JessieVictoria
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2012
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This is a story I found on the internet, its someone's story of getting their chinchilla, from "Chippy's" perspective. Very cute, there are a few things that are disagreeable, but it's a cute read overall.
Enjoy!
My name is Chippy, but everyone calls me "chip-chip-chip", I am 10 months old and I have a human best friend. Here's my story.
I don't know where I was born and I don't remember much of my childhood. It was an enclosed place, so it may have been a chinchilla farm where they butcher us for our fur, or it may have been a chinchilla breeder doing it for the money or because he loves my kind. When I was about 6 months old, I was put in another cage and taken to a place full of wild animals. There were many other rodents (rabbits, guineea pigs, hamsters), some bird and there may have been some fish (I never saw them, but it smelled a bit like it). I was locked up in a cage with invisible walls for a few weeks with a friend - whose name slips my mind right now - but I had everything I needed there: food, hay, water, holy dust, and nice dried wood bedding. But all that was about change soon.
One day a human came into the wilderness and stared at me for a few minutes from behind the invisible wall, like most humans do, but suddenly he put his hand in my home and picked me up. I don't think I was ever so scared in my life. I don't know why he chose me and not my girl friend, but there were some rumors that it was because I was more active than her (she was kind of boring, but I've always loved enjoying life). He examined me, he looked at me from every angle, stared into my eyes, looked into my ears and even at my no-no parts. The pervert still does that to me about once a month! Then he put me in a big metal cage with plastic bedding, no food, no water, no nothing, just a place for me to hide in, and after a few minutes the whole world began to move about three times faster than I could ever run (my top speed is ~20km/h or 18ft/s for the Imperialists). I've never been so dizzy in my life. Suddenly, we stopped and my cage bagan to move again, this time, the human was carrying it. I was still hiding, but I kept my the front of my head in the open to see what was going on and I saw this big wilderness that I've never seen before, but there were no other animals except humans. I was taken into a bigger enclosure than I had before, again with no animals except for humans, and I was finally given food, water, bedding, and holy dust. There was no hay. It was a disaster. How could I live without hay? I kept protesting that I didn't want to live there, I couldn't stand confined places - unless I chose them myself - but nobody would listen to me. I tried to chew through the bars for hours, I grabbed them and pulled as hard as I could, but my tiny paws were no match for them. Another disaster. I was alone, without friends and these horrible predators (they have their eyes in front of their head, so I recognize them as predators!) were just moving around me and talking to me. I have no idea what they were saying. The tone was comforting, but that may have been a trick. I was already getting ready to become their dinner. I had lost all hope.
But I shouldn't have been so quick to lose my hope, because after a few days they let me out. I found a corner in which to hide from them and I was sure they couldn't reach me there. "No meat for them! They'll have to settle for pellets, like I do." I didn't come out for hours, I was just sitting there scared, thinking about the delicious food in the cage while I felt my stomach growling. Actually, I could probably go for days without food, but I'm exceptionally greedy. This new wilderness was intriguing and I was too curious to not explore it, so I finally decided to go back to the cage, steal some food and take it to my new hiding place. In two leaps I was there, I grabbed what I could, and in another two leaps I was back in my hiding place. I thought the predatory humans didn't notice me, but they did. One of them began talking, saying something like "chip-chip-chip" all the time. I didn't know what that meant at first, but I was about to learn soon. He found me in my hiding place and he had his face right above me; I thought I was lucky because his face couldn't get in there, but these animals have long arms. These guys are *huge*! You wouldn't believe how big they are, about 150 times bigger than me, so they have very long arms. He almost reached me, but I was quick enough to run away and hide in another corner, then he came to the corner and, when I tried to outrun him, he managed to grab me. I was toast. I was sure he was going to eat me.
He put me back in the cage, closed the door and I kept protesting to be let out, but he didn't care. Bastard! I ate and drank some water and then fell asleep in the middle of the cage. I stayed on guard, so I could run and hide again if I found the door open. When morning came I noticed the light was different than usual. It was no longer blue/white, but more yellow. It was really great for my eyes. When I woke up, I ate and drank again and then I protested again. "Let me out, you monsters!" I yelled at them. They finally let me out and I hid again, but I was just *too curious*. I'm sure one of these days my curiosity is going to kill me, like it often does with my arch enemy, the cat (the wilderness smells a bit like cat, but there aren't any around; they left a few years ago). I moved around from place to place during that day, looking for the perfect hideout, but the human always found me. Then night came again and he grabbed me and put me back in the cage. The same story repeated for a few days.
After a week, I finally got some delicious hay and I just kept eating for maybe half an hour, then I went into snooze-mode for several hours. This guy was probably trying to fatten me up, like in that story, before he would eat me. A few days later something strange began to happen and my ritual was broken again. When I was in my cage, he gave me delicious sweet treats. I'd always been greedy fella', I couldn't ignore such an opportunity. I knew he was fattening me up, but I had to take his treats, they were delicious. After a few days, I couldn't wait for night time so he would put me in the cage and feed me treats. Treats! Treats! Treats! The daily treat became part of the new routine. It wasn't all that bad...
