Not up for playtime?

[kenko]

So Mips seems to go through phases where he's just not interested in playtime--a couple days a week, he'll only hop out, run around the room a couple of times, sometimes popcorn, and go right back into his cage. Sometimes he doesn't come out at all, but there are also days where he seems super excited to be out--there doesn't seem to be an observable pattern that I can identify. He has a chin-proof playroom, and I try my best not to make startling or sudden movements so I don't think it's because he's frightened of me--he grooms me a lot when I put my hand in the cage, and likes to sit on my leg when he does decide to come out...

I try to keep playtime at the same time every night, and on days that he's not interested in coming out, I'll just sit with him for the duration of playtime with the door to his cage open. It used to be that he'd sit by his door and wait for me to open the cage, but since we moved his cage to the basement for the summer (he's back in his chin-room now that it's chilly weather) he just hasn't been that interested in playtime. There's been no change in weight, wood-chewing, or eating/drinking habits, so I'm just kind of stumped, and a little sad! Does anyone else have a chinchilla who doesn't like playtime?

 

[e.murphy518]

Some chins just have different personalities. As long as his weight, eating and drinking habits, and overall activity level arent declining, my guess would be you just have a moody chin! I would take him out when he wants to be let out but not try to force it if he doesn't.

 

[obcsed]

I have one female much like that. Sometimes she comes out, runs around for about 10 minutes, takes her dust bath and then goes back to bed. Other times I have to chase her back into her cage when her hour is up. With her, it seems to be temperature related. If it is really cool in the room, she plays long and hard. If it is warmer, she get done quickly.

 

[Chinmama]

Marble is the same way. She doesn't really care for playtime and is content to stay in her cage 24/7. Sometimes she'll come out and play, and sometimes she refuses.

 

[Alatrye]

It's true that all Chins are different; with mine, he'll come zooming out of his cage, find a spot in one of the rooms and then lie down on the carpet for half an hour to an hour in a state of non-activity. Then suddenly, he'll start running around the three (chinchilla-friendly) rooms like crazy! After about 20 minutes, he'll stay in another spot and have another inactive spurt. So as long as everything is fine with your Chinchilla's health, it sounds like everything seems ok.

 

[kenko]

Thanks for the responses! It's good to know that he's not the only moody chin out there!