Can Anybody Explain the Pouch Idea to Me?

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TmG

TmG

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
Messages
112
Ive heard of it on multiple conversations but i still dont get it >_< basically you get a purse/bag and put fleece on the bottom and have them in there and carry them around? I just want to make sure so i dont end up freakin Carl out. Should i do it during the day when hes trying to sleep so maybe **** fall asleep or should i do it in the evening/afternoon when hes the most active. The only thing is id have to put the rest of my animals away and im afraid **** jump out and ill have to try and get him. My house isnt big (1 level) but it still has alot of places wehre he could get hurt or hide.
:wacko:
 
I've never heard of that in relation to Chinchillas - just sugar gliders. My chins would go crazy trying to wriggle out if I tried that with them.
 
Some people on here have said how they've tamed there chinchillas that way.
 
Any type of purse, bag or sack should be okay as long as the handle loops are long enough to go over your neck and of course made out of something the chins can poo, pee and test nibble on. Probably the reason people said to line your bag with fleece. Or find someone to make you one out of fleece.
I carry mine around the house, talking to them, giving them a treat or sticks to occupy them for periods of time in the sack. A sleeping chin would somewhat defeat the purpose of bonding with the sack, although I think it probably won't sleep anyway if its not used to you yet.
 
Thanks! I just wanted to make sure that i was getting it right. Ill have to try it out sometime :)
 
I would be cautious with this. Personally, I would be concerned about overheating the chin in a fleece bag. Also, most of my guys are too spazzy to put in a pouch and carry around.

I have always bonded with my chins the traditional way- sitting in front of the cage, speaking softly to them and letting them come over to me and investigate.
 
i would agree with Dragonflye here. my boys are also much too crazy to sit in a pouch/bag for more than 0.7 seconds, lol. i would be very concerned with them leaping out and hurting themselves. the traditional bonding method works well, and i would do that instead.
 
During the day if my chin is up she loves to be carried around. I'll put her on my lap, and if I'm wearing a pullover she'll sometimes crawl into the kangaroo pocket. I check often to make sure she's not overheated and the room is nice and cool. She also went into my girlfriends purse once and took a nap lol.
 
The pouch is pretty easy as far as making sure the chin doesn't overheat. You don't zipper them into it so they can't get out. Pouches are open at the top so they can get out if they need to. I use them all the time to get chins used to being carried around. They are especially helpful with small kits. The chins actually very rarely hop out of them for me...you can't just put them in and forget about them, of course. It's been an extremely helpful tool for me to tame chinchillas and get them used to being carried by people.
 
Susan, how well does the pouch work for adult chis? I have a 2 year old rescue here that is extremely terrified of people. She came from a home where 5 year old kids were allowed to just yank the chinchillas out of the cage. Right now, she bites whenever you reach for her, and is so terrified that she appears to go into mild seizures when someone holds her. Poor little thing also chews her fur.
 
Awwww...she shakes when you hold her?

I just put them right in the pouch and maybe walk around gently bouncing them a bit like someone would when holding a baby. That seems to calm them down a little when they are like her. The pouch seems to make the chins feel safe because they are snuggled down in a warm dark place.

I use it for adult chins all the time and it seems to help. It makes it possible to hold chins that bite or squirm.
 
Btw my chins 5 is it still too late to get him use to being held atleast so i can check him over for anything?
 
Susan, she shakes when you hold her, when you go near her cage and she even freaks out and runs blindly around her cage, bumping in to things and falling if you put a hand in the cage. I have to move very, very slowly with this girl and talk quietly to her the whole time I am near her or doing anything in her cage.

TmG, a 5 year old is not to old to work with. You just need to take the time and make the effort. They may never really like being held but they can learn to put up with it.
 
Poor Girl! If you could send her here, I would be happy to work with her. Sometimes chins are just really nervous like that.

I have one right now, a boy about five years old. He gets so worked up about new people just coming in the room. I put him in the pouch to handle him or it would be absolutely impossible to hold him.

With older chins you just have to work with them until they are more trusting and easier to interact with.
 
Okay thats a releif. I love him and i usually hold him once a day during play time but he squeaks at me when i try to pick him up if hes in his cage or travel case. usually i do draw back from him then. Its a squeak that from what i can tell from the sound source website means "ouch" or "scram" I no im not hurting him so i no it just means he dosent want me to do it. He does it when i touch his butt. I can rub him on his stomach so i no that its not anything to do with the fact that im touching his stomach. Ive been thinking about the pouch idea. Im gonna go to the fabric store and buy some fleece to put in the bottom of the bag. Hopefully this will work. He stays still when im hold him and then BAM he struggles. When i dont let him get anywhere he stays still then BAM he struggles again x_x . Its fustrating but totally worth it. I want to be able to hold him saftley.
 
I have a pouch that I use only to carry Charlie and Inca to the bathroom for playtime. It works very well and when I set it on the bathroom floor, they hop out for playtime. It makes it easier for me to carry both upstairs at one time!
 
This is a great idea! perhaps i'll try it. any ideas as to where to get a pouch big enough and ahem absorbent enough for chins?
 
TmG said:
Okay thats a releif. I love him and i usually hold him once a day during play time but he squeaks at me when i try to pick him up if hes in his cage or travel case. usually i do draw back from him then. Its a squeak that from what i can tell from the sound source website means "ouch" or "scram" I no im not hurting him so i no it just means he dosent want me to do it. He does it when i touch his butt. I can rub him on his stomach so i no that its not anything to do with the fact that im touching his stomach. Ive been thinking about the pouch idea. Im gonna go to the fabric store and buy some fleece to put in the bottom of the bag. Hopefully this will work. He stays still when im hold him and then BAM he struggles. When i dont let him get anywhere he stays still then BAM he struggles again x_x . Its fustrating but totally worth it. I want to be able to hold him saftley.
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a chinchilla is naturally fearful of any creature trying to capture it, so the squeak is normal for your chin, especially if he's newly home. my Rhino still kacks at me once in a while when i touch his bum, he used to kack every time. both my boys will struggle while being held. chins don't enjoy being held much.

the safest way to hold him is to gently but firmly grasp the base of the tail with one hand and support your chins underside with the other. the tail grasp makes it so that they cannot run or jump away from you. both my boys hate having their tails held, but it is best for them if i need to hold them for more than half a minute, and they forgive me for the atrocity as soon as they are released.
 
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