Chin is terrified of being held

[kaylamg2014]

Hello!
I got a chinchilla, Thor, about two weeks ago. He was very jumpy and terrified when I brought him home. I've spent time just sitting by his cage and what not, and he has gotten fairly comfortable with me. He'll come up to the cage and let me scratch him, climb on my hands, ect.

However, he is terrified of being picked up. He will tremble when you hold him and bite. I've been trying to let him come out of the cage and into my lap once a day so I can pick him up for a few seconds, but he will still fur slip each time. I've been giving him treats and talking to him and he just is terrified still!

I feel horrible that he is so scared. But I feel worse that he cannot come out of his cage in the meantime. The one time I let him out we had the situation where I couldn't handle him to get him back in the cage and it was a disaster. I've been wanting to let him get more familiar before I try it again.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do?
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

 

[Amethyst]

The best advise is have patients, it takes most chins at least a week just to settle into the new environment. It can take months or years depending on age and previous human experience for a bond of trust to form. Also most chins hate being held, which makes sense if you think about it, they are prey animals so being restrained is instinctively scary. Also humans are hot, the average human's body temp is in the upper 90s F, and chins comfort zone temps peak in the 70s F.

Personally aside from daily handling in the cage or when the cage needs changing I don't advise people to let the chin out for playtime until they can pick the chin up and handle the chin. A lot of people use carriers or boxes to move the chins from room to room, or use the dust bath to get the chin trapped and moved back to the cage.

The bottom line is that some chins just never like being held though, they aren't cuddly pets like a rabbit. If at all possible just wait to let the chin come to you and crawls on your hands to take him out. You can also try just letting him climb on your hands then put him right back into the cage, make it a game and over time he will learn that climbing on you doesn't mean getting touched or held for length. The more you sit and spend time with the chin the more comfortable he will become with you, but you have to go at his pace not yours. If the chin is slipping fur then you are scaring it too much and need to back off. Every time you chase the chin you are going backwards in the bonding process and could have just regressed back to step one. It's not possible to go too slow from a chin's point of view.

 

[Godofgods]

one of my chins is terrified of being picked up. Panics, shakes, scared to death. Even will freak out if i touch the back half of his body because he associates that with being picked up.

 

[Chinmama]

I used to use the dust bath house to get Marble in and out of her cage. Now I just pick her up, which she hates. She kacks and sprays pee at me (and we've been together 10 or so years...), but she gets over it. When she is done with playtime, she hangs on my leg so I will pick her up and put her back in her cage.

If she initiates the being held or being picked up, she is fine. But she does not like to just be picked up randomly.

 

[Chinups]

My younger chinchilla took 2 years to warm up to me. He doesn't really like out-of-cage time because being outside of his cage is just too scary (he acts like something is going to fly out of the sky and swoop him up for dinner). Luckily, I have LOTS of patience, so everyday I sit in front of his cage with the doors open and visit with him. He climbs on me and gives me kisses (a tremendous improvement), but he ALWAYS has to be within reach of his cage. We have a single level FN, so he'll jump out onto my lap and back in his cage as part of his "playtime". We have a pet gate around the cage area, just in case he tries to run off, but he never does. As you mentioned in your post, catching a scared chinchilla can be traumatic for him.

Recently, I rolled the cage into the hallway, blocked the hallway off on both sides and opened his cage. He jumped out and around the cage once he discovered the cage wasn't going anywhere and he could jump back in. That was the most relaxed I've seen him outside of the cage in a while, so we'll probably start doing this as part of his socialization therapy. Whenever I carry him away from his cage, however, he starts acting more like your chin (struggles A LOT and trembles, but no fur slip or biting). Anyway, just don't give up, but definitely don't force him. It takes time, and it's more rewarding when your chin is actually enjoying himself.

Work on building trust first (until you're certain he knows you're not going to eat him). Then slowly introduce other experiences. Make sure he has plenty of room in his cage and a very good exercise wheel if he's old enough (we use a Chin Spin in our cages). Make sure the room is quiet and that you're calm. When you hold him, keep it super short and slowly build up time.

 

[Cuddlebug]

I am of the opposite opinion. I believe that chinchillas need to learn to tolerate being picked up and held. My reasons for this are simple. If the chin were to get hurt or become ill, you need to pick it up and get it to the vet. If the chin has never been picked up before, you are adding to the stress by picking it up for the first time when there is a problem. Also, what if there is an emergency (house fire, tornado, hurricane, mid summer power outage) and you need to get the chin out of its cage ASAP. You will have a lot of difficulty if the chin has not been taught to tolerate being picked up and held and you definitely can't stand there waiting for the chin to come to you. Some never will. ALL of my 70 chins are picked up and held daily if only for a few seconds. We do it calmly and quietly. We begin picking up rescues and new breeders the day we bring them home and babies the day they are born. Except for the little girl that was surrendered to us 3 days ago (she still needs to learn that we will not eat her), they all come to the front of the cage to see us when we visit them or are cleaning the cages. They do not fear us and ask for attention all the time to the point of coming to the front of the cage and hopping out to come see us. Yes, they will shake at first and be scared, but they will not be traumatized and will learn to trust you. Once they learn that you will not hurt them, they will stop being afraid.

 

[CalicoPrairie]

I am of the opposite opinion. I believe that chinchillas need to learn to tolerate being picked up and held. My reasons for this are simple. If the chin were to get hurt or become ill, you need to pick it up and get it to the vet. If the chin has never been picked up before, you are adding to the stress by picking it up for the first time when there is a problem. Also, what if there is an emergency (house fire, tornado, hurricane, mid summer power outage) and you need to get the chin out of its cage ASAP. You will have a lot of difficulty if the chin has not been taught to tolerate being picked up and held and you definitely can't stand there waiting for the chin to come to you. Some never will. ALL of my 70 chins are picked up and held daily if only for a few seconds. We do it calmly and quietly. We begin picking up rescues and new breeders the day we bring them home and babies the day they are born. Except for the little girl that was surrendered to us 3 days ago (she still needs to learn that we will not eat her), they all come to the front of the cage to see us when we visit them or are cleaning the cages. They do not fear us and ask for attention all the time to the point of coming to the front of the cage and hopping out to come see us. Yes, they will shake at first and be scared, but they will not be traumatized and will learn to trust you. Once they learn that you will not hurt them, they will stop being afraid.

All great points made.

 

[ticklechin]

If you do not handle them they will NEVER be tamed, you are the owner and should dictate when the chin is held, not the chin. I have had lots of chinchillas, from hobby breeder chins, ranch chins, pet store chins, abused rescue chins and every single one was held from day one until they died. I handle mine every day several times a day and they are all extremely tame, to the point they come when called at play, come to my leg and can be picked up off the ground. Same thing in the cage, I can pick them up when called, they come to my hands and reach out to be picked up and snuggled. It takes years and it takes patience but every single one I had regardless of background or temperament was tamed.