Do your chins know their names?

[Ippo456]

I never expected my chins to know their names like how dogs know their names.
Tonight when I was playing with Winnie, I was sitting on the floor & letting him climb all over me. When he ran away from me, I called out his name & he came to me. I thought that was coincidental, so whenever he ran away from me, I would call out his name. I did this 3 times in a row, & all those 3 times he came running towards me after I called out his name. I'm still suspicious about this. What do you think? Do your chins know their names?

 

[Brittany]

Lily knows her name. Gus and Lady respond more to the tone of my voice rather then the actual words I'm saying.

 

[blondeangel]

my two chins respond to their names (not the baby yet - too young). my rats also know their names (fettachini, tortalini & linguini.... although tortalini knows his best because hes always causing trouble), my guinea pig responds more to tone then name as well. my bird - well she knows her name very well. one of my dogs even knows my cats nickname, and being the dogs just "love"(to chase) the cats, she starts barking and looking around for the cat. (dogs are chihuahuas & a minpin... which are 1/4 1/2 and 1/3 the size of my cats haha).
animals are incredibly smart ive realized. lol

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

All my chins know their names. Sometimes they chose to ignore me calling them though. They are like cats that way

 

[Sierra]

Phoenix knows her name but she wants me to believe that she doesn't:thumbsup:
Sedona doesn't know her name yet but I think with time she will.

 

[mishellyshel]

i think most of my boys know their name.
my son asked me the same question and how they learn their name and i told him that every time i go to thier cage and give them a scritch or treat or whatever, i repeat their name over & over. i told him last nite that i was giving the one he named Pichu the nickname Peachy and he said NO mom!!!! I want him to learn his name first. just thought it was cute.

 

[CommonYak]

philosophical thoughts on chinchilla behavior

I find this an interesting question, and I believe the answer is yes, they can recognize their names. After all, their hearing is similar to ours in its range, and their memories are extremely good.

The real question is the nature of a chinchilla's concept of self, and whether they can correlate that concept with a sound that you are making. I think at some level, they do have a concept of self, and can make this correlation. I do not think these things are the sole province of humans, although our concept of self may be somewhat different than theirs.

At the most basic level, they hear us making a sound, can correlate that sound with us paying attention to them, and so can react to either come to us for attention, or run away to avoid being scooped up after playtime is over. I would hypothesize that this correlation is common.

Some chins may even realize that those sounds specifically refer to them, and not other the other chins of the house, and observe other sounds being correlated with attention being paid to others. I believe I have observed this as well.

As to where their awareness of self and a name being applied to them begins and ends, this is much harder to say since they cannot speak to us.

I think we all underestimate animal intelligence in general. Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to anthropomorphize them: they are not people, and do not think like us. Animals cannot do calculus, write a novel, nor are they interested in politics or astronomy. Nor do they have the same type of awareness that we do.

However, they do have their own awareness and consciousness, that surely works very differently than ours, but is nonetheless still there. They have problem-solving abilities, desires, fears, and distinct personalities. They have their own emotional landscape, can remember and learn from the past and understand social dynamics within the herd.

 

[Ash]

Know them? Yes. Respond to them? When they want to. I think they're pretty much like cats in this aspect...

 

[Parkerspetchins]

Yes, mine definitely do. When I say "where's ____?" that chinnie usually comes running lol. So cute!

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

I have many chins who know their names.

 

[Olallie]

I would like to think my chins know their names. But they respond better when i use a clicking sound. I use that sound to tell them to come eat treats. So of course they come running to the side of the cage.

 

[ultimicea]

Mine does. I say her name and she pops up or I say chinnie ( I call her that too) and she responds. Very cute

 

[Kula]

"treats"

 

[kimbt622]

Liv knows his name very well but he'll usually just come running whenever he hears me talking or my boyfriend talking cause he's a little attention hog Indy is a little more of a brat and will choose to ignore me mostly but he definitely knows his name and his nickname, Peanut. They both respond always to the clicking sound i make for them to get their daily treat, of course they'd respond to that!

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

Both of mine know their names, but choose to ignore me unless I have food or treats in hand when calling them!

 

[ErinsChins]

A few of mine know their names, Delilah & Desdemona more than the others, but also Jasmine, Romeo, and Sammy

They're so smart!