I think Sniffles is mad at me?

[rawrrr]

So, it's been a few nights since the chins have been out for playtime, due to busy schedules and the fact that they need separate playtime for now. Crouton is fine, but I think Sniffles is getting upset! This morning, I found the food bowl that I had filled last night completely tipped over and emptied out. So, I filled it and placed it up on a shelf where he'd be less likely to knock it over while playing.

When I got home from work at about 7 tonight, the bowl was still pretty full, and right where I had left it. Sniffles hopped up to the shelf, making sure that I was looking, and then very deliberately knocked the bowl over and hopped away! After I fixed it, he wouldn't even come near me until I offered a treat.

I've also been finding a lot more bedding and toys spilled out of the side of his cage. Anyone else have chins that act up if they feel like it's been too long since playtime?

 

[kerri101]

I usually let my chin out nightly but since the heavy heat wave if its 100 degrees out even with the AC on it can be hot so I wont take chin out at times....and yes she seems to make a huge mess those days lol as well as pout at the door of the cage and run away if I just want to pet her

 

[HeatherLouWho]

Yes. Definitely. Our first chin, Pipsqueak, would turn his back to us and not have anything to do with us if he felt it had been too long since his OCT (Out of Cage Time). Our current chin, Asa, sits and pouts. They BOTH have done the dinner-flinging thing, too. I wouldn't worry too much. Sniffles WILL get over it.

 

[Lilune]

Amp grumps pretty hard when she feels like its time for playtime, but we don't agree. We usually bring her out every night, sometimes every other, and on the off nights when I vacuum her cage she'll try her hardest to bring herself out for playtime, gets thwarted, then goes to the top shelf and throws toys at me. I pick em up and put them back up top, continue vacuuming, and she usually waits for me to look up at her, stares me in the eye, and throws em again. Eventually I get laughing so hard, she makes a game of it, popcorning after every toss. Its a great way to turn around her mood in no time flat, especially when she throws her little wood chew toys and i can catch em and give them back without stopping cleaning. Only down side is occasionally I wont be paying attention, and she'll push her giant dust rock off the top shelf. That things almost brained me 10 times now.

 

[rawrrr]

Crouton loves making a game out of being bad! Before we got Sniffles, he would get nearly free run of the room during playtime, with the exception of an area behind a gate (with the electronics, etc.) and on top of the dresser (and the windowsill behind it). One day, he figured out how to get up onto the windowsill, and from there the dresser. I was watching TV on the laptop, with sound playing in the speakers, and I'd pause it and go get him off the windowsill and set him down on the other side of the room... Soon I'd see him climb up near the windowsill, then sit and wait for me to pause the show, THEN hop up... and of course he'd popcorn as soon as I set him down across the room. And then he'd repeat the whole process!

Actually... Even Sniffles seems to like being naughty. When he starts chewing on things he shouldn't in the bathroom, we very lightly push him away from it. Every time, he'll do a little popcorn, then take off with a wall surf, then be back trying to chew on the same few things.

But, as far as the food/toy/bedding throwing... it stopped as soon as they got some playtime, so that must have been it.

 

[Duoduorou]

my Totoro usually uses his teeth to shake the cage so hard that I sometimes think he will eventually let himself out!