They'll hate you forevverrr

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tcraighenry

tcraighenry

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 1, 2011
Messages
728
Location
Portland, OR
We're having a heck of a time getting Vincenza to let us pick her up. Right now it's a lot of bribery, patience and some chasing around a cage. ("I have treats," *try to scoop, she runs off* into infinity)

She's definitely more leery for a bit after and it breaks my heart! But I have no idea how to train her that being picked up is ok beyond doing it and then giving her a treat. She trusts me enough to leap on me and take food from my hands, just not the whole picking up thing.

But I keep reading that if they have a bad pick up experience then they hate you forever. For lack of a better term! Tell me I'm not the only one doing epic fail pick ups.

:hair:
 
I've had my 2 chins for about 4 1/2 months now. They were close to a year old give or take a few months when they came to live with me. Neither one likes me or my daughter to pick them up, which we feel we need to do for playtime since it is upstairs in the hallway and bathroom from where their cage is. We put them in a cat carrier and lug them up and down the stairs! Once they are in the hallway with us, they run about and climb on us and jump over or under our legs and back depending on our lying or sitting positions, so it seems they don't hate us. We only take them out a couple of times a week for playtime, and once a week for cage cleaning. They just hate getting picked up.

We're getting better at catching them, but I don't bribe them or anything. We just take out the wooden boxes they can hide in so it's a little easier for us to get to them. One of them nips at us whenever we go to pet her, but she will sit on my arm if I just put it in the cage and rest my hand across on the shelf.

Who knows what they are thinking, but I'm getting comfortable with the situation, and will not worry if they hate me or not, as long as we all get into our routine!
 
All 4 of my girls don't want to be picked up. 1 of em is more tolerant once she is in my arms because she was hand feed and tummy massaged through ilness but still trys to run away inside her cage and kecks at me too lol but by far she is my most cuddly chin. She will come cuddle me fall asleep on me give me kisses and doesn't mind when I rough her up.
One girl likes to be on me but FLIPS out when I touch her and picking her up and trying to catch her is a nightmare.
My biggest girl doesn't like being picked up and feels like a small dog when I do pick her up lol
And my last girl still doesn't want to be picked up but tolerates it slightly more than her sister.

Long story short non of em want to be picked up ever, 3 of them will play with my hands and one of them freaks out at being touched but is usually the first to jump in my lap if I have a treat lol
 
Some of my chins are had to catch inside the cage. When I do catch them I can hold some of them or they just sit on my lap.
 
I had a really terrible pick-up experience with Flea early on, and he is still not a fan of being picked up, but it is just a matter of taking it slow. I have slowly gotten him to trust me enough that I can scratch him all over, but he still kacks when I get near his tail- it is just a matter of distracting him with scritches and grabbing the base of the tail. Now he just goes limp when I do that.
 
Most of my chins don't like to be picked up. they come to the front of the cage, give kisses, get scratched, etc and they are all fine with being held and they don't want me to put them down once I have them in my arms (they jump back into my arms when I set them down on something). They just don't like what comes in between "Hi, mom, I love you" and "Don't put me down and just leave me." None of them seem to be traumatized by me just reaching in and catching them.
 
I have taught all of my chins that if they want to come out for playtime, they have to walk into my hands and then I will lift them down to the floor. I still am not HOLDING them, but they are sitting on my hands which I think is the first step. Only one of my chins doesn't mind being held, and that's because I held him since he was a day old. So in the case of a typical chin (my other three), it's just a matter of time and patience, and still some chins will probably freak out forever if you try and hold them.

I would try and not chase them around the cage to hold them. Try and get in the habit of having them come to you when you come to the cage. One of my chins is pretty lazy and doesn't always want to come out for playtime, so if she doesn't come to my hands when I open her door, I don't let her out that night.

Since they probably won't trust coming out onto your hands at first, try having them come to their dust house, and then carry them down in that. I don't know about you, but that is the only way I am able to get them to go back to their cages without chasing them. I don't think I've had to chase any of my chins in quite some time now because they are so used to the routine of only getting their dust bath after playtime, so it's their reward for letting me put them back in their cage.
 
None of mine like to be picked up either. I got Ari to walk into my arms for the first time this week and when he realized that we were moving away from the cage he tried to get back in. This is my boy who will happily hang out on my shoulder and who I have held since the day he was born. He also doesn't like to go back after play time. His favorite game is "keep away" when I am trying to catch him to put him back. Moya is the same way and the other three don't like to be handled at all. Sobek and Talyn will let me pet their heads and give them treats. Talyn gets excited when he sees me but neither want my hand past their nose. Kallel just doesn't want anything to do with me at all and will only sometimes take an apple stick from me, through the bars.

She won't hate you forever but she may never like being picked up.
 
Unless u try to take a bite out of them i doubt they would hate you :p

PI got my boys bout 6 months ago and they still wont let me pick them up.
Pikachu hates bein picked up against his will. He only lets me pet him when he relizes im not gonna grab him.
While Kiwi lives in the top of the FN142. He is afraid to jump down so i have my hands against the cage so he can crawl on and i lower him down. He usually gets to excited and only puts his front paws on my hands and when i dont go down he gets mad and bounces around then comes back over and does it again. It usually takes 2-5 mins for him to understand what im doin and he will crawl on completely and ill lower him down.
Its a start at least..​
 
Thank god I'm not the only one having problems getting them to be picked up! It's exasperating sometimes. She's more than happy to chew my eyebrows and sniff my mouth. But being picked up? No.
 
I handle all my chinchillas every day, none have issues being picked up or held. The more you handle them the faster they tame.
 
