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Q & A / Simon is nervous and unaffectionate
« on: October 28, 2010, 07:39:52 AM »
I adopted Simon, a two-year-old male chinchilla (my very first chinchilla), about seven weeks ago. I figured it would take a while to bond with a chin who had lived with someone else for two years, but I guess I had high expectations from watching those "watch me scratch my chinchilla behind his ears!" videos on youtube. Simon reeeeeally doesn't like to be touched. I have tried to rub behind his ears or under his chin, but he nips at me (never to induce pain, just as a warning). Getting him out for playtime is a little tough: his cage is in my living room, but I have set up the hallway and bathroom as safe places for him to play. I have to coax him far enough out of his cage with a treat (which sometimes takes 20 minutes) so I can pick him up and carry him, but he struggles so violently and sometimes leaps from my arms.
However, during playtime, I sit with him and he will climb over me affectionately, sitting on my lap or surveying the hallway from the top of my head. This seems like progress, but it goes back to normal when I put him home. It's like he is afraid of me when he's in the cage, and okay with me when he's out. Maybe he just doesn't like his cage...? When he is awake, he either huddles on his lava perch or attacks the cage's bars like a velociraptor checking for weaknesses. I don't have a grand homemade mansion of a cage for him to play in, but it's 2'x2'x4' I think, with three shelves. I have two pine houses in which he can hide, and lots of stuff for him to chew on, so he should be fairly content while in his cage. I don't know what could be causing his anxiety.
I would appreciate any thoughts on this matter. Thanks, guys!
However, during playtime, I sit with him and he will climb over me affectionately, sitting on my lap or surveying the hallway from the top of my head. This seems like progress, but it goes back to normal when I put him home. It's like he is afraid of me when he's in the cage, and okay with me when he's out. Maybe he just doesn't like his cage...? When he is awake, he either huddles on his lava perch or attacks the cage's bars like a velociraptor checking for weaknesses. I don't have a grand homemade mansion of a cage for him to play in, but it's 2'x2'x4' I think, with three shelves. I have two pine houses in which he can hide, and lots of stuff for him to chew on, so he should be fairly content while in his cage. I don't know what could be causing his anxiety.
I would appreciate any thoughts on this matter. Thanks, guys!