B
BaxterJoy
Guest
My husband and I have had our chinchilla, Baxter, for month now, and we LOVE him! We got him from a pet store (which I know is not "recommended" but we just couldn't leave him there!). Just bare with me. I want to say all that I can...
I’m happy to say that most of Baxter’s adjustments have been coming along really well. He's drinking and eating healthy, pooping healthy, and becoming more and more comfortable. He has come to relish his daily play time outside his cage which is evident in his constant wall surfing and popcorning and all the happy sounds. Now that some wonderful adjustments are underway, I’m still faced with my current dilemma.
I’m having a little bit of trouble settling on a method of getting him back in his cage after his play time is over. For almost everything else, I’ve been able to find helpful answers. However, everything I’ve read about “coaxing” your chinchilla back into his cage hasn’t really worked with Baxter. He’s too smart for his own good!! It’s like he knows the difference between when we’re just offering him a treat or dust bath out of love, and when we’re doing it to get him back in his home! I’m SURE that it’s because of his year long stay at the petstore that he still has a lot of anxiety about being held, caught, or even handled. The reason I say this is because I saw an example of why that might be on the day before we bought him! I actually told the guy who was “helping” us at the petstore to “Put the chinchilla down and leave him alone!” The guy had chased Baxter around his home until he pinned him up against the corner in order to catch him and once he did, he stood there in front of us holding Baxter in the air, gripping his body while all four of Baxter’s little legs were flailing. It was awful! I know he didn't get much time to play while he was there which is probably why he LOVES it SOOOO much.
I’ve read a thousand different things about handling your chinchilla without causing stress – everything from “give a previously traumatized chinchilla ‘holding therapy’ for five to ten minutes a day no matter what to instill trust” to “be patient and let him come to you – never ever make advances toward him in order to build trust.” We’ve built enough trust with him in the last month that he now feels comfortable jumping on us, sniffing us, he doesn’t run and hide when we’re near him (unless he senses that play time is over), climbing all over us, or accepting treats which is all a huge improvement even from a couple of weeks ago. He lets us give him oodles of attention and affection while he’s IN his cage – he even comes up against the side of the cage seeking it. At first, when we tried to encourage him into our hands from the cage, he’d give a series of pressure bites to let us know he was annoyed, and then he would try to find a way to get down out of the cage by himself. We keep his cage in our bedroom, which unfortunately is not very chin proof with all it’s nuks and crannies and hidaways under the bed. So to this point, every night, we have just made a pathway leading to his chin-safe play area in the livingroom using things like a guitar case, a laundry basket, and computer bag. Building something every night is an inconvient alternative, but I really have been doing everything I can think of to avoid association with life at the petstore. I’m hopful that things will continue to improve over time, and that this part is included in that, but as of now, I’m still waiting to find an easier way to get him back in his cage without stressing him out! We’ve tried to aviod “catching” him, and when it’s a last resort, we make sure to give him a treat once we’re holding him, we hold him a bit giving him lots of gentle affection, and to calm him down before returning him to his cage. The last few nights, I’ve taken the opportunity to pick him up on one of his many hops on my lap. Even this doesn’t sit well with me because I have to do it so quickly and I hate the thought of startling him or possibly discouraging him from jumping onto our laps at all. Help! Maybe it's just a matter of time? I really don't want to be counter-productive, you know?
I’m happy to say that most of Baxter’s adjustments have been coming along really well. He's drinking and eating healthy, pooping healthy, and becoming more and more comfortable. He has come to relish his daily play time outside his cage which is evident in his constant wall surfing and popcorning and all the happy sounds. Now that some wonderful adjustments are underway, I’m still faced with my current dilemma.
I’m having a little bit of trouble settling on a method of getting him back in his cage after his play time is over. For almost everything else, I’ve been able to find helpful answers. However, everything I’ve read about “coaxing” your chinchilla back into his cage hasn’t really worked with Baxter. He’s too smart for his own good!! It’s like he knows the difference between when we’re just offering him a treat or dust bath out of love, and when we’re doing it to get him back in his home! I’m SURE that it’s because of his year long stay at the petstore that he still has a lot of anxiety about being held, caught, or even handled. The reason I say this is because I saw an example of why that might be on the day before we bought him! I actually told the guy who was “helping” us at the petstore to “Put the chinchilla down and leave him alone!” The guy had chased Baxter around his home until he pinned him up against the corner in order to catch him and once he did, he stood there in front of us holding Baxter in the air, gripping his body while all four of Baxter’s little legs were flailing. It was awful! I know he didn't get much time to play while he was there which is probably why he LOVES it SOOOO much.
I’ve read a thousand different things about handling your chinchilla without causing stress – everything from “give a previously traumatized chinchilla ‘holding therapy’ for five to ten minutes a day no matter what to instill trust” to “be patient and let him come to you – never ever make advances toward him in order to build trust.” We’ve built enough trust with him in the last month that he now feels comfortable jumping on us, sniffing us, he doesn’t run and hide when we’re near him (unless he senses that play time is over), climbing all over us, or accepting treats which is all a huge improvement even from a couple of weeks ago. He lets us give him oodles of attention and affection while he’s IN his cage – he even comes up against the side of the cage seeking it. At first, when we tried to encourage him into our hands from the cage, he’d give a series of pressure bites to let us know he was annoyed, and then he would try to find a way to get down out of the cage by himself. We keep his cage in our bedroom, which unfortunately is not very chin proof with all it’s nuks and crannies and hidaways under the bed. So to this point, every night, we have just made a pathway leading to his chin-safe play area in the livingroom using things like a guitar case, a laundry basket, and computer bag. Building something every night is an inconvient alternative, but I really have been doing everything I can think of to avoid association with life at the petstore. I’m hopful that things will continue to improve over time, and that this part is included in that, but as of now, I’m still waiting to find an easier way to get him back in his cage without stressing him out! We’ve tried to aviod “catching” him, and when it’s a last resort, we make sure to give him a treat once we’re holding him, we hold him a bit giving him lots of gentle affection, and to calm him down before returning him to his cage. The last few nights, I’ve taken the opportunity to pick him up on one of his many hops on my lap. Even this doesn’t sit well with me because I have to do it so quickly and I hate the thought of startling him or possibly discouraging him from jumping onto our laps at all. Help! Maybe it's just a matter of time? I really don't want to be counter-productive, you know?
