Getting Nibbler back in his cage...

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EnslavedByNinjas

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Oooohkay, a little bit of background:

Poor Nibbler has not had much peace in terms of his cage, after I bought him about 3-4 weeks ago, he came home to a 18x30x60h cage. His cage got moved a week later, as I had a new roommate (with additional furniture) move in. (Same room, but still) Then, he started to chew on the bars. I attempted to house him temporarily in a chihuahua carrier to remove paint from the cage. He tried his best to chew his way out. End result, my girlfriend had to watch him all day whilst I attempted to remove the paint (Superpets chinchilla cage, two of them stacked) as he had managed to get through it in spots. I had no luck whatsoever. He only got half his cage back that night. :(

I've added a new 24x24x36 cage to the side of his current one, to open it back up a little bit. The reason I mention all of this is that, whilst everything I did I did out of caring, he hasn't had stability with his living situation.

I've also been very giving in terms of free run of the living room when I am there to supervise. The problem is, he never goes home. He will put up a heck of a fight. He's quite the sprinter. :) This is, of course, a last resort. He turns down treats if I try to lure him into his cage with them. He won't go in his bath house unless I'm far enough away that he can get back out before I close the door on him and put him away. He's sneaky, and overly intelligent.

Another issue is that his cage is directly next to a dining room table, with big wooden chairs, that even 2 people cannot trap him in. He can casually walk from one side of the other while you fight chairs to try and get even close. :wacko: However, this is the best spot in the house for him. No direct sun, directly next to the A/C thermostat.

It's been suggested that to help him get more accustomed to his cage, to cut down on his runs. This is well and good advice.... but I can't. :thinking: He's just smarter and faster than I am, and totally determined to not let me put him in his home. Ideally, I don't want to cut his runs out altogether, especially because half the time he escapes while I am trying to play with him through the door of his cage. Those are hard to cut out completely, little bugger. :err:

Long story short : Any ideas on forms of bribery I haven't thought of? Or ways to entice him home? Should I put up with the evil death glares and cut out runs completely until he's comfortable in his home? He has a new wheel to figure out how to use, and a good bit of floor space, numerous levels, lots of chewstuffs.... I can't feel too bad leaving him in the mini mansion I've built him. ;)

Carl
Slave to Nibbler the Ninja
 
Not all chins are going to go willingly into the cage after playtime. Some don't want playtime to ever end, some simply don't wish to be caught, and will avoid it at all costs.

You may want to try some playtime in a smaller area, though, perhaps the bathroom--it may be that he will start climbing on you in the bathroom during playtime, and begin to trust you more. Then, when you start playing in the living room again, he may crawl onto you there, making it easier to get him back in his cage.
 
Hmmm.... perhaps I will make him a Magic Transporter Box(tm) when I get home. Something to use to move him from the cage to the bathroom, or perhaps to the small back room I have... It's smaller than the living room, a converted bedroom, but it'll require some fun covering cords. That or the bathroom, we shall see when I get home. :)
 
I just noticed your location! We're pretty close to each other! :)
 
Good luck with Nibbler. When I was saying to give him some time to acclimated to his new cage, I wasn't saying to take play time away completely. :p I really like the bathroom idea. I didn't think of asking you where you had playtime before when I sent you the email. I would sit with him in the bathroom when you give him playtime. Sit on the floor that way he can climb on you if he chooses to. That way it is also easier to catch him later on. I would use his dust house to bring him to the bathroom, let him out, then take the dust house away until play time is done. Usually if you put it down (especially in a smaller room) he will go into it. Then put your hand on the front and carry it back to his house.

Also, make sure the toilet is closed. Chins don't pay attention to where they jump and you may end up with a wet or drowned chin.
 
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Yeah, I was so happy to meet another local! Other than my Nibbler and a pet store, I hadn't even seen another chin! I'm working on cleaning up the other room, but I can see where it'll be a pain. The couch that I was so happy to add in there, as it will block off flush against the wall to block some of the cords, is 3" off the ground! :doh: I think the bathroom is going to be where it's at for awhile. :)
 
Nibbler! Dude! Stay away from the box!

