What should I do with my very scared chinchilla

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maelos

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2017
Messages
16
Hello, I bought my chinchilla 5 days ago.

She is very scared, she let me touch her if she isnt in her hideout and if I go very slow (she never tried to bite me so i guess it's a good sign)

But 99% of the time she won't get off her house and she will jump at any sudden movement i do (and I do my best not to do any, really)

I tried to give her apple but she won't eat any (from my hand or even if i leave it there) So the only way for me to tame her is to approach her which is impossible without scaring her. So I feel pretty stuck.

I just wonder what I should do to get her trust. Should I just wait it out ? Or try to make a move ? Right now I just tried to talk to her through the bars of the cage, without doing a movement, but i was so focused on not moving that when she moved it scared me so i scared her back and she kept doing whiny noises (the ones chinchilla do when they are scared) I'm starting to act like a chinchilla and get scared at any movement she does :laughitup:

I'm very scared to f**k up with her :S I'm also worried because since she is alone, she'll feel sad (I suppose ?) but I can't do anything about it because she doesn't want me around :S Any suggestions ?
 
Leave her be, chinchillas can take a few weeks to become acclimated to their new surroundings, she is normal. BTW, no apples, the sugar can wreak havoc on their digestive systems especially when stressed. A cheerio or plain shredded wheat is a OK treat.
 
Agreed. Leave her alone for a bit and just go about your business. She'll get used to your coming and going eventually. I've had my little dude for 4 months now and he still jumps or freaks out if I make too sudden of a movement.
 
chins can take a long time to adjust. They are prey animals and stress out easily. They just got put in a new home with new surroundings, new ppl, new cage, new sounds, new smells... new everything. So they are usually quite stressed at this point and they dont know you.

A (rough) avergage with chins i have had is between 1 to 2 months before they start coming getting used to me. Tho it changes with each chin.

You dont want to give them any fruits or veggies (or nuts/seeds). The cant process the sugars and it will screw up there digestive system in time. You can use a cheerio or plain shredded wheat like once a week like tickle said. If you looking for something more daily id say look into the twigs. (Twigs must be grown and processed correctly. Cant just grab one off a tree or ground). There are many vendors around. http://www.rondaschins.com/ thats just one of them.
 
As others have said, you need to give the chin more time. The best way to bond is to just be with the chin, talking, singing, reading aloud, stuff like that. It's actually better to just act normally (talk normally, walk around and do stuff, etc), so the chin gets use to how you normally are and isn't frightened when you suddenly move or talk. It takes most chins at least a week to just settle in to the a new environment. Once the chin is comfortable in it's new home then the bonding can begin. You don't say how old or where the chin came from, but if it came from a bad situation it can take months to years for the chin to come around.

Chins are pretty much strict grass herbivores, so as said no fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, or animal products. Just to be clear, the pellet food should be pellets only no extra junk food. In addition to chews like twigs, sticks, or loofah you can also hand feed hay or pellets to work on taming, all those can be given unlimited. Some chins like certain parts of the hay, like the fluffy bits for example, and they would well as a safe treat.

I can't help with vendors in France, but if you live on your own land and have chin safe types of trees, or know someone who does, you can process your own. Sticks need to be 100% organic no chemicals on them ever. Cut a few from the tree, and then they need to be scrubbed, boiled (optional), and baked dry.
Since you are new to chins I don't know how much you know yet, but I wrote up a basic care sheet awhile ago that might help you, it has a list of safe and unsafe wood at the bottom.
 
Okay so no fruits, it's odd because I bought treats in pet shop only for chinchilla and they are based on carrots and dried banana, I guess it's not a good thing. I also found a food stick with herbs and rose hips, that's all I found as treats in this shop (and its quite a big one)

And I'm sorry but what is a cheerio ? Are you talking about those round cereals ? Isn't it full of sugar ?

Other than treats, her normal diet is composed of those "all in one" pellets made only for chinchilla (not all in one for all rodents) and with a bit of other basic pellets (only for chinchilla too) I thought it'd be a good idea to mix them so she can have more things to eat. Also hay, lot of it

Behaviour wise, today she has been pretty calm, she stopped hidding in her little house but she still doesn't move much when I'm here, though she let me sit next to the cage if I go slowly. I always try to set up a mood when i'm around here, I talk slowly and quietly and I always make a sound announcing when I arrive so she doesn't get surprised (I just say Tsk tsk tsk quietly) So I guess she is getting there slowly :)
 
im not sure how it is in france, but in the US a lot of the big time pet stores carry and advertise ALOT of items for chinchillas that are unsafe and unhealthy. Thats why most of us find chin specialty shops online. Safe products and usually at a better value then the stores as well.

But furits and veggies and most items with sugars are not healthy. There are a lot of foods on the market that have those extra little 'treats' in them. Most of the time it is a poor quality food. The healthiest foods will not have any extras; only pellets.

Plain Cheerios the cereal
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While it does contain sugar as an ingredient, it is a very very low amount. It averages about 1g for a full cup of cheerios. And a chin is only getting one single cheerio a week at max.
And on that same subject, most chin pellets themselves technically do have sugar listed as an ingredient. Most places use it as a binding agent for the pellets. - It very hard to get away form that.
 
Alright, we have cheerios there so i'll try that as treat and avoid the chinchilla treats in shops.

Also update for today, she let me vacuum in her cage :) she was a bit frightened of the noise at first but got used to it, she is making a lot of progress suddenly i feel relieved

Thank you all for your help BTW ! :) I have a question, are chinchillas made to be in couple ? I'd like two females at some point so she doesn't feel too alone but I'm scared they'll fight or anything
 
Although chins are herd animals, and live in colonies in the wild, not all chins get along with all other chins, and some prefer being alone. It really as a lot to do with personalities, for example two dominate chins will unlikely get along, but a dominate/submissive pairing or a submissive/submissive pairing will have a better chance.

If you have the room and time for two chins (second cage, possibly separate play times, etc) and want a second one then go for it. However just like two humans, there is no guarantee that two random chins will get along, so getting another with the idea they are going to have to get along eventually because you don't have the time or space is a bad idea. Also even bonded pairs do sometimes have a falling out and need to be separated, sometimes forever since they can and do fight to the death. Having the ability to house as many chins as you have separately is also a good idea should one get hurt or sick and need to be isolated. Chins do seem to benefit from having another chin around though, even if they can't get to the point of being caged together. They can still "chat" if in the same room, and I have had chins that don't want a cage mate but enjoy having playmates during out of cage time.

The bonding process between two chins can sometime take a long time, just like you bonding with her. Some chins hit it off right away, but most take time, so weeks to months of slow intros should be expected. Another thing to keep in mind too is it can happen with cage mates that they get companionship from each other and don't need you as much. With a single chin, so long as you are spending at least an hour a day with her she is unlikely to be lonely, especially if she is use to being an only chin.

One more quick thing about treats, the best treats are not processed stuff like cheerios (which really should be no more then one a week), if you check out Fuzzies Kingdom, she has a whole list of safe herbs and feeding directions for each. I'm sure shipping would be horrid to buy from that site, but it should give you an idea of what to look for at a organic food store where you live.
 
Okay so it's a big risk, I'll leave her alone then, i'll certainly play with her a lot once she let me

And I'll look up for the treats then, thank you for the website (and answer :eek:) )
 
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