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[JoyB]

Hey everybody! I’ve been having some difficulty with my chin Bilbo. I guess the best way to start is with a little of his history. About a year and a half ago, I bought Bilbo at our county fair from a young 4-H member. I’d always wanted a Chin but didn’t want to go through petsmart which was the only option in my area. I was thrilled. I thought this was a great opportunity to get a chin that was well cared for and well socialized, since 4-H is pretty good about that stuff around here. The owner wasn’t around when I bought him, but I was told I’d be able to meet them after the fair when I picked him up. I went to pick him up and learned a few unfortunate things. The worst being that they’d aways taken him out of the cage by grabbing his tail and yanking. So he’s super shy and not friendly at all but no refunds, of course.

I figured, oh well, I got him out of a bad situation and I’ve worked with rescue dogs and ponies before. We can figure this out!! And he and I have come a long way. So much so that we were finally comfortable enough with each other for me to let him out for his first playtime a few nights ago. His old owners never did that with him, so I wanted to build trust before we did that and it was a long road. Anyway, he had so much fun. He made happy noises the whole time!! He kept coming back over to me for pets too. We both enjoyed ourselves. I couldn’t wait to try it again.

But, here’s the trouble, he’s been sullen and grumpy ever since. I have to carry him to my room for playtime, as he lives in the open area of the house which is impossible to chinchilla proof. And whenever I open the cage he retreats to his house and barks at me. I always back off when he does that, as I figure he has a right to say no. He came out last night but didn’t want to play. Just hid from me the whole time. And he’s back to telling me to go away again today.

Does anyone have advice for how to move forward? Should I just keep backing off when he tells me to and wait him out? It actually feels like we lost progress here.

[GrayRodent]

I advise that he lives mainly in his cage as it is safer and healthier. The cage should be around 3' x 2' x 2' and furnished with pine wood shelving. If your chinchilla is more than 6 month old I recommend getting an exercise wheel. I recommend the chin spin 15" exercise wheel.

When you take him out of his cage for playtime on occasion be careful not to chase him around as this can quickly become a stressful interaction. Interact frequently and daily through the cage and I think you'll see rapid improvement. It is good practice to grasp the base of the tail of your chinchilla while handling and allow it to stand on your arm or hand. Moving a chinchilla around this way without supporting the back feet is stressful for most chins.

Interaction with your pets should be a give and take experience. Otherwise you are consistently rewarding your pet for displaying aggressive behavior and this will likely escalate. You should train your pet to be handled and that its primary territory and domain is its cage and I think your chinchilla will be calmer.

[JoyB]

Thank you for your reply, but could you be more specific? Bilbo does live mainly in his cage, which is well sized and stocked with toys. And I come through several times a day and interact with him through the cage. I have been trying to train him to be handled, but playtime sparked a sudden attitude change and I don’t know how to proceed. Also, what do you mean about him getting away with aggressive behavior? Are you suggesting I force him to allow me to handle him when he retreats? That seems like a good way to lose his trust and get bitten.

[GrayRodent]

I'm glad your chinchilla lives mainly in the cage. I know some owners let them live outside of the cage and they encounter this problem so I think that eliminates that as a problem.

As far as your pet goes I recommend training your pet to be handled and restrained. You can do this in short sessions of 15 to 20 seconds, then return your pet to the cage. (Always remember to release your chinchilla at floor level for safety reasons) Do this 5-6 times a day every day and your chinchilla will become more tolerant of being handled. I've done this with a very wild chinchilla and this method works well.

It went from wanting to bite to actually wanting to be handled but it was a process over for 4-5 weeks. Your goal is to desensitize your pet to being handled since its natural tendency is to flee at all costs. And you might get bit at first so make sure your hold is under the chin. Keep the other hold at the base of the tail. You can hold with one hand there if you feel you need to get control in a hurry to keep your pet safe from falling or getting loose. A chinchilla cannot bite you if you do that but it is stressful for the chinchilla. These are split-second kind of things and it make take a few tries to get used to how your chinchilla responds to you. I expect it will be a learning experience for you as well.

At first it will be stressful so you want to have a lot of though the cage interaction where you're not trying to do that. As long as normal experiences with you far outweigh the stressful ones you will be fine.

The biggest issue with playtime is catching the animal. Chasing and catching is always stressful. Right now I have one chinchilla that always gives chase but I've discovered there is a pattern with him. I use a cardboard tube to chase him out from under spaces. I've learned he usually takes a particular path and at the end he lets me pick him up. The thing is he will get picked up if he wants it or not and and that is pattern he has learned.