taming confusion

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excaliber

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Jun 18, 2013
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This is my first post so here goes......

I am a proud new owner of an older chin but her age is unknown..
The woman I got her from said that she was very tame when worked with on a daily basis.... but then became skittish after she didnt play with her everyday.
She had her for 6 years or more. Had kids. Got married. Moved. Etc.
She seemed genuine in her description when I arrived to meet my potential first chin.. the house was clean and the cage is of good quality with all necessities she could use.(this indicated to me mostly proper care) or from what I could tell.

I could see that she was nervous when the lady went to pick her up but once in my arms she didnt tremble and didnt really try to escape right off the bat.. I thought " oh good at least shes this tame .."
But I knew better than to just go chasing her around the cage from day one after bri ging her home
Ive done alot of research into bonding and taming and I have started from the beginning for the most part.

I offer my hand in the cage and let her come to me.
After a few days now I can give her raisins out the palm of my hand and she gladly approaches and takes them. I have gotten as far as to have her rest the top part of her body on my hand while letting her chew some applewood im holding with my other hand.
She comes to the door of the cage now when I approach most times
But as much as she appears to want to come out of the cage to interact ....she freaks out if I try to slowly stroke behind the ears or rub under the chin while givint her a treat. :( I understand that maybe she might not ever like being held ..but the way she reacts to being touched is almost like she turns toward my hand very quickly..and dosent bite but the way she does this and then sniffs ...but then shell turn right back around to continue knawing on the wood contently...im confused

She also made a grunt noise today while coming toward my hand..but then proceeded to eat a treat and investigate my hands as usual.. she DOES give me the Investigational painless soft nip from time to time..but then last night she nipped a few times in succession and then got a little harder. At witch point I didnt flintch.. I just raised my voice a tiny bit from the soft tones I was using. She stopped immediately..

Am I moving in the right direction here?
 
It just takes time for them to come around. I still have a few that do the same things as yours does now. What I can say is just keep doing what your doing the more consistent you are with her the better cause she will come around.

Another thing you can do is if you can get you and yourself in a room that she can't get out of or a dog pen and just sit with her and let her run all over you and going slowly try and pet her to show her that its ok that she sits and plays around you.

You can also try and pick her up gently and walk around with her close to you one hand under bum while you kinda message the back of her neck lightly.

Just remember that once your done give her a treat as to say its ok to trust you.

I hope this helps.
 
I wouldn't give raisins because they are very high in sugar and one of my boys got diarrhea from dried fruit. I have a boy who was a returned pet and not used to being petted or having out time. It took a few months for him to come around but he never likes to be held. He will sit on us but not as much as our other two. Also I would use the same term to let her know if she is nipping so she associated what you are saying with the action. Other than that you are doing just as I would.
 
Thanks for the help. Im wanting to let her out to explore but im afraid of setting back our progress if I have to chase her to pick her up to go back Into the cage. I read somewhere that you shouldnt let them out to run around if they cannot even be picked up. Is this correct?
 
Weve made good progress tonight! She jumped out of her cage and onto me ! She loves my hair apparantly. I allowed her to jump back in the cage so she could be on me on her terms. She also let me stroke behind her left ear and on the jawline but any further back and she quickly turned like she was about to bite but didnt.
She was also very chatty as she was exploring me. Not sure if it was a warning chirp but she kept coming back to me on her own
 
I love scratching my chin behind the ears and along the jawline as well. Read from somewhere that it's known as "the spot". They seem to enjoy it a lot as if it is a massage to them.

If she starts nibbling your hand, it should mean that she loves you and trusts you already. Stroking the back of a chin usually takes time so don't rush it. Eventually it will happen so don't worry too much!
 
Give her some time. I think you are making very good progress, she sounds like a sweet chinchilla. Whenever a chin goes to a new home it sort of resets the way the chin feels about people. They have to get used to a brand new place AND learn to trust their new humans. Sometimes it will take a few weeks or even a few months for a chin to fully settle in. This is what makes adult chins more difficult than babies. Babies are usually super happy to go anywhere new and are more trusting. :)

You'll have to keep us updated on her progress. One thing though, pull your hair back away from the chin. I had an incident where a chin chewed my hair off on one side and it took quite awhile for it to grow back! I stood up after having my sweet little chinnie on my shoulder and I saw my hair fall to the floor. (It wasn't THAT much hair but it made it necessary to cut bangs to even it out...)
 
I have been using her apple wood sticks. But I would like to offer her different kinds of treats. What are other tasty things I can offer that wont hurt her?
 
I'm happy that she did that to you. It's awesome that she is becoming more relaxed with you. It all just takes time and patience. I have learned that this far with my chins. They all have their own personality and will try different things to see what they can do. Persistence is the key to everything.
 
We don't give many treats but the ones we do are old fashioned quaker oats, shredded wheat and rose hips. We only give one treat a day and they know the time because all three boys are glued to their favorite treat spot.
 
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