Chinchilla Community Forums

Chinchillas => Q & A => Topic started by: lifeisgood.lisha on August 23, 2013, 12:07:11 PM

Title: How do you get a chinchilla comfortable with being held?
Post by: lifeisgood.lisha on August 23, 2013, 12:07:11 PM

My chinchilla Mochi is super sweet. She lets me scratch her head/back/belly anytime I want and comes to me when I open the cage door for attention. I often will hand feed her the timothy hay from her feeder when I get home from work (she thinks it's a treat), give her scratches and talk with her about my day. She'll come and lean on my arm and gently nibble my hand.

The only thing is, she's having trouble trusting me with is picking her up. How have you gained the trust of your chin for holding them? I know they are not super fond of being cuddled to begin with. However, I'd like to get to a point with her where I could pick her up out of the cage and take her out/put her back in. I've been enticing her with the dust bath to get her back in the cage. That works fine, but i'd like to bond further with her! Any tips?

She's also picky about her treats. I've yet to find a treat that she'll bend over backwards for. So far I've tried cheerios, cooked un-salted pumpkin seeds and willow/apple branches. I want something not to high in sugar content, as i realize it's not good for them.

Thanks!  :)

Title: Re: How do you get a chinchilla comfortable with being held?
Post by: GrayRodent on August 23, 2013, 01:05:08 PM

It's been my experience that you just have to hold your chinchilla in short sessions a few times a day each day and eventually your pet will learn to tolerate it even if she never really takes a liking to it. It sounds like yours is pretty well bonded and if you've had her for a few weeks you can start training. Just pick her up and put her back in the cage once she appears to be calm. It may take about 10 seconds before she stops struggling and fighting. Keep in mind that the first few times she may slip some fur and even try to bite when you try and this can make it hard for you to keep a good grip. Try to support her by the base of the tail and under the chest at the same time. If you drop her it will make it very difficult to regain her trust and if you have don't have enough control where she can flail around in your hands this can result in serious internal injuries so it needs to be all or nothing. Try to hold her long enough to prove that there is nothing to be afraid of but not so long that she panics, slips fur, or tries to bite. If that happens just pause and hold still for 3-4 seconds (if you can safely) and put her back.

You'll have to do your best to read your chinchilla's body language. Over a couple of weeks you'll notice that she can be held in longer and longer sessions. I trained a chinchilla that was pretty wild to be held and could hold him about 2-3 minutes after about 3 weeks of working with him. With chinchillas I also notice that some times they are calmer than others so they really aren't too consistent. Being able to hold your pet even for 20 seconds is important for her safety and gives you the capability to easily transfer her to a carrier or another location in an emergency.