Questions about playtimes

[sheena lee]

Hey everyone! I'm new here, and new to the chinchilla world!

I got my first chinchilla, Chester, a week ago. He's 4 months old, and super cute! He's a mosaic, with mostly white and a little bit of grey on his face and back/tail.

He lets us pet him (sometimes) and has never barked at me or my boyfriend, though he doesn't like to be held by us. The people we got him from could hold him though, so we have faith he'll eventually come around.

The only problem I'm having is that he wants out of his cage SO bad. It's pretty big and I give him a bunch of toys... lots of wood chew things, cut up toilet paper rolls (so they make rings, he likes them I think because he can carry them around) and he seems to have fun running in his cage, but sometimes he chews the bars like crazy and just wants out.

I've let him out a couple times in the bathroom, which has worked out well enough. The tricky part is getting him there and back, since he doesn't like to be held. And he's not very chinchilla-like in the fact that he doesn't like hidey houses or tubes. He used to enjoy jumping onto my lap while I sat in my chair in front of the cage... Until yesterday, when he got away from me and escaped under my bed. After several hours it became clear he wasn't going to let us get to him (I sat with him just watching as he ran around, letting him trust me not to grab at him), so we put the cage on the floor and took apart the bed, since it was 3am and we couldn't wait any longer for him. With nowhere else to go he hoped nonchalantly into his cage. *sigh*

Now I can barely open the cage door without him making a run for it, much less have him hop onto my lap! I also fear that the whole ordeal made him trust me less.

What are some other playtime options? I want him to get out of the cage, and I feel so guilty when he obviously wants out... Sometimes I'll open the upper door and let him try to grab the end of a t-shirt or wiggle some hay for him to catch... But now that he got a taste of freedom I'm just afraid he'll make a break for it. I think I need a play pen or something where I can sit with him... but they're so so expensive!

What else can I do?

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

Any chinchilla under 6 months old should not have out of cage playtime or a wheel. They need those calories they would be burning off to grow and develop.

 

[sheena lee]

Well, that's good to know! I'll keep him in then, with exception to dust baths (which can't be done in my bedroom) and cage cleaning!

 

[Godofgods]

my chins will try to make a break for it to. It can be hard to deal with some times. I open the door and three chins rush me lol. Earlier today my one chin jumped straight off his shelf out of the cage.... and into the trash can i had at the opening... You do learn their habits and impuleses eventuly tho, and kinda sence when their about to try something.

 

[danilinn]

Try to distract him with a fresh stick. Jonesy's 3 months, and her goal in life thus far is to get out of her cage and into the bathroom undetected.
I make sure all the doors are shut before I open her cage door for chatting, petting, nibbling, nuzzling.
I wanted to let her out to play a little, too, at first, but the more I see her hopping and running and climbing her cage, the more I think she would really exhaust herself.

You might want to look at this, too: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27785

 

[danilinn]

and yes, he will make a break for it. don't chase him, though. (well, i mean, i guess i would if he were headed straight for an electrical cord, but it'll scare him if you do.)
if i have the door open, i try to block her exit with one arm. it has failed, but if you're expecting it, you can casually scoop him up.
oh, and you know only to hold the base of his tail, right? lower parts of the tail are no good for holding onto--they'll just lose that part of their tail (and i don't think it grows back).

 

[sheena lee]

I haven't chased him at all, but I've made a few grabs for him in the process of trying to get him back in his cage. He seems okay with me still though, so I don't think I frightened him too much!

And yeah I know not to grab his tail

 

[Brittany]

Use the dust bath as a way to catch him, works everytime. Agreed about the playtime, he doesn't need much if any for another few months.

Kits are pesky little creatures, he knows he gets attention when he begs to come out, so he's testing the waters to see how far you'll go. Don't let him upset you

 

[danilinn]

i like the dust bath idea, though Jonesy got out and went under the end table the night before last, and i just sat down on the floor a few feet from her and patted my leg and asked her to come to me.
i was utterly shocked when this worked. she was bummed to be picked up and put back in her cage, but she didn't fuss.

 

[sheilaandroses]

When he's old enough to play, there are some good ways to catch him during playtime. You can take his dust bath and put it on the floor, and when he goes in it cover it with your hand and put him in his cage. My chinchilla Kodah is super easy to catch, because I have this crinkly bag that makes a ton of noise whenever I'm using it, so I put all of his treats in there and after a few weeks he knew that the crinkling of the bag meant he gets a treat. Every time I crinkle the bag he comes running full speed and jumps on my lap, and I give him the treat and swoop him up. After about five months, he lets me swoop him up without running away or anything. Good luck with your new chin!

 

[xcdnchinx]

If you have only had him for a week you should give him some time to adjust to his new enviroment before letting him out.

 

[partygirlha]

if he's still trying to get out whne you open the cage doors, you might want to get a play pen sooner rather than later. Playpens (store bought or homemade) can be set up around the cage before open the doors - so if he does run/jump out there's a limit to how far he can get, or how much trouble he can get into.

 

[anthonypangs]

Hey I had this exact same question! I am rather new so im up for any corrections if im doing anything wrong. But yeah I knew it tok a lot of patience to get them to trust me and i thought having to catch them when they got out to play made me lose their trust. Then I heard about play pens, but they are so expensive so i decided to make my own . It was rather simple: I took a bunch of big cardboard boxes that I had laying around and cut them up until they were just giant, flat pieces of cardboard. I then stood them up and taped them together only taped one side so that the chinchillas cant get it at). My cage is set up in a room that is connected to the kitchen, office, living room, upstairs, etc. so i barely let them free run( unless i block off the entrances to each room with a box or something.) Anyways, so after i finished making a big play pen, I open their doors(btw my cage is a two part ferret nation cage, which is about 5 feet tall) and sit and wait. They will usually come out aand jsut start running and jumping around. They will occasionally stand on their hind legs and try to make a jump for it, but i made my playpen pretty high because i know my chins can jump REALLY HIGH lol( ive had to remake the pen about 3 times because they always jump over it). And eventually they will climb back in their cage to drink water, eat, or just to go in. If only one goes in it ry to stand near the door so they cant get out and then i jsut wait for the other one. Once they find their way back into the cage, they should start doing it more. It took my chinchillas about an hour until they figured out that they could go back in lol. But yeah, now i dont have to catch them and frantically chase them around to get them back in their cage. The pen allows a ton of bonding time! I have only had my chins for 3 months, bur they are adopted( about 3 years old). They seemed really afraid of people in general but they are starting to warm up to me. They love using my shoulders and arms as a jungle gym;D! but yeah hope this helped!

 

[RockWrapsody]

Izzy reacts to the plastic baggies that his treats are in! I have put his wood sticks in the same baggies so he thinks they are treats as well. Sometimes he will just take the stick, drop it off the shelf onto the bottom of the cage and then come back to get a
real treat!