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[phren]

I have had Sophie, who is about four months old, for a full week now, so there's a really good chance I'm overreacting, but I'm worried about our bonding. She and I had been doing pretty well the past couple of days. She's taken to hanging out in her dust bath (which is fine, I don't want to take away her safe spot), and she frequently pokes her head out to see what's going on. I usually give her a treat (1/2 raisin per day max, and I just got some rose hips), and if she sticks around, I'll start giving her pieces of her food or hay. Here's my first question: is that an acceptable tactic? Would this encourage bonding or would it perhaps make her think that she's always going to be hand fed and thus won't eat on her own? Basically, should I take these opportunities or is that ill advised? The main reason I ask is because I tried giving her a rose hip for her treat last night, but she absolutely would not take it or anything I tried to give her after that (though, I left it in her cage and she did eat it during the night). Does she perhaps feel like I'm violating her safe space?

My second question relates to the first: From what I've read in chin guides to bonding, it's best to offer treats and the like when the chin comes out from their hut/safe spot and approaches the bars. Sophie has not done that once since I brought her home--except when everyone is sleeping but her, which is why I've been offering the treats and food when she's still in her hut. I've been sitting by her cage and talking to her softly like the guides suggest, but it has done nothing from what I can tell, and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong that she doesn't feel safe enough to come out of her hut or bath house when I or my boyfriend are in the same room.

My third question comes after what happened today: How should I be cleaning her cage? I have no way of getting her out of her cage without scaring her, so I started cleaning her cage today just by taking out the old bedding. It was okay for a few minutes, but as soon as I started moving around the bedding that surrounds her hut, she started squeaking and wouldn't stop until I had been completely away from her cage for about five full minutes. I don't want to upset or frighten her, but her cage needs cleaned. What can I possibly do here?

For the first two, it may be that I'm entirely too worried too soon, but the third question really needs an answer because I can't just let her sit in her own filth. Help?

[GrayRodent]

There comes a point where you can accommodate your pet too much being afraid of offending it and not make any progress towards taming it. It is important to understand that animals are not people and their psychology is somewhat simplistic. (Not saying chinchillas are not capable of complex behavior, but try not to make it more complicated that it really is). Basically if they do something that seems to have an effect to them they are going to keep responding in the same way if the effect is what they want, or try to avoid it if it is not. Even if it's annoying or harmful.

So if your chinchilla is skittish and it runs from you (or acts aggressive and bites or makes a fuss) and that is effective to keep you away it will keep doing that. Treats really aren't going to be associated with anything other than getting a treat if you put your fingers through the bars (bad idea, btw. might become finger buffet) unless you use your treat strategically to train your chinchilla. Not saying treats are bad, but you have to use them to encourage interaction, not just give them a treat so they can run off with it, or it's useless. Some of that initial contact is good though but later on you will want to do more.

Chinchillas typically will try to avoid interaction with people or other animals by default. They will need to be shown that the end result of your interaction is positive. Thankfully there is something in the design of chinchillas (at least, most of them) that fundamentally craves human interaction but there is tension with the animal's fight or flight reflexes that can be stronger. So the animal must be conditioned to accept interaction and overcome that tendency to run off or fight. Essentially chinchillas are wild animals that can be tamed if you use the right methods. They are not completely wild as they have been domesticated for years and are selectively bred for tameness. Effective methods consist of a mixture of letting the animal be, and positively doing things (such as petting, or holding it) that it does not tolerate well at first and will not stress the animal out to the point where it re-enforces an anxious response. Unfortunately no two animals are the same and you'll have to experiment to see what is right for you.

With that being said one week is a short time for a chinchilla. It is not even used to its new home and probably should be mostly left alone.  Wait two weeks before you start really working with her, however, do not wait to clean the cage. If you have to use gloves and pull her out safely then by all means do. It is unhealthy for a chinchilla to be in a filthy cage. If your positive times far exceed your stressful times with your pet it will eventually settle down and bond.

The fact is it took me a year before my pet, who was obtained from a breeder, got used to being restrained. It took a couple of months before the risk of him biting was eliminated. He was quite hyper compared to his litter mates so that counts against him. Bonding takes time and one week really isn't enough to tell much of anything. It is a process that can months, and with some of them, can be over a year. In your case it really is too early to do much.

I hope this will help you understand your situation better.

[phren]

That's actually a huge relief, GrayRodent. Everything I've read online basically says to treat them as if they're made of glass, so I've been afraid of ruining our relationship from the moment I got her home. At this point, I'm going to leave her alone for a little bit, maybe until she starts playing in the cage when we're in the room.

Fortunately, she is not at all aggressive--the only times I have been nipped were when I was offering food and treats and she missed and slightly bit on my finger (not hard enough to hurt, though). Mostly just scared--running away, hiding, squeaking when she really wants me to go away.

I'm the type of person who over-thinks and catastrophizes when faced with something unfamiliar that seems to be going awry. This is usually solved by knowledgeable people reminding me to chill, so thank you.

[GrayRodent]

There's some crazy stuff out there. I don't have a lot of experience but I have been successful at taming two chinchillas over three years. My first one was very wild and aggressive. He got very sick and I had him euthanized after about 8 months. By the time that happened I was able to make a lot of progress with him. He was a big biter and I had to learn the hard way with him. In the end he was a good pet but nothing like my second.

My second chin, Kulu, which I have now, was hand raised from a breeder and was not near as wild as Blue. I was able to handle him but he could only be held and restrained for a minute at a time or I would get bit (try not to go this far and don't give in too much if that happens). Today he is quite harmless and even little kids can handle him. He melts into a pool of fluff when you stroke his back in your hand. He now presses up against the bars of the cage to get his head scratched. He is also very protective of me and puts on a show sometimes (although, like I said he is harmless) It took about a year before he got to that point.

You have to start slow. You cannot do everything at once or you won't have any success, but doing nothing is ineffective as well. It takes a lot of experimenting, trial, and error, feeling around for your pet's limits and trying not to exceed them. Chinchillas are not near as easy to work with as cats or dogs but they are not totally wild either which I find to be an intriguing challenge and a rewarding experience. They do have good memories for repetitive routines and can remember traumatic events so you still have to be careful.