New Chinchilla Behavior Questions

[kristen_w01]

Hello, I am new to the forum and new to owning my first chinchilla. My chinchilla(Gizmo) is 11 weeks old and I have had him for two weeks now. He is an adorable little guy and I am already growing attached to him. But I just have a few questions to those willing to help me. So first off he started off not biting, then he would start to do a little nibbling but recently it has grown to a bite. He has drawn blood only once, but when I put my hand in his cage he will come up and it's okay then he will start biting. We have been letting him out to play, not too long but for a little while, and recently I read that you shouldn't let them out until they are 6 months old. I am not sure if this is true or not so if someone could confirm I would appreciate it. But since starting to let him out every time I open the cage he tries to jump out even off the highest level. He will try to jump over my hand and if I stop him he will start biting, could this be the reason he is biting or can it be something else. Those are my main concerns right now, and I just want him to like us back. If anyone could help we would much appreciate it. Thank You

 

[jess32247]

Do your hands smell like food or something sweet? Try giving him a stern no when he bites, but don't remove your hand from the cage because that shows him he can get his way all the time. Yes, he could be biting you because he wants out of the cage, even my girl does that. Keep bonding with him, two weeks is such a short time to own a chin! Praise him when he does good!

As for playtime, people have mixed opinions on it. Imo chins under 6 months shouldn't have playtime at all. They are still growing and need all the calories they can get at this point. And how extremely clumsy they are, kits shouldn't have a full cage when they are young so why should they have playtime? You take so many preparations in the cage alone, like making sure the bar spacing is right, ledges are close enough together ect. A lot of people don't put wheels in there cage at this time either, so why play time? lol Another big reason I'm aganist it is because the kit doesn't know when to stop, meaning they can run themselves into heat exhaustion very easily. I don't think anyone wants to bring there pet to the ER at the vet's office for something that could of been easily avoided.

 

[perabalaofmystery]

my chins used to be kinda nippy to. they were a mix of taste testing/nervous/wanting something / stressed i think.
i made sure they knew it was bad by gentle scolding. i also made sure my hands didnt smell like food. and kept trying to bond with them. it took over 4 months for my shyest chin to warm up to me and now shes my favourite chin. and im her favourite.

you chin is still adjusting to its new life and is probably not used to its surroundings. like jess mentiond just keep at it.


i would agree with at the very least limiting play time till your chin is 6 months old.
i personally wouldnt want to risk a chin hurting/exhausting / overheating itself .
my chins are almost a year old and they still overexert themselves occasionally.

and in the long run not letting your chin out to play for 6 months of its life really isnt alot when you consider their lifespan. youll have years to play with them in the future.

imo with babies and kits. safety first.

 

[Bundalo]

Most of ours only nip when our hands smell of food, or when we're holding them and they want to be put down, but it's never come close to drawing blood. I think if ours got to that level of aggravation they would be expressing their displeasure in other ways first. Given they all have their own distinct personalities, though, I couldn't say for sure.

We let our surprise kit have playtime with her mommy in a well-supervised and suitably chin-proofed area, but it took rather extraordinary measures to try and make it so. She could get into, over, under and around ANYTHING.