Chinchilla personality quirks

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May

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2012
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13
One of the things I love most about chinchillas is their intelligence and personality. I've never had pets with such distinct personalities and love hearing about others chinparents experiences.

So what are some unique things that makes your Chin who they are? Do they do anything weird or special that you appreciate?


Rin (my boy) is a neat freak. He stores all his toys in the same spot behind one of the stairs in his cage. He will pick one out, play with it a bit, then put it back once done. He also will not gnaw on something to the point where it begins to look shabby or is in danger of breaking. He always gnaws so that each edge is still even. Like those triangle lava bites, he will perfectly maintain the triangle shape, it just get's smaller.

Rin loves to watch tv and video games. He will sit on my shoulder and watch, soon as a commercial break hits he turns his head towards mine and happy chatters. Soon as the commercials are over his attention snaps back to the tv and he stops talking. As if he somehow knows the difference between commercials and a tv program.

During playtime his favorite thing to do is flip over a pet bed and crawl around with it covering over him. He can't see where he's going so he tends to bump into things and people.

Sorry for the long ramble. I'd love to hear about your own chinchildren too.
 
I wish my Abbey was a neat freak like your first boy! She's the complete opposite! She carries her toys and sticks around everywhere. Every time I vacuum out her poops and clean her cage, I put all of her toys in a little cat bowl and as soon as I'm done, she gets them all out and tosses them everywhere!

She also enjoys watching the tv! She'll sit up on her hind legs with one little paw on her cage bars and watch for hours (or until I go poke her little tummy!)

She has a habit of pushing around her pellet bowl too. If it's almost empty, she'll push it towards the edge of the shelf and make it fall all the way down to the bottom level. It makes a terribly loud noise and always scares me! Naughty chin.

She also has this wooden house that she sleeps in, and it has to be facing in a certain direction at a certain angle for her to use it. If I ever move it, she'll push and pull and turn it around until it's just perfect. When she gets mad, she'll flip the house over. She can never flip it back over though, so she ends up sleeping in it upside down. :p

I swear she knows what I'm thinking all the time; she can be a little prissy princess. :p I love her to death though.
 
No way, your chin needs to have classes to teach my chins, mine are like destroyers of the world, they are sooooooo messy, I am like a full time maid, I love being their maid though, hee hee.
But I agree with u on the diff btw commercial and tv, they can so tell the difference between them, I always used to sneak clean their bottom floor when soapies are on, but I'm never fast enough, when the commercials hit, I get bombarded with escapees trying to fly out. It's really fascinating why they can tell.
 
Both my girls that have gotten hand feed like tv... If I don't have it on while feeding it's like the end of the world! Lol
 
I just posted how gus gets moody when I put him back in cage after playtime, but he also loves to watch tv I dont know about the commercial thing but he loves it, Actualy I was wondering if this is normal or does anyone elses chins do this, when I let him out for playtime he runs(hops) all over the living room and hallway but I notice that sometimes when hes jumping while hes running almost bouncing around in mid air he shakes and twists his head and body to the left and right real quick like and sometimes he does a double bouce thing where he jumps up and right when he comes down to the floor he lauches up again like a double trampoline bounce its too funny
 
Joey tries to talk to me (or mock me maybe). He will move his mouth when I talk to him, then stop when I stop..start again when I do and then stop again when I do. It's hilarious! Also, when I do homework on the floor, if he thinks he is not getting enough attention he will run off with my papers or try with all his might to pull my book away from me. He'll never chew on them, he's just trying to get them away from me!

Joey also chews on sticks a certain way..he gnaws the bark off just like many people eat corn on the cob, down the long edge & then flip it around.

I never knew how much personality I was getting into! haha
 
Yeah when gus starts doing the double bounce and body twist thing or the super happy bounce as symphle put it, I always say out loud to him "oh boy here comes RODEO gus, i love him
 
Thats so funny jhowell28. My Chin, Bandit does that same thing. He moves his mouth every time I speak to him. I'm not sure why he's doing though haha.
 
I love watching my girls popcorn. My oldest once got very excited when I woke up and popcorn right into get litter pan and pottied. Other then that she's a diva, her way or the highway. My younger one though is very shy but curious. I love both their personalities.
 
My chin has always been a bit messy, but today something changed. She shredded one of her toys, fine, but I found the scraps of it inside her bowl for her hay, which is on the opposite side of her cage! Not just one piece of the toy either, a bunch! Also I found a few apple wood sticks under some hay in the same bowl. Any reason she would be doing this? Or is she just "cleaning up" after herself?! hahah
 
My trio of young females ignored a bamboo and coconut toy for a month and then suddenly took it apart, crammed as many pieces as they could in to pvc tunnels, and ran off with the coconut husk discs to the bottom level of the cage for chewing. Who knows why they suddenly decide to do such things.
 
My little guy before I got rid of him liked to box... Idk where he learned it or why he did it but when he got his cuddle buddy he would box it instead of mount it, another time I would catch him boxing is if I would hold my hand up to block him from leaving his cage or getting to a area I was cleaning or changing he would punch my hand with his little paws.
 
Mine likes to pull my hand into him. I'll put my hand in with my palm facing down and he will grab at it and pull it closer to him until it's on his belly. :p
 
My little Chester has learned to Pounce on and Attack feet; but only when we have socks on. He'll chase after me or my Fiancé as we walk away and grab onto or nibble our socks and he'll hang on for dear life if we try to pull our feet away from him. I'll be sitting on the floor with him when he's out and he'll jump onto my feet and grab a hold of the sock to where he'll be dragged across the carpet if I try to get away from him. It doesn't hurt him and he'll popcorn like crazy when I finally shake him loose! I love the little Ball of Fluff so much and apparently he's starting to ''Love'' my socks if you catch my drift; so now, I call my feet his little 'girlfriends.' :biglaugh:
 
I love hearing about all of your chins! I'm amused by the things that all of these guys do. You all have funny little friends :) mine has an obsession with my toilet paper roll. I have a closet/ bathroom and it's a large open area. I block off the bathroom stuff other than the TP. He has jumped and gotten it to partilly unroll, when he then grabs hold and runs quickly unraveling it everywhere.

He also likes to steal things of mine and take them to his cage. He stole my phone manual, a notecard, and a beer cap(which I snuck away very quickly for fear of him harming himself).. But he snatches things and hops on 2 feet to get it away from me.

He likes to pretend like my rugs are his dust bath and scurry his little feet and rub his face on them. Yes he's regularly bathed, he's just silly.

He has a zillion quirks and I feel like I could go on forever. He's a gentle loving boy who loves scratches, playtime, and treats. He gives kisses by licking, and grooms my face vas eyelashes. He's wonderful. Love you Mojo!
 
My chinchilla, Willow, is a 'sleep talker' and likes to sleep on top of the wood house she has. Whenever I give her a new stick she licks one side, then the other side, then completely shreds the stick into a huge pile of wood. She is really smart comes on command, she's potty trained, and she will stand up on her back legs and walk when I tell her to. She is also really naughty, when she's mad (when I don't give her raisins) she hides under my bed even though she knows not to.
 
Chinchilla Personality Quirks

My chinchilla, Willow, is really smart. She knows quite a few tricks and is potty trained. Potty training her only took a week which was pretty cool. She is also extremely messy. I have a joke that she likes to take out a new piece of hay for every bite because her food tray is always covered in hay. She is also likes to sleep on top of her wood house, instead of inside (I've never seen her go in the house).
 
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