Loud noises at bedtime. Help!

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Bekah'sPiper

Bekah'sPiper

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
11
Location
Tennessee
My chinchilla, Piper, makes these weird noises at night. He coughs, and then it sounds sorta like a hack or bark type thing. He only does it when a person sleeps in the room that his cage is in. And yes, Piper's a male. I don't know what's causing him to do this, but he sleeps in my room now, and keeps me up. I have school the next day, and it's starting to affect me. Any suggestions on what to do?
 
Chins do this for a couple reasons. One is when they hear a noise that spooks them, then they make the sound you are describing as sort of an instinctual call to 'warn the herd.' Another reason is that sometimes when a chin is sleeping and dreaming they make those noises, perhaps because something spooks them in dream land. Both of these scenarios are really common when you first bring a chin home because they are adjusting to all the new sounds (remember, a chins hearing is incredible, and they can hear things that you can't). In time, a new chin will settle in a make the spooked honking sound less.

Is your chin new to your home? Sometimes putting a fleece cover over the top and 3 out of 4 sides of the cage is helpful to make your chin feel safe. Also make sure that your chin has a hidey house that he can go into to feel safe inside.
 
Athena used to do this to "warn us" of something outside. I honestly thought it was a bird outside or something, at first. But we live in Alaska, where the bottom apartment is halfway underground. Turns out that at night, when the wind would blow softly, she was hearing the grass brush on the screen and it sounded like a predator to her! So we cut the grass down and she hasn't had problems at night since. It's more than likely something small like that.
 
He has a hidey house and I've had him for a little over 2 months. I have him in a Ferret Nation cage, so I plan to buy one of those cage covers to put on his cage during the night.
 
Please don't use a 'cage cover'. Chins need the cool air and not have it blocked by a cover. Pay no attention to the noises they make. Sometimes they make them to hear themselves 'talk' in other words for no reason you can figure out
 
The FN cage covers are made of non-chin safe material, so if you are getting a cover of any kind, make sure that it is made of fleece and that one side of the cage is always uncovered for ventilation. Also make sure that they are in a temp controlled room so that they don't overheat with the added covering
 
As other people have said the 'bark' sound is a warning type sound chinchillas make. It can be because they are scared, or they hear a noise, etc.

If it keeps you up at night, and the fleece cage cover doesn't work, you may just have to find a new place for the chinchilla cage.
 
It's perfectly normal for chins to make random noises. Sometimes it is because they heard something other times they might just want attention. I really don't think covering the cage will stop the noises. If you do decide to cover it, make sure the material is chin safe since your chin will most likely be able to get it through the cage bars and chew it.
 
Both my girls honk at me loudly around bedtime or after I have been asleep. I have come to the conclusion it is their way of saying, "hey I'm awake, I want to play!" I have stopped getting up to check on them and they have stopped doing it so much.
 
You might want to leave a little night light or a salt lamp on near the cage. My chinchilla, Po, freaks out and screeches if my salt lamp is turned off. It's almost as if he's afraid of the dark?

Which is really weird considering they're supposed to be nocturnal, but he has stopped making sad and distressed noises sine my salt lamp on.
 
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