lap chin????

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Bam.Bam

Bam.Bam

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
270
Location
Mechanicsburg, PA
Is there such a thing?

As you know, I just picked up 2 more chins just this past Sunday. They were both originally from a pet store in Maryland but their previous owner believes the store (family owned, if that matters) said they buy or get chins from a local breeder.

The day these 2 came home, they've been very trusting in me and don't seem to run, especially Spyro. When I picked him out of the carrier to put him in their cage, he just enjoyed being held and didn't squirm or try to get away. I can catch him fairly easily in the cage and he LOVES to be held.

Just before posting this, I had him out of his cage with me sitting on the couch watching TV and he just sat in my arms or on my lap while petting him and he fell asleep in my arms! He didn't try to get away at all and I barely needed to hold him but I did have a hold of the base of his tail incase but I really didn't need to.

This seems like strange chinnie behavior to me because usually they don't like to be held long. Is this just possibly his personality? I don't want to jump to the gun thinking somethings wrong but it just seems so strange only having them for 4 days and he's fine with whatever I do and enjoying my company. He's eating, drinking, pooing normal, normal crazy chin behavior in his cage and while playing outside of his cage in the playpen.

Am I just worrying to much?? He's such a sweetheart like this so i'm hoping i'm just being dumb!
 
Some chins, though it's pretty rare, are content just to sit and hang out with you. As long as he's otherwise active and is eating/drinking/pooping normal, he's fine.
 
yes, he's otherwise active when he's playing around with Kiwi and eating and drinking normally and haven't noticed anything abnormal with his poop or any poop in the cage.

I guess i'm just shocked, he's shy but he's such a sweetheart and likes to just hang out with me. Guess I picked up that rare little chinnie!
 
I don't have a lap chin. Although that would be nice. But one of my boys will jump into my hands or let me scoop him up. Your so lucky!
 
Both of our chins are lap chins!

We are ZZ's second owners, and his first owner was a young girl who handled him constantly from the day she got him. I think he was so young when she started it, he just got used to it and really likes it now. He is also very vocal when he is out. It's really cute.

Marble took some time, but after several years likes to get her lap time too. She is different about it though, in that you can't just reach in and pick her up. She has to be the one to initiate it or she gets all huffy and kacky. Such a spoiled little drama queen...
 
Venus will sit on your lap and be petted, Blitzen refuses to even stay in your arms without restraint though, so it will never work with her. With the new boys however, Asher hates being held but loves to be scratched and loves playtime. Ten o'clock will sleep the whole day even if the handyman is there using his power saw and nail gun... :neener: (how he got his name) so you can put him on your lap and he will just sit there and eventually fall asleep again. Then he wakes up around 10 and acts like a normal chinchilla. :))
 
Ya, Spyro will run around a little before picking him up but it doesn't seem like he's trying to run away but more like playing. He has a routine, he'll jump to each ledge and come around the one up by the hammock. then when he's jumped to each one and back to that one, he'll either let me pick him up or walk into my hand.

Kiwi is different. She's friendly and nosey. She'll come running to the door when i'm in front of the cage and stick her little chubby nose out when I open the door and just sit there while i scratch behind her ear. she loves that but she'd rather not be picked up most of the time but loves the attention.

BamBam and Domo are both still working on trusting me but it seems since I've gotten Kiwi and Spyro, they have been wanting to be near me more. maybe a little jelous that I hold Spyro so much just because he loves it and I can't help but hold him all the time! I just can't help it. that cute little ebony face and his soft fur, how can I NOT take advantage of him loving to hang out with me! BamBam is sort of like that once I get a hold of him and have him in my arms but he just doesn't like the initial being caught part so thats why I don't hold him often. I don't like chasing him around the cage.
 
Ruby said:
Venus will sit on your lap and be petted, Blitzen refuses to even stay in your arms without restraint though, so it will never work with her. With the new boys however, Asher hates being held but loves to be scratched and loves playtime. Ten o'clock will sleep the whole day even if the handyman is there using his power saw and nail gun... :neener: (how he got his name) so you can put him on your lap and he will just sit there and eventually fall asleep again. Then he wakes up around 10 and acts like a normal chinchilla. :))
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lol thats cute about ten o'clock!!

He's got that time set in his head. It's like he says I'll be a lap chin but at 10, theres just no way and i'm going to have my fun, lol.
 
so it turns out that 2 out of my 4 chin are 'lap chins'

I never really pushed BamBam to be held and haven't really done a lot of it since I got him. He doesn't mind coming up to my hand while I'm sitting by his cage but has only really jumped on my hand a few times and thats it, otherwise he'd rather just sniff and groom my hand.

Well today while I was changing out liners, I was trying to pet him and he ran and ended up right in the way of my other hand so I just grabbed him and held him up to my chest and he was content as ever just staying there. So I walked out to the living room and sat on the couch like I do with Spyro, and wouldn't you know it, he sat there with me for a good 15 minutes until I had to leave for dinner.

My 2 standards, Kiwi and Domo, on the other hand, just rather be loved from inside the cage. Kiwi loves when i scratch her behind he ears, under the chin or just a nice little 'massage' all down her back but rather not be picked up at all and same with Domo. He is very social and loves to be nosey when i'm around and during play time he hops all over me but just doesn't like being held long, like normal chins i guess lol.

How crazy that i have 2 lap chins out of 4, i must say, i'm taking full advantage and I love it! Catching BamBam is the worst though because I don't want to chase him around the cage and scare him but the 2 times I got him out today were just kind of spur of the moment and just happened to be in the right spot of the cage at the right time to get him. We'll see how he gets in the future with letting me catch him.. maybe now that he likes just hanging out with me, he won't mind being caught to do so.
 
WOW! I consider myself blessed....all the chins I've ever owned have all been lap chins! the three I own now are like that, I even managed to convert my newest edition to be a lap chin and she came from a different state where her owner had hundreds of chinnies! Milo rides on my shoulder and allows me to put him on his back and rock him, also he come's to his name and sits in my lap for hours while I'm watching tv or on my laptop.....maybe he's not a chinchilla lol! I've had him for 3yrs and he's been this way ever since I gained his trust about a month after bringing him home.
 
Sigh. Some people have all the luck. I love my squirmy little chins but I would love to one day have a lap chin rather than ones that just tolerate being held. Oh, well. A girl can dream.
 
I have one lap chin, whenever I open the cage he hops out into my lap and just snuggles in- If I put him back or set him down in his playpen before he's ready to stop snuggling he kacks at me lol! I've even stay outside his playpen once in a while so he will just run around (obviously watch from outside it).
My other one not so much, he's not too fond of most touch- they all have their own personalities! Most aren't lap pets like a lot of people have already said, once in a while you'll come across one- or maybe they will decide to be later on- my lap chin didn't start really being like that for about a year
 
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