desperatley need help getting my chin back into his cage every night

I desperately need help trying to get my chin back into his cage every night. First off, I'm not sure what kind of structure his life has had. We got him from a friend about 3 months ago. Our friend had gotten him from a breeder for her kids. Her kid didn't clean the chin's cage like they promised, so after a month she asked us if we wanted him. I'm sure he didn't have much of a structured life when he lived with them, I'm sure he wasn't in any kind of routine. I'm not sure what his life was like when he was with the breeders, but supposedly a couple other chins picked on him and that's why the breeder sold him.

Like I've said, we have had him 3 months now and have tried to stick with a routine for him. I let him out for about an hour every night into a chin-proof room. While he is out I leave his cage open so he has the option to go back in at any time. At first it wasn't hard to get him back into the cage. I could lure him in with a treat, lure him into his portable cage and transfer him that way, or sometimes he even went in on his own and let me close the door. He bonded with us fairly quickly, after a few days he let us pet him while he was in his cage and would jump on us if we layed on the floor while he had his play time. He even would sit on the top of my head.

The last month as been very, very difficult to get him back in his cage. He's caught on to the different techniques I used to use to get him back in the cage. At first I could lure him in the cage with a cheerio, he would follow it all the way into the cage. Then he started following it but would stop when he got near the cage. Now he won't follow it at all. I can't lure him into his portable cage cause he knows if he goes in there he will go back into the cage. (I usually keep the portable cage open so he can go in and out so that everytime he goes in he doesn't get moved to his normal cage, but he has stopped going in there all together).

The only way now that I can get him back into his cage is to use the dust bath, then once he goes in I plug the hole and transport him that way. I know it's not good for their skin to have a dust bath every day, and I fear that if I rely on this too much eventually he will stop taking dust baths too.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get him back into his cage? He's a very stubborn and smart chin. We have a pvc pipe out for him but he never goes in it, so I can't use that to transport him. He doesn't care if I put anything in his cage (like a cheerio or willow stick) while he is outside of it. He doesn't come investigate his cage if I clean it or put a new toy in it.

I've read that you can the word treat and train them that when you say treat they will go back into the cage as long as you give them the treat. Is this true and what's the best way to train him to do this?

Sorry I don't have any ideas, mine lives in a room, she spends a lot of time in her cage but I never close it. Can you catch him? If you can scoop him up carefully and just place him in the cage. If you sit indian style and he jumps in your lap you can guard him with your arms and just stand up with him. That is how I sometimes catch her for checkups and stuff. They like to tag up a lot sometimes they will just go back in the cage after some time in the room. If you try to catch them too agressively they can spray urine to defend themselves so catching them with a device or a towl or something is not usually a good idea. If you make a ledge or something for them to get up on in the room you can sometimes pick them up that way too.

I have seen my exwife have some success with a voice commands but I never bothered to try voice commands.

There are lots of youtube vids on training. You will get a lot of anti-treat advise on this site, especially something with suggar like a cherrio. Becasue of dental desiease and their inibility to digest things like fats and suggars.

When I have a stubborn one that needs to go back to his cage, I just follow him around the room for a bit. I don't chase, say anything or touch him. He just gets tired of me being right behind him all the time and goes home. Of course he gets a treat as soon as he gets in the cage. It might take a little time to finally annoy yours enough with the following bit but it always seems to work for me.

Thanks for the advice but I've tried both those ideas in the past with not much luck. Last week I laid flat on my back and kept my hands near my chest, once he was on my chest I was able to pick him up and put him in the cage. Now when I lay down he won't claim on my chest, he stays down on my legs where he knows I can't reach him quickly.

As far as following him, that doesn't work either. There's a ramp leading up to the cage and I put a Cheerios or a willow stick in there but that doesn't get him to go in there either. He did a month ago but not anymore.

Normally I leave his food pellets in the cage all day and give him fresh food when he's out at night. Should I try taking away his pellets in the morning and try to lure him in with a fresh dish of pellets at night?


I almost feel like I need a fresh start with him. He's used to coming out every nigh. If I try to build trust with him and don't let him out for a week or so until he trusts me more will he go crazy since I took away his freedom?

Could you lure him with an empty dust bath, maybe?

Or as someone else suggested if he'll let you pick him up your best bet may be to scoop him up. Or sit down in the room until he comes to you and gets on you then scoop him up.

Yes, I've done the empty dust bath thing but again, I'm afraid if I rely on that to get him in the cage eventually he will stop going into the dust bath.

I've tried picking him up, but he doesn't like to be held at all. The only way I can pick him up when he's outside of my cage if is he is on me, and he doesn't really climb on me ever since I picked him up and put him in the cage.

It sounds like most people don't have this problem, I guess I just have a very stubborn chin. He also obsesses over trying to get to places he's not allowed. We have a brand new dresser in the room, so I put up a 2 foot high metal fence around it. The fence is just a portable folding fence meant to be used as a playpen for a rabbit or kittens, so it's not fastened down to anything. I had it set up though so it would take effort to move it. Well he manage to get past it one day and ran around under the dresser. Ever since then he spends a good chunk of his play time trying to move the fence. He will bite the fence and keep pulling until he pulls it away enough that it starts to fold up and he can get by. I had to put bricks along it to keep him from moving it. He still spends some time trying to move it, but not as much. And he can still manage to slowly move the bricks, he's very determined. When he's in his cage he's very sweet, but once he's out he's a little monster, lol.

ugghhh

I had this problem also but mine was solved when my husband built steps up to the door of his cage and he just goes back in when he wants

good point steps or a ramp may help so he doesn't have to do a well coordinated leep back in. I also have steps setup into her cage. How big is your cage, chins really need a spacious multilevel cage, if your cage is too small he might resist being put in there. At 3 months our chin was very timid and would explore the room but if we moved the cage was the safe place she would return to but I am finding it hard to advise because we never closed her in.

fuji9991 said:

good point steps or a ramp may help so he doesn't have to do a well coordinated leep back in. I also have steps setup into her cage. How big is your cage, chins really need a spacious multilevel cage, if your cage is too small he might resist being put in there. At 3 months our chin was very timid and would explore the room but if we moved the cage was the safe place she would return to but I am finding it hard to advise because we never closed her in.

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We have a ramp leading up to the cage so that's not the problem. I'm not home right now so I can't give the exact dimmensions but I'd say it's an average sized cage for a chin. It's probably about 3' wide, 2' deep, and several feet high. It's got a total of 3 levels including the bottom with room for him to jump and several ledges.

I haven't let him out for a few nights while I try to build up more trust with him. The past couple nights I've stuck a cheerio between the bars on the opposite side of the cage that he is on. He doesn't come up to it right away but if I shake the bag and say "treat" a few times he comes over and eats it. At least it's a good sign for now.

Hi. I know this is a bit old but I had a couple of ideas you could try if you were still trying to improve getting him back into his cage.

You need him to live his cage, so I advise adding even more nest boxes, toys, ledges and soft places to sit. If he prefers to be out if his cage than in it even when he's tired then you'll always have a problem getting him to go back.

The other suggesting is to get him an appropriate firm of exercise for inside the cage so he doesn't rely on playtime to properly stretch his legs. Also he'll be more likely to get tired during playtime. A flying saucer "wheel" would be perfect.

Let us know how you're getting on.