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[CritterLady]

Ok, so Lucy is totally confusing me   Pretty much every night we take her out to play.  She gets about an hour or so of playtime, running, jumping, tubes to run through, humans to climb all over.  But for the past couple of nights, suddenly she doesn't want to come out of her cage.  We open the door, call her name, try to coax her out - and she plays hard to get.  Or runs back into her house.  If she comes out close enough, we will scoop her up and give her playtime, and she will play, but then after about 30 minutes or so she sits in front of the cardboard barrier and gives a little I guess you would call it whimper like she is asking to go back to her cage.  Is this common behavior?  Because before this, if we didn't let her out of her cage for playtime she would gnaw the bars and basically give us dirty looks and whine to come out!  Is she messing with me?  Did we do something wrong?  I feel like a bad mommy   I know she is playing hard to get, but I am feeling guilty that she is not getting playtime.

[Jo Ann]

   Not wanting to scare you, but I think I would take her in for a checkup, if she were mine.  She could be getting sick, she could have an injury that is not visible and/or heart problems ... OR something as simple as she may be getting over heated.  What is the temperature in the room where she plays? 

Do you have a chinchiller stone for her?  (If not, a ceramic or granite or marble tile will do ... it will help cool her.)

Is there water available to her while she is playing?

You might want to think about filling a mason jar with ice, put the lid on tight and place in on the floor for her.  It will provide a cool spot for her to go to, should she be getting to hot and it will provide water (condensation on the outside of the jar) for her to drink.  You might want to put a towel under it to keep from damaging the floor or rug.

   Jo Ann

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes any time I see a change in behavior a red flag goes up.
Check her from head to toe, touching and gently pressing for signs of an injury. They do get bruised too.
Then check the teeth, make sure the front ones are nice & straight, & orange. Feel her jaw line for bumps that could also indicate teeth troubles.
Watch for any kind of wetness around the mouth & eyes. Check that droppings are normal and food consumption is good.
Has anything changed where she plays? Any new noises or smells that could be upsetting her?

And yes if the temps have gone up they will slow down. Even mine get lazy when we get what we call summer  they are so used to the cool that even up to 68-70 , or a humid day and they would just as soon lay around the cage.

[CritterLady]

Thanks!  Yes, I do think it was temperature change that made her a little lazy We had an early heatwave and I know the chins do not like it too warm.  The temperature has since become more springlike for our area, and Lucy has adjusted.  Yes, we have tile on top of her regular shelves, just to keep her cool and comfy - she even has tile under her sleep hut so that she will be cool during the day when it's naptime.  Fresh water always available.  We have also discovered that she does like to play hard to get.  Open cage door and she comes and then when you put hands there for her to come out -  zip back to hidey hut. Close door and boy does she come back like hey I was just kidding take me out to play please!  And hooray she is finally using her flying saucer.  Took her almost two weeks to try it and now she runs like a pro.  So cute!!  Thank you again for advice, thankfully she is healthy and happy chin and I am just nervous first mommy want everything to be perfect (or close to it) for my Lucy .