Chinchilla dance?

[Pikaia]

Ok, this is quite a funny question, but another member's post reminded me of it. Do chinchillas have a mating dance? The reason I ask is because on some occasions, Tia does this really weird thing during playtime. Tribble (male) goes for his playtime in the playpen and then I switch them out and Chichi and Tia (females) have their turn.

Tia will go into the corner of the playpen and do this "dance". That's the only way I can describe it. She moves forward and then moves backwards and turns around. She does it for a little bit and then moves on. It looks like she is dancing, it really does! I need to capture this on camera for you guys.

Could it be possible she is smelling Tribble? Sometimes he will pee in the playpen and I clean it, but is it possible she is picking up on his scent?

 

[amignatowicz]

welllll....i have no idea. however, you most certainly should get this on video! that would be adorable!

 

[dcfluegel]

:hmm:

Going to have to go amignatowicz on this one... video will be required before any adequate assessment of cuteness - er - behavioral possibilities can be evaluated

 

[Airyn]

Yes! I watched Maia and Buddha (Mother and Son) do some kind of dance when Buddha was about 6 months old. It was crazy to see, tail swishing and all! I only saw it the once, but I was so confused! *lol*

 

[Cuddlebug]

Males often do the "swishy tail dance" when they want to mate. Some females have been know to do it too. It's really cute!

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

If its not a mating dance, It could well be the shuffling some of them do when they smell a strong smell. I have a Chin who has a thing for feet smell.

He will do a little dance if he smells slippers or smelly feet. If you search "tap dancing chinchilla" on you tube, you'll see a video of the shuffle dance as we call it.

 

[dcfluegel]

some of those tap dancing videos are hysterical!

 

[Pikaia]

Ok, that tap dancing chinchilla is pretty close to what she does! Maybe I am not cleaning well enough.. lol