How is your most tame chinnie like?

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Nana

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 11, 2010
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49
Location
Montgomery County, MD
Hi. I just want to know my chinnie boy is toward tame side or not. He would come up and grab cage wires with two hands and reach out to me when I pass by. Then, when I take him out of the cage to let him play in a playpen, he would just sit there and let me hold him. Hut, he wouldn't jump on my hand... Do you have a tame chinnie? If you do, how does s/he act like? Thanks.
 
I start out with the babies at birth holding them and getting them used to humans and normal noises. That's the easiest way to get a tame chin. With the rescues and older chinchillas I use a fleece pouch to tame them down and then I start holding them. I get them to the point where it is acceptable for me to grab them and hold them in my hands without the chins trying to really get away. The trick really is to get them comfortable and then get them to trust their humans.

My most tame chin is a little girl, who I gave wayyyy too much attention to her entire life. Now she HAS to be held all the time or she gets angry...she will dump her food or throw a fit shaking the cage and banging around. I have others that will hop into my hands for holding and kisses. I spend a great portion of my life holding chins. I think it's more important than letting them out for playtime, which is very important for the mood of chins and it gives them something to look forward to doing. If you can get a chin to look forward to being held, you've done a great job at taming that chinchilla.
 
Most of my chinchillas will seek my attention when I am in with them. My most tame animals is probably my white violet girl, Sacré. She was handfed from birth and spoiled rotten her entire life because of the bond we developed and now she has no hesitation to jump into my hand or climb up my arm onto my shoulder even when I don't want her to.

All of the chins I bred here are friendly though, I handle them all from birth and most of them become easy-to-handle. I have very few unfriendly chinchillas in my herd.
 
because of the bond we developed and now she has no hesitation to jump into my hand or climb up my arm onto my shoulder even when I don't want her to.
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2 of my boys are like this too! i cant even clean Zucca's cage without him trying to jump out specifically into my arms.
And Richie is so spoiled from the handfeeding and me going to his cage when he makes a sound........i just open his cage and he jumps right on my shoulder, whether i want him to or not. During playtime, he will sit on my shoulder or head.
But then i have others that are either a spaz or kack at me when i simply walk by!
 
My Venus love being pet like a dog, over and over and over again. Actually she is sitting on my lap right now being pet. :)
 
I have a few chins who are attention hogs. As soon as they see me they are waiting for their love. When its playtime their bar biting, making noise, and try to grab my shirt as i pass by.
I have two girls (whom are the daughters of beloved chinny who passed away) that i had to hand raise and they are very dear to me and have been a little to spoiled (with love of coarse) they are very tame tho and love to be held, carried around (which most chins hate) they come and watch t.v. With me too. I just have a blanket on me that they can run into if they get scared. If they hear a loud noise they dive for me and wait for me to open the blanket for them to run into. They sit on my chest and let me kiss their bellies....it's the cutest thing ever. Playtime is a hoot too, they use me as a ledge or lookout point. Of coarse most of my chins use me as their ledge.

I believe handling your chins early on from kits will definately make for a better pet but in all reality some chins will never be snugglers or wanna really be held. Its just not in their nature.
 
I really have to think about this. I'd say Pip is my most trusting one but I've had him for five years now but absolutely hates to be picked up. He only bit me once ever and that was when dumb me stuck my hand between him and Oscar b/c Oscar was lunging at him.

Max is super easy to pick up, hold, pet and lug around but when he's free he really doesn't come to sit with me much. Oscar his buddy doesn't care to be hauled around but he is all over me, loves his human contact and has even sat on my head on occasion.

Carlos is my new boy so it's a bit early to tell how he'll be but so far he seems to like human interaction as far as petting goes but I've got a hard time catching him b/c he's so quick.

Now to my peanut Zeke, he's super friendly, doesn't mind being picked up, lugged around and smooshed and he's constantly in my face staring at me with his little front feet up and he gives me the most wonderful chinnie kisses.

They're all tame in their own way but I'd have to say that Zeke my recessive white boy definitely interacts with me the most.
 
I have two really tame chinchillas. One is 2 and a half years, the other is only 3 and a half months.

Cuda, my older one, will just hang out with you, sit on your lap, come up for scratches, etc, but hates to be held. That doesn't stop him from hanging out ON me, just not confined.

