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[JoyStorm]

Hey all, I am new to this and a new chinchilla owner (even though I have been a vet tech for 12 years now). I rescued a neglected 2 year old male chinchilla. I am afraid I am not giving him everything he needs to be happy. He now has a 4 story cage to jump and play around in, plenty of food and water, etc..... I just feel like he will never warm up to me and would like some advice. He will not let me hold him and I can pet him sometimes. I just want the best care for my little guy and I know I need to give him time but is there anything else I can do?

[BLS Chins]

How long have you had him? Chins can take weeks and even months to fully settle into a new home. Patience and patterns are going to be best. Chins like knowing when you will do certain things. Right when i get home from work i go check on my chins. They know when im running late.

[GrayRodent]

Congrats on your new pet. I'm sure he'll warm up to you given time. Although every chinchilla is going to be different you can expect it will get to learn to trust you. The question is how far are you wanting to go. If you want to be able to hold and and handle it you will need to interact every day and condition him to become accustomed to handling. You would not start that kind of training though until he gets acclimated to his new cage, and that will take a couple of weeks at least. At the end of two weeks your pet should be peaceful enough to explore the cage and come up to your hand. If you try to pet him go under the chin and never from above, at least at first. He might flinch, run off, but just stay still and he'll probably come back. Do this several times a day and you'll see gradual changes.

Chinchillas are active mostly at night. They tend to act calmer during the day but they are more irritable. As you interact more during the day it will be more accepting of having its sleep disturbed. My pets will sometimes come up to the bars to be let out and held once they are awake so they do want attention during the day regardless. Some chinchillas will never get to that point though. It is best to handle them consistently from a very young age. You are certainly working against ingrained bad behaviors that are set to avoid and fear movement and interaction, which are the default modes of chins.

One thing I did when I had a chin that was not well socialized was sat in the bathtub/shower stall with him so he couldn't get away from me and put the dust bath in. I would watch him run around and bathe and he would crawl over my arms and legs. Then I could eventually touch him. It was about a month before I could pick him up without getting bitten. If you get bit you know you have gone too far and you must take a different approach. After about six months of working with him he was actually safe around children and would let my nieces and nephews pet him on his back. After about year he was diagnosed with malocclusion and I had him euthanized. It was very sad because so much work had gone into him but I had learned a great deal. The most important thing was that it's not something that just happens and you must learn to read your pet well.

Also if he escapes and gets away from you you probably won't catch him easily. Handling him in a bathroom or a room with no places to hide and get away is going to be ideal because chasing him and catching him can reinforce fear and aggression in chinchillas that are not tame. They also are very intelligent and learn to evade you more efficiently each time that happens!

[Devynthecatwithsocks]

Hi I am very familiar with this topic. In Janurary I rescued a 2 year old chinchilla. She had little to no human interaction,a 1 story hamster cage that was literally being held together by zip ties. She had poor quality food, not enough hay, no toys, and no way of exercise. When I brought her home she was a little stressed out, especially since our dog discovered her. I got her a 4 story cage, a wheel, huts, toys, quality food, and much social interaction. She let me pet her and was a little uncomfortable with that but warmed up to it. She doesn't like to be handled and I respect that. As of last month our bonding got much better. She jumps on my shoulder for transportation, she know tricks, when I walk into the room, she immediately gets out to say hi. No longer feels the need to hide in her huts and sleeps in plain site. She and our Husky/Malamute even get along to the point he sleeps in the same room and I feed her while he is there. It took a lot to get to this point however. It takes time and be patient. As long as she gets time out the cage, quality food, fresh water, and a lot of socialization and love he will be happy and healthy. It was easier for me to bond with her cuz despite she being neglected, she has a very social and outgoing personality and craves attention. Yours may not be like that and may take some time, but be patient. One thing you can do is play music for him or set up a tv. Many chinchillas love tv and music. Mine actually dosn't like music on the radio but if I pull out ANY of my guitar ( eletric, acoustic, or bass) she comes out and watches.