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Actually, the bathroom is a great place and makes poo harvesting much easier. Be careful opening doors if you leave them to their own devices and, yeah, that toilet-lid thing.

I leave the shower curtains open so they can tub-surf as well.
 
Good advice from everyone. But don't leave him to his own devices. Chins should always be supervised.
 
I trained my chin to go back in her cage at night by clapping my hands and heading in her direction. She runs right in her cage. The whole idea behind this is that she sees her cage as the safe place and when she doesn't want to be chased, she runs in it. Although I trained it by walking towards her and turning away when she would head in the direction of her cage and then eventually making the criteria for me to stop chasing her to be closer and closer and then eventually in her cage, I would suggest backwards chaining this behavior. Whenever he's out during free time and a few paces from his cage make a loud noise or something that startles him or just star walking towards him. Make sure you do it so that he should turn in the direction of the cage. Once he does, back off. Even if he just turns that way. Once he has it down, start making the criteria to be closer or in his cage before you back off. Another thing is to make sure you make the noise or ring a bell before hand. This way they learn to distunguish whether its just you walking around or whether its bedtime.
 
Ash said:
Good advice from everyone. But don't leave him to his own devices. Chins should always be supervised.
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Yes. Good point, my bad. I've left mine for a moment to grab the phone, etc, when they're in the bathroom, which is pretty darn chinproofed. Opening the door is always done carefully. Otherwise, when they're out playing normally, I chinsit.

I find being part of the action is a blast. Better than TV.
 
Just an update....

Last night I magically transported him via the bath house to the spare room and let him romp around. He happily got back in the bath house to go home! However... he also bit me numerous times in each direction on the palm of my hand as I covered the entrance. :( He's never been aggressive like that before. :( Is this typical? Should I be worried? Should I just get a piece of cardboard and cover the opening next time, so he can't be aggressive?

Other than that, playtime went a lot better. I've effectively traded chasing him and traumatizing him for getting repeatedly bit on my palm. :D
 
You won't tramatize him by chasing him. And you're teaching him when he goes in the dust bath he has to go home and have a hand shoved in his face. This may teach him that dusting is a bad thing and may stress him out when he really does have to take a bath.
 
I agree with Huffnpoof. The chin bath will not work out anymore because your chin will associate the chinbath as a bad thing and might start avoiding it all together. Perhaps you can just get really tall cardboard panels and make walls with them so you can make a playpen area right next to the entrance of his cage. This way, he's in a limited area where he can't jump out (get very tall cardboard panels), you just sit in there monitoring him, and he can just jump back into his home. This will help any chasing/negative associations and help you bond in a positive manner.

Also, have you thought about getting him a wheel, tube, and other fun stuff for his home? The wheel might help him burn off some energy and keep him occupied. There are some days that Sesame doesn't want to leave her home because she loves having her wheel, wooden tunnel, cardboard tunnel, hanging toys, etc. all next to her.

If you're place is noisy, it might be bothering your chin, especially since he's in a new place, surrounded by new people. There's a lot going on it seems, so maybe you can just not give him playtime for now. Just sit next to the cage, talk gently, offer a few oats and just take it easy.
 
I am thinking about taking his playtime away altogether. :( I don't think he'll associate the bath time with a bad thing, ever. He looooooves his dust baths. ;)

He really does seem overly intelligent. I have a feeling if I start using that to transport him, he'll still take a dust bath; He just won't if I'm within distance. That's what he does in the living room, I was surprised it worked so well in the den. Inside the cage he'll jump in there before I finish hooking it to the wall. It makes for a rather difficult time getting it attached to the cage! ;)

As far as cardboard playpens, etc, I really can't afford it now. He's blown through the hundreds of dollars I've set aside for emergencies. I've chinproofed 2 rooms, made probably 30 trips to Lowe's and Home Depot, spent every weekend working all day on his cage or the living room or camped out at Lowe's... I'm really starting to give up hope on getting him in his cage willingly. The pet store said he was a Gemini, but I'm really beginning to think he's about a month older than that. I really think he's a Taurus like his daddy. :D
 
EnslavedByNinjas said:
Just an update....