After a couple of months, things changed *again*! I didn't understand what was happening. I was being let out of the cage more and more, until eventually I wasn't locked up at all. This new wilderness was so much bigger than what I've ever had before and I only had to share it with this one guy so, as long as I was being careful, I was staying alive. I explored more and more of it and came upon some weird things hanging from a wall. The human wasn't around, so I decided to check it out. I did it as I always do when I want to understand something: I put it in my mouth. It didn't taste good, but it didn't taste bad, and the texture felt very nice for my teeth. I sank my teeth in it and chewed it all the way through. I felt a strange tingling sensation, but nothing bad happened. It was delicious (not the taste, but the feeling of chewing it) so I decided to seek out more of that. Unfortunately, the human discovered what I did and now I never have access to those chewy things. I don't undertstand why he deprived me of it, but he's bigger than me so there was nothing I could do about it. And all that, too, was going to change soon.
The new routine was that he'd stay with me in one room until very late at night, after sunset, and then he'd open the door and take me to another room where we'd sleep. It went like that for months and it's still the way we live (this, too, will change in the next few days, but I still have no idea of what will happen). I discovered other chewy things besides the toys I had in my cage, but the human wouldn't let me chew these new things! He kept hissing at me and chasing me when I sank my teeth in wood outside my cage. I mean, "dude, this furniture is ancient and of little use, why won't you let me have it?" but he still won't let me chew it. One day, I was really pissed that he put me in the cage earlier than usual, so I barked at him. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I gathered up the courage to *bark* at him! It was *now or never* and I chose *now*. At first, I thought he didn't hear me because he didn't seem to care. I protested again but he was set to keep me in the cage while he wasn't around. A few days later I sank my teeth in the furniture again and he hissed at me again. I didn't want to take that from him, so I barked at him again and he didn't care again. It's like he has no fear. I could sink my teeth in him and hurt him really bad, maybe even bite his head off! All he did was grab me and move me to the cage and then he began playing with my toys. That's when I realized that this was going to be the strangest friendship in the world. He wanted to be friends with me! A predator wanted to be friends with prey. At first I was reluctant, but then I began to play with the same toys as him. We were friends! I wanted to shout out as hard as I could, but all I could manage were some squeaks. He responded "chip-chip-chip" to me and that was when I understood that "chip" means friend. We were best friends from that day on. He's still bigger than me so I have to listen to him, but I now know we're friends and he's not going to eat me. I found out that he was sharing his food with me. After I watched him close for several months, I saw that he was taking food from some place and putting it in my bowl. Shortely after that I realized that he wasn't just playing in the cage but he was taking it appart and cleaning it and putting in new bedding every week. Imagine that! Now, every time he's changing my bedding, I stay around him and I squeak and jump around to show him I'm happy that he takes care of me, because that's what friends do, they take care of each other and we've become *best friends*. Now I'm not scared of the cage anymore. It's my home, which is why I only pee there because I don't want to leave my scent around in case other predators come around. I still poop everywhere but that's okay, he takes the time to clean up after me twice a day.
A few days ago something strange happened and it was terrifying, but I still trusted my friend! I was napping in my usual hiding place and he put his hand there. Usually when he does that and I bark at him, he leaves me alone, but this time he grabbed me and put me in a small cage. I didn't understand anything of what was happening. The cage began to move, but I always saw his face. We moved for a couple of minutes and he never left my sight, until we reached a bigger wilderness. It was full of humans and it smelled nice. The smell of grass was drunkening, but the humans were making so much noise that I couldn't process what was happening. After about half an hour, I began to move around and I went to the closed door of the cage and looked around. It was full of small humans, some of them were even tiny. My friend kept telling me that place was called "the park" and he kept saying "chip-chip-chip" to calm me down. It didn't work at first, but then I realized that the cage was to keep the humans from reaching me. I would go near the door, smell them, touch them with my whiskers and then I would go to the back of the cage. This went on for half an hour, until I understood that I had no reason to be afraid. The noise was horrible, but I was safe. More and more little humans came to my cage to see me and touch me with their fingers and, as long as I saw my friend there, I let them touch my glamorous fur and even scratch my neck. I suppose they wanted to be friends, too, but I wasn't sure and it took me about four months to become friends with only one human, so there was no way I could make sure I was safe around all of them. They're all predators, they all have eyes in front of their head and they all have long arms and big teeth. That was a terrifying experience, but I still enjoyed it and it will probably happen again soon. I loved being the center of attention for so many humans.
A week later I was awoken by him again, I growled again as I'm very moody and cranky when I wake up, and I was put in the small cage again. This time I wasn't scared anymore, I stayed in the front of the cage knowing what was about to happen, but I was in for a surprise. I was taken to *another* wilderness and this time there was only one small human there. His smell indicated that he was related to my friend; it smelled like it was his nephew. This small human kept screaming and jumping but I wasn't scared at all. I loved it when he put his finger in my cage to pet me and he even fed me treats! I was taken home after a while, when my friend couldn't stand