Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => General Chat => Topic started by: Jasonred79 on February 23, 2014, 11:56:03 AM
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And by kid, I mean kid Chinchilla. :)
Seriously, I used to LOVE playing blanket cave when I was little... for those who lived deprived childhoods (or those who are entertained by xbox and tv instead of inventing games to entertain themselves), that's a game where you drape a blanket over yourself and pretend it's a cave. :)
Anyhow, this is a great way to spend bonding time in close contact, without any restraining... I lie down on my bed, drape my blanket over myself, and stick up a knee and prop up my arm to turn it into a cave. My chin's rodent instincts kick in, and he goes "A CAVE! I shall explore this mysterious cavern!" and he can spend a good long while going in and out and exploring it, climbing all over me in the process.
I don't even have to coerce him or anything, I prepare the cave entrance and he will notice it eventually and decide to go exploring.
Those who have had to deal with chinchilla proofing the undersides of sofas and beds and such will know the "magical allure, magnetism, and compulsion" that cavelike things have over chins.... lol...
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That is a good idea and I have done that myself especially to fold up the blanket and put it on my lap. This helped train my chinchilla to not roam around so much when I play with him at my desk. One thing he likes to do is hide in my pullover coat that I wear. (I get cold easily and am usually wearing it). Be careful with that because chinchillas get overheated very easily and you'll need to limit how much time you spend doing that. The biggest gauge that I go by is the blood vessels on his ears. You can see there is a big difference before and after.
Be careful with these exercises as your pet's limbs and muscles are very fragile and if they get tangled in the blanket or cloth while you're pulling on it it can be disastrous. There was a case last year where that happened. I don't know how that story ended but there was serious damage.
Chinchillas in the wild live in crevasses of rocks so they naturally are drawn to cave like places.
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my fellas a freaking acrobat, he leaps up and down 2 foot heights like it's nothing... scares me silly cause I think he's gonna injure himself, but he's confident in himself...
He jumps down regularly from over 3 feet drops, which I try to carry him down myself but he usually doesn't wait for me. The naughty fella.
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My male chin loves the blanket caves too! He just goes exploring and it's fun to watch the blankets move around while he's playing. My females don't care too much for it tho. ::silly::
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I don't just watch... I am literally the pillars holding the cave up... lol... I use a king size bed blanket draped over myself, and Popsicle runs in and out and will run up me and I sometimes read stuff with my free hand and pops will bump noses with me to tell me how exciting this all is for him and thank me. (I think he's smart enough to figure out that I'm the cave creator) ;)