Awake Chinchilla

[ninjaturtletayy]

Hello everyone!

So I just got my first chinchilla on Thursday 11/21. He's a standard gray, a little over a year old. He had a friend with him in his cage, but his friend got sold. The people at the pet store said that he was actually much happier once his cage mate left. I know I'm probably just being a paranoid new owner, but I really don't want anything to go wrong with my new little furbaby...

It's currently 12:11 pm, so when I went to check on my little guy I was surprised to still see him awake. The first night I had him he was awake all night running around and being active. I got up and left for class by 9:00 am and he was back in his little wooden house and asleep. So today, when I walked by at 11:00 am I was really surprised to see him up. I know he wasn't AS active last night as the first night, but I just attributed it to him adjusting to his environment. He's not running around right now or anything either. He's just sitting in his little house with his head poking out the hole. I was worried that maybe it was too bright for him, so I covered his cage with a blanket to darken it for him, but he's still awake.

I don't think I would be so worried if he was being active, but he's just sitting. He usually gets up and moves around when he sees me coming by the cage. He even let me pet him and pick him up, which he hasn't been comfortable enough to let me do yet. Am I just being paranoid and he's just adjusting to his new home? I just don't want anything to be wrong with him.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[jess32247]

Chins are crepuscular, meaning they're mostly awake during dawn and dusk. They also tend to wake up periodically in the day to do what ever they need too, or just to hang out and relax like your little guy is doing. My chin switches from being awake to asleep all day, even during playtime she'll sometimes head back to her cage to take a nap before she comes back out again.

Everything you described sounds very normal for chinchillas, I wouldn't be worried.

 

[ninjaturtletayy]

Thank you so much!! I figure I was just being paranoid, but I wanted to make sure.

 

[ashleynicol3]

Sounds normal. I work from home sometimes and my little guy sits in his house and watches me. He sleeps on and off. I also put a piece of fleece over the top level of his cage so it's a bit darker for him.


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[becky12883]

They can sleep with their eyes open too, so when he's just sitting there staring, he's probably actually sleeping. Better to be overly cautious and paranoid than uneducated and uncaring!

 

[Idgie]

Idgie gets up during the day sometimes to eat a little or just sit. She also sleeps a bit over night.