My baby, Bella, jumps right out of the cage and climbs onto you. She is the center of attention. I think Mish deprived her at birth or something :lol: jk

For the most part, though, all my chins are "tame." Just on their terms.
 
Currently my most tame chin is Toby, my mosaic, he will jump on my chest and climb up to my shoulder with no hesitation at all. Even when I'm taking the hand held dustpan and spot cleaning his cage he will jump on my arm (while my arm is moving around sweeping) and crawl up my arm to my shoulder.
My homo ebony, Tristan, is hesitant to come out of his cage, but once you get him out he will stay on your chest and just snuggle.
Then I have my newest 2 month old, Timber, he will climb on my hands/arms. He's still getting used to his surroundings, but I think he is doing great since this is only his 3rd night here.
 
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I have two really tame boys. They will both crawl into my hands when I put my hands in their cage. One likes to sit in the crook of my arm and will ride on my shoulder for as long as I'll let him. The other will just sit like a rock when I carry him around and he runs and jumps into my arms when he is scared by something. Neither one of them struggle to be let down when I hold them.
 
I wish my chin would let me hold it. Its friendly, but has way too much stuff to chew when i let him out. Sounds like yours is pretty friendly to me.
 
I just explained how my boy Max was my least interactive chin but is the easiest to hold and carry around. Well, last night I'm sitting there lounging on my love seat like I do every night and I've got my arm and hand up in the smaller cage that the boys seem to like to play in (except Max) and I think I'm petting Oscar and he's being 'really' friendly and then he comes out and is totally in my face giving me kisses and then I realize it's not Oscar it's Max!

I'm thinking that Max is finally liking to play around in Carlos' old cage and is really enjoying interacting with me which is really cool but something doesn't seem right. Max seems to be really trying to tell me something b/c he's just not being himself and he won't leave me alone. Then it occurs to me that I haven't seen Oscar in the chin room for a bit so I start to look for him. I open up the closet doors where I keep all the supplies and sure enough Oscar is sitting there in the little carrier where I keep all the extra toys and wood and he's chowing down on everything. He reminded me of me when I was four and woke up in the night, went downstairs and opened up everyone's Christmas presents and played with them and got caught, lol.

Now don't go thinking I'm all crazy here but I'm thinking that Max was trying to communicate with me and tell me that Oscar was stuck in the closet. I think I have exceptionally smart chinchillas... or I am indeed nuts. :laughitup:
 
Our Fluffy (that we had put down in Aug) would sleep with Rich in his bed @ night and not run away as the other chins would as soon as they are out of there cage and not caged in the play area.

Brenda
 
yes i have 1 veryyyy tame chin. She falls asleep when i hold her in my shirt or jackett. She also closes her eyes when i give her a tummm rub :)
 
I'd say all of my chins are friendly and tame in their own little way.

Bryson just loves people and comes when called . He demands his morning scratches and his goodnight scratches and will just jump out at me whenever I open the door. He really is a people chin :) My boyfriend says he looks like he's smiling all the time, which I like to think he is. Hehe

Ande is curious but does not like to be handled. He is content with me just touching him and talking to him but once I go to grab him all heck breaks loose and he's an evil boy. He is, however, my funniest boy.

Charlie is just like Bryson. Very curious and enjoys his scratches and a good talking to. He likes to be held but not really for long before he wants down to play. He's a very vocal boy too. Always giving out happy squeaks and starting conversations with my other boys at night.

My newest chin, Dylan just came in a couple of days ago from a bad pet store situation. He is still very timid but is easy to catch, easy to restrain to do health checks and loves to be held. He falls asleep every time he is held. He just loves it. I can tell he is going to be a sweetheart, unless one of my other boys turns him into a butthead, which, I'm sure they will :p
 
I would say both my boys are equally tame. Ricky my white mosaic, is the most fun to watch and play with. He loves to investigate you, and will always jump in my hand. My husband is trying to get ricky used to him right now, so far its going well. Rosco is my baby, he is also a butthead, thinking he can jump out on my lap whenever he pleases. He's not easy to catch but i can lure him out with promises of Target brand gas drops, which they ALL go nuts for. My girl Lalita is not that tame, she's a little scardy cat. but lets me pet her a little, and do health checks. :)
 
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