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Chillchilla

New member
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
3
Let me start by saying I use this site simply to educate myself on my chinchilla. I just got him a month ago and he is a year old. I adopted him from my brother who couldn't give him the attention he needed and the chinchilla and I bonded almost instantly, so he gave him to me.

Since I've had him everything has been fine. I've been taking slow steps into gaining his trust and he is pretty comfortable around me, and allows me to pet him, give him treats, and climb on my shoulder. I'm only posting this because I can't find anything that matches exactly what is happening right now.

I spent all day with Mousse (the chinchilla) and let him play like normal, changed his water, refilled his food, gave him a dust bath, etc. Tonight however I heard him start to bark in his cage. I know this is a sign of fear usually in them so I approached to see what the matter was. He instantly backed into a corner and barked louder looking directly at me. I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to stress him out so I moved away from the cage and checked the site.

People were saying it can also be a sign of being lonely so I thought maybe he wanted petting. When I reproached Mousse (who has been barking this whole time) he goes back to shoving himself in a corner and when i reached out my hand slowly he flipped out and ran from me. He is currently hiding in his little house. :(

I don't know what happened to trigger this sudden fear of me. He and I have never had an issue with each other and he is usually a pretty tough little guy. Could something else be wrong? What should I do?
 
First of all do you have anyone else living in the house with you that could have done something to him? Or any other pets that could have frightened him? Also the barking could also be that he heard something, they can hear things better then humans, and often times we get use to noises and stop noticing them. Is there anything new that is making noise? Or newly making noise like a furnace going on? Or even loud vehicles, equipment, or animals (dogs barking, cats hissing or meowing, etc) outside?

A lonely chin will do contact calls not barks, I think this site still has sound clips that work. Hopefully that helps you figure out what noise means.
 
I have one other roommate, but he would never do anything to my chinchilla. We stay out of each other's personal space and my chinchilla is in my room. I do not have any other pets, but he is used to living with cats and dogs from my brother. The only thing I can think of that was different last night was that a dog barked outside my window, but he didn't react to it and was barking and flipping out hours later after that. But I do live in an apartment so maybe he can hear something I can't that's upsetting him? He's never done anything like this before. And he seems to be directing it at me. I just want to make sure I don't stress him out further. Should I leave him be for a couple days? Also I know that this bark is out of fear. Animal body language is pretty obvious.
 
Frankly chinchillas have a mental illness where they can freak at things you can't sense, I have had min for over 11 years and they can still exhibit those symptoms . I think it's ghosts of chinchillas past terrorizing chinchillas of the present.
 
I found out what was wrong. At the time of his freak out I had turned the AC unit off for a moment to clean out the filters because it was posing an error. I had to do it again this morning to drain the water and after the AC was turned off he exhibit the same behavior. I brought a box fan in and turned it on and that seemed to calm him. I guess he is just used to the background noise of the AC and silence scares him. Go figure.
 
With mine, it's usually noise related. If you don't have a radio in there with him, I'd recommend adding one to block out whatever else he may be hearing. It could also be scent related... change of soap, change of shampoo, the smell of other animals on you, etc. Or he just may have wanted the light on and been mad that you turned it off.

Keep in mind that they're prey animals, so the fact that he displayed a fear-based reaction isn't abnormal. They fear EVERYTHING unknown. He's in a new environment, with new smells and new sounds. The only way to conquer that is to show him what to expect and allow him the time to adjust. As such, I wouldn't recommend leaving him alone because that sends the wrong message. I'd focus on establishing a consistent, daily schedule of feeding and interaction, whatever that may be for you. Consistency builds trust and minimizes fear. Assuming it's just behavioral and he's eating, drinking and pooping okay, it'll just take time. Good luck! :))

Frankly chinchillas have a mental illness where they can freak at things you can't sense, I have had min for over 11 years and they can still exhibit those symptoms . I think it's ghosts of chinchillas past terrorizing chinchillas of the present.

:rofl: Also, my cats are more prone to this than my chins, but it's totally plausible!
 
i need help

My female chinchilla that we had for a couple years has started attacking my 11yr old son he will just stand there and she went after his foot bitting it so hard the skin came off and bruising and another time he was laying in bed she jumped up bitting him 4 times on the top of the arm. She use to love pets from him and it is hard my son suffers anxiety and this is heart breaking please any advice
 
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