Recent change in behavior

[Batcow]

Hey,

My Chinchilla has recently started to change her behavior which has me somewhat concerned. When we first go her she was the sweetest thing jumping all around the room, sitting our laps sometimes she would even get on our shoulders/head. We hadn't Chin proofed the room back than so she was only allowed in the hallway. We found time to Chin proof the living room where her cage is a few weeks ago. Now she has the entire living room for herself to run around in.

The problem is she won't run in the room. As soon as we open her cage doors she will run out and make a dash for the couch. She will crouch under it and she will stay there till well forever. She will not get out under it. We had to move the couch the first several days to get her back into the cage. The following days we made it so she couldn't get under the couch anymore, so she would hopefully run/play in the room. Sadly this hasn't worked it either. She will spend her time out of the cage trying to find ways of getting under the couch. There's just no stopping her, she's obsessed with getting under the couch. She's even starting to become aggressive. When you get in her way she or try to stop her from getting under couch she will try to bite us. We've tried basically everything from ignoring her to putting her back in the hallway (we've even bought a new couch). Nothing snaps her out of her obsession.

I was hoping anyone here might have an idea on how to solve this problem?

 

[Shenanigans]

She could be scared of something in the room and is trying to hide. Chins do like trying to get into things they know they aren't supposed to though. You could try getting a bunch of chin safe stuff to try to distract her- my chin doesn't really chew/eat cardboard so he's got a bunch of boxes to go in/jump around on while supervised (I hope to eventually get a wood jungle gym thing built for him to replace the boxes) Maybe if she's got something else to distract/interest her she wont care about going under the couch?

 

[Newt]

Is she chewing on the underside of the couch? They do get that sort of crazy single-minded fixation on chewing certain things. Could you just use cardboard to block all around the couch, so she cant get under it?

 

[Batcow]

We've tried putting stuff like boxes and wooden makeshift play stuff in the living room. Sadly this doesn't work for very long, she will be interested in it for like 10 minutes than she gets bored with it and will either try to forcibly move it out of her sight or just ignore it in general.

At first we did block the couch with cardboard but she figured out fairly quickly she can rip that apart in a couple of seconds. We than tried boarding up the with wooden planks. It worked for a little while but she will constantly try to chew her way trough the planks, making a total mess of the living room. We removed the wooden planks and now use pillow and towels that are lodged under the couch. This works fine cause she is unable to chew trough it nor pull it out. Problem is she is still trying to get under the couch. Few days ago she somehow managed to get between the radiator and crawled her way behind the couch via the radiator.

Tomorrow we are going to try moving the furniture around a bit to see if that works.

 

[Carleigh]

While I can absolutely see how this can be frustrating, I can't help but giggle at the thought of her taking desperate measures to just get under that couch!! Are there other pieces of furniture in the room that she could crawl under? I'm thinking that maybe she does want to hide and since she has been under there before, she knows that it may provide protection. I used to take my chinchilla out to run and he would always make a bee-line for the bed and just sit there, out of my reach from every direction. He wouldn't chew anything, just hang out.

 

[sheri7]

You might try getting one one these play pens http://www.marshallpet.com/products/38/Homes/deluxe-play-pen
I have one and it works great. You just put it around where you don't want her to get in. Don't bother getting the cover.

I think chins get scared in big open places. Maybe your living room is too big. They like to hide in and under things. I also have long PVC tubes on the floor for my chins to play/ hide in when they are out. Good luck

 

[scottf]

I think this is natural actually. Chins are animals that in the natural world have many preditors and they instinctually want to be safe. The couch probably makes them feel very safe and they like to be there. My chinchilla has a bedroom with many chairs and other things and she is always moving from underneith on thing to the other. This isn't a behavior I would worry about. Once she feels safe she will come out and visit and you may have to sit on the floor for her to do so. They might like to hang out under things and only make occasional apperances.

 

[david]

you just put her in a new environment she needs to get use to it . Also chins in the wild line In rock crevices she naturally like that. its dark and safe for her . next time you let her out lower the light and leave her alone she will come out and start to look around .hope this helps.