chinhilla laying down after being held
« Reply #8 on: June 24, 2014, 04:52:38 AM »

That does strike me as being a little odd but I've only handled two live chinchillas in my lifetime so I might not be the best one to comment on that. I do know from experience with other animals that pets and livestock can have wildly different personalities and some can be prone to being nervous to the point of acting comatose when they are stressed.

As usual I do recommend that if anyone thinks their pet is sick to bring their pet to the vet to have an exam. Sometimes this can be for peace of mind even if nothing serious is found. Typically in small animals heart failure can be diagnosed by listening with a stethoscope. Blood work can also reveal certain heart conditions.

The two chins that I have had both responded well to conditioning like I mentioned. If you handle them but not to the point where they are overwhelmed or start acting aggressive, and then put them back on a regular basis, the better they will tolerate being handled the following time. The change can be so gradual you have to go by a week to week basis before you notice improvement. Chinchillas are some of the most high-strung animals I've ever encountered but they are also some of the most trainable. They are difficult to train because everything happens in very minute steps but easier to train when you are patient and consistent keeping that in mind as you go.

Having syringe fed my chinchillas for different reasons I have not encountered either going dead still. They would lay down in the cage afterwards because it was such a struggle.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2014, 06:24:11 AM by GrayRodent »
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mb30

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Re: chinhilla laying down after being held
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2014, 12:33:23 AM »

Thanks alot for all the replies as always...much appreciated
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