She gets handled every day. Just not picked up since she sees it as traumatic. But no problem climbing on my hands, feeling/grooming my face, running up my arm or getting scritches. Just the whole scooping thing.

I guess I'm more worried about the trust thing. I'm hoping all the "bad experience with being picked up will make them not trust you forever" is hyperbole.
 
I handle all my chinchillas every day, none have issues being picked up or held. The more you handle them the faster they tame.
Click to expand...
This! Yes!

Don't avoid picking up your chinchilla - do it a lot. The more you do, the faster they learn to be ok with it.

There are three things I tell people who get chins from me.

1. Never put a chinchilla down when it is struggling. They learn that struggle means instant release, and it only takes a couple times before they're throwing an all out tantrum if you hold on. You will find within a few days if you don't let go but release your "grip" when they calm, that they sit with you for longer and longer periods. Some can really throw a fit the first few times, don't be afraid.

2. Don't pull back when they nibble on you. Same as above, they learn incredibly fast that nibbling makes the hands move out of their way and it can escalate into biting very quickly. I have only had two chins returned in 15 years and both times it was because the owners "taught" them to bite. Sometimes you have to take one for the team and when they do get their teeth in you, blow in their face and they will release.

3. This deeply repetitive and intelligent nature makes them extremely easy to trick train! If you walk by and give them a treat at the same time every day, start saying their name. By the end of the week you can say their name and they'll come charging to the top for a treat. You can teach them to jump, spin, follow your lead and dance by a little repetitive treating.

Most importantly, have fun with it, and don't be afraid of handling them. :))
 
Spoof said:
This! Yes!

Don't avoid picking up your chinchilla - do it a lot. The more you do, the faster they learn to be ok with it.

There are three things I tell people who get chins from me.

1. Never put a chinchilla down when it is struggling. They learn that struggle means instant release, and it only takes a couple times before they're throwing an all out tantrum if you hold on. You will find within a few days if you don't let go but release your "grip" when they calm, that they sit with you for longer and longer periods. Some can really throw a fit the first few times, don't be afraid.

2. Don't pull back when they nibble on you. Same as above, they learn incredibly fast that nibbling makes the hands move out of their way and it can escalate into biting very quickly. I have only had two chins returned in 15 years and both times it was because the owners "taught" them to bite. Sometimes you have to take one for the team and when they do get their teeth in you, blow in their face and they will release.

3. This deeply repetitive and intelligent nature makes them extremely easy to trick train! If you walk by and give them a treat at the same time every day, start saying their name. By the end of the week you can say their name and they'll come charging to the top for a treat. You can teach them to jump, spin, follow your lead and dance by a little repetitive treating.

Most importantly, have fun with it, and don't be afraid of handling them. :))
Click to expand...

I love being nibbled. Best exfoliant ever :) But I think that's more of the grooming behavior?

I'll have to remember the biting thing. I do pull away when she kacks and bites. She doesn't bite as strongly as she used to, where she almost broke the skin.

I'll have to start picking her up more! I think she might sense my anxiety too. Someone recommended holding them close but not tightly so they feel safe. She does calm down pretty quickly when I do that, and then straight to trying to eat my clothes!

They are pretty bright. I have a little treat bag full of roses I got from someone on here. It makes a crackling sound, when that thing comes out she's all over the place. And the clink of her bowl against the cage makes her go crazy for her bath.

Thanks for the advice!
 
Ok I took one for team. :( After reading to handle them more so they get used to me... have to agree it worked. They seem go like me more. ChiChi nibbled once or twice okay no big deal, but a couple of days ago he bit me! No nibble as a warning before, he goes right for the bite. Who know, the can bite like that (my guinea pigs, hamsters or rabbits never did). The blood started running out, still thinking don't let him win, but there is so much blood have to put him back in the cage, because now the blood is getting on the pretty white chinchilla - don't want to mess up the fur. Good to know he won't hate me forever, but I am done taking one for the team. :) Guess he thinks that's his way out now, how can I switch it back to be the boss? Finger is back to normal, we can start over, but might have to get those gloves.
 
You have to get back on the horse and handle them, biting, spraying, kacking whatever they do don't stop what you are doing or they know they won. They are much better pets and happier when they don't have to worry all the time that you are going to eat them. And think about this, would you want to have to hand feed this untame chin if needed? Its much easier to deal with a tame sick chin than a untame sick pi$$sed off chin.
 
My chin has gotten angry with me at times and will kack at me to let me know it, but nothing has ever happened to make her distrust me or to break our bond. But I took things slowly with her when I first got her, I let her set the bonding pace, and we became very bonded.

That being said, though, she will not let me pick her up. I can hold her in my lap and she will use me as a play toy, but she does not want to be picked up and I respect that. So I don't try. Every chin has its own personality. What works for one may not work for another.
 
Vincenza's getting a lot better but it's still a total pain. I might just be getting better at it too. She doesn't mind being held, she calms down immediately. Just getting her is a problem.

But like @ticklechin above. My fear is she'll get sick and then we won't be able to get a hold of her without stressing her out.
 
Mine are all really good, in different degrees. Silver lets you pick him up no matter where he is, even if it is during playtime and he could run away if he wanted to. Sid literally throws himself at my chest when I open his cage so I have to catch him, he doesnt like being picked up if all four of his feet are on the ground but if he puts his front paws on my chest I can easily scoop him up under the bum and he sits there like a little baby for as long as I hold him. Dragon pretends that we are going to eat him and popcorns as soon as you go to pick him up but the second I have a treat he is the best one to hold, you can hold him in one hand, as long as he can nibble his treat :)
 
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