Last night I magically transported him via the bath house to the spare room and let him romp around. He happily got back in the bath house to go home! However... he also bit me numerous times in each direction on the palm of my hand as I covered the entrance. :( He's never been aggressive like that before. :( Is this typical? Should I be worried? Should I just get a piece of cardboard and cover the opening next time, so he can't be aggressive?

Other than that, playtime went a lot better. I've effectively traded chasing him and traumatizing him for getting repeatedly bit on my palm. :D
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He just wanted out of his bath house. Chula never bites me unless I have my hand over the front of the bath house. Then it's nibble, nibble, nibble.

I would just use the cardboard to keep your fingers in one piece. :p

As for the other people saying this may end badly, I never had a problem. I know a lot of people who use their dust bath to transport them to and from playtime without a single issue. That being said, you can always try the box thing as well that way he doesn't associate dusting with with going back in his cage. Honestly though, I have been using the dust bath trick for over 2 years and have never had it backfire.
 
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Essentia said:
He just wanted out of his bath house. Chula never bites me unless I have my hand over the front of the bath house. Then it's nibble, nibble, nibble.

I would just use the cardboard to keep your fingers in one piece. :p

As for the other people saying this may end badly, I never had a problem. I know a lot of people who use their dust bath to transport them to and from playtime without a single issue. That being said, you can always try the box thing as well that way he doesn't associate dusting with with going back in his cage. Honestly though, I have been using the dust bath trick for over 2 years and have never had it backfire.
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I agree!! However, I started using a towel to catch my boys. I'd follow them into a corner or small space and as soon as they get close enough I toss the towel over them...they stand completely still, then I pick them up and put them in their cage. I used to use the dust house, but they caught on to that pretty quickly...smart little buggars!
 
....fatty will only go near the open door of his cage after i lay on the floor across the room without moving for like half an hour. and then, he just sits on the door and stares at me. Sometimes if I even blink he will take off again and not even get in the cage.....

i have spent many hours sleeping on the floor while trying to get Fatty to go in his cage.

Luckily he has gotten alot better. But it has taken months and months of giving him a little bite of a rose hip everytime he gets in there and lets me close the door without running out. He's such a spaz.

All of that to say, I'm glad i'm not alone. Good luck with your little guy.
 
Hehe I love the towel trick! I'll try that if he escapes on me again. I've learned a few things over the last few days... the only way I can carry Nibbler without fear of him injuring himself is dangling by the base of the tail. When I support his feet he kicks off full strength and I'm always so worried he'll hurt his tail. If he is suspended upside down, he gets super calm. I know that the only time they're picked up in nature is right before something eats them - perhaps this is Chinchilla Zen Buddhism? :D He gets accepting of the fact there's nothing he can do to change the situation ;)

He was a little miffed with the dustbath transport again today, the first time I tried to pick it up he almost hopped out on me whilst out of the cage, and that's how I found out about holding him by his tail (the dust bath was in the other hand!) He almost got away from me on that one!

However, he did hop in the dust bath when it was offered back to put him away. He was a little less happy about it. He knew what was coming, and hopped in anyways! I make sure to talk to him while I'm moving him, and on the way back he realized he might as well make the best out of it, and started rolling around in there while I was carrying him home! =)

So, things are looking good. If today works out, that's 3 days without chasing him down, looking good!

On another note, I spent 70 bucks on fleece today, little Mr. Spoiled will have fleece cage liners, hopefully tonight!

Oh, and fluke, you're so well trained! Nibbler is working on training me up that well, he's succeeding so far. :thumbsup:
 
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