Chinchilla Training

[jess32247]

It really depends on the chin whether they like to be held or not. They aren't cuddly lap pets, (though there are chins that love to be held and cuddled, but in most cases no). I think if she doens't like to be held, then don't put her through the stress of being held because it's probably scaring her. If you need her to move, then nudge her away and praise her if she doesn't kack at you.

Honestly though, take things slowly. It can literally takes months or years for chins to accept you. It's been about 8-9 months since I've gotten my chin and she has come around A LOT more then when I first got her and "bonded". It still amazes me how she keeps putting trust in me and is liking me more and more, months later. Give it time, don't stress her, give her lots of love whether she shows you love in return or not!

 

[Stormcrow]

Well dreamlite, since I have 2 boys and I want to be able to take care of em properly, and checking for rings is one of those things you need to do sometimes. And as ticklechin (i believe - correct if I am wrong ) has mentioned before that you rather have them used to your hands and you handling them at that point, then a chin that practically needs to be chased down and hold firmly to do those checkups or check a chin that shows signs of illness.

I just don't like the fact that when someone asks advice on how to handle them, that some people immediately assume that you want to sit in the couch the whole evening watching tv and stuffing your face with 2 chins sleeping on your lap...

And KelseyLynn don't get frustrated by the "it took me one week" storys, just take them as an encouragement that things can change fast

 

[KelseyLynn]

I'll be sure to keep up what I'm doing and try my best to be patient She is way too cute to resist! Hopefully soon when I have enough posts you guys will get to see my little sassy girl. Once again I really appreciate all your help. I'll post here again I guess if I have more questions about this!

 

[ticklechin]

I have had some tough nuts to crack, one took 6 years of handling to finally be calm, ALL chins can be tamed, you just can't give up.

 

[tcraighenry]

It took 6 months for our little madam to come around fully. And even then she still sprays when she's upset. From what I've read, some chins have an attitude and some don't. Our new one is pretty skittish, we've had her for almost two months and she doesn't like to be scritched.

One thing I found that helped with her is to sit in front of her cage with the door open and your arm in, but look away. They seem to feel more comfortable if they think you're not watching them.

Cinnamon will hop all over the place and sniff if we do that. The minute we look back, she's on her ledge staring.

In my brief experience, it takes them a long time to bond with you. But not a long time to know certain things. (Bath time, for example, is something they both picked up quickly. As is feeding time.)

 

[tcraighenry]

Thanks for your help everyone. One thing.. many of you have said that the more they are handled at a young age the more they will get used to it and enjoy being handled when they are older. If she doesn't let me handle her now, and she's approaching 12 weeks old, shouldn't I just try to anyway to "get her used to it". I don't see how letting her come around will help, in the sense that she will always have her way about when she gets held. If I just hold her everyday won't that get her to succumb to the fact that I am in charge? I already had enough of a hassle trying to clean her cage, because she doesn't let me move her! Although I do love my chinnie, I'm spending so much time letting her decide if she loves me. It took me hours to move her to the bottom half of her cage so I could clean the top and vice versa. So to reiterate, shouldn't I just get her used to the fact that she needs to be held instead of letting her be the boss? I just have a feeling that if I keep letting her be in charge she'll never want to be held. And another thing, I love that you guys are trying to be helpful, but your "my chin came around in a week!" stories are making me feel even more discouraged Maybe I'm just too impatient and in a few years I'll look back on this and laugh

Ugh, yeah. Vincenza is like that. She hates being handled and will let you know but from all the advice I got here, it's important to keep it up.

She went through a deliberate biting phase and now she's spraying.

Cinnamon started biting but we think that's because she's trying to groom. Vincenza did something similar until she figured out how not to hurt us. Now she can pull the skin between my thumb and forefinger without hurting me at all.

What's helped me the most is just to watch them. We have them in the living room and having two kind of tells us what's normal chin behavior and what's unique to each of them.

 

[KelseyLynn]

Good news! I sat by her cage for about a half hour today with my hands inside and she was jumping on them and popcorning around! I was careful not to pet her or make sudden movements and she seemed pretty satisfied. I'll keep this up as a daily routine since she was so happy. How many times should she get a dust bath? The breeder said twice a week but I just wanted to see what your routines were.

 

[jess32247]

That's great news! Don't get discouraged if she decides not to jump on your hands, there is still a longggg road ahead of you both!

Super cute profile picture btw! What a cutie!!

I give my chin her dust bath 2-3 times a week, more or less depending if I forget or not. She's quick to remind me though when she wants her dust

 

[KelseyLynn]

Thanks! It's a little blurry so I'm gonna try to take a better one And ok sounds good, I just wanted to make sure because the breeder also told me-in response to me telling her that I have a ferret nation cage- "Hmmm, I always say the bigger the cage, the WILDER the chinchilla." I thought to myself, no more like HAPPIER chinchilla. All her chins were cooped up in smaller cages.. She must have had about 100 chins total as well. It was quite the sight.

 

[JamaisVu]

UPDATE: So, as of Saturday I have had her for 3 weeks. I'm sad to say we have not made much progress I've stopped the treats and playtime and have been hand-feeding her pellets. She will run up to my hand, snatch away the pellet and run into a corner. When I try to pet her, she jerks her head and twitches to try and bite my finger. If she ever crawls onto my hands or arms and I try to lift her up, she will immediately jump down and run to the corner. I've tried just sitting next to the cage and talking, and talking while I hand feed her but I just can't seem to get her to want to jump into my arms or jump onto me. Should I try harder to pick her up and give her food when she comes? Or should I continue to let her snatch and run? I'm at a loss for ideas. Also when I don't feed her and just hold out my hands for her to sniff and climb on, she will bite them-not nibble-BITE! And it hurts! I'm sad to say I'm truly frustrated and feel like I got the meanest girl in the bunch Of course I know they're not cuddly pets but she won't even use me as a perch. She doesn't seem to like me at all. Chin mommy is sad, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I've had my chins for almost 5 months now. Granted, I adopted adults, so it's a bit different, but still, 3 weeks is nothing.

I know it's a bit sad when they won't come to accept you right away, but you've got to give them some time.

In my case, my girl is really friendly. It took her about a week to accept being petted occasionally. At first, I wanted to give them about a month to get used to their new environment and me before I took them out to play, but she made clear she was ready to get out much sooner, making attempts at climbing on top of my head/hands/shoulders only 2 weeks after I got her. I've had to be careful with her, though, she's extremely clever, and has found ways to slip by my once or twice. If yours also seems to be very clever, never underestimate her. Or underestimate just how small a space chins can actually fit in.

My boy, on the other hand, is shy and easily startled. At first, he would scream every time I opened the cage, and would try to bite me if my hand came too close for comfort. That went on for a few weeks. Then, slowly, he learned that I would not try to grab him, and than more often than not, my hands held food/hay/treats/chewing toys (he's not picky at all when it comes to what he'll take). The screaming died down, the teeth clanking and biting followed. Now he's much more affectionate than the girl. I still have to take it slow with him...but he's coming around, at his own pace.

Funny story: first time I took him to the vet after he grew attached to me, as soon as his check up was over, the brought him back to the waiting room I was in. According to the vets, he was really good about the entire check up, but the second he saw me he turned around and started screaming at the vets. He would calm down when I talked to him, but the second the vet spoke up, he went right back to screaming. It was really funny/cute. Almost like he was saying "You won't believe what these people did to me...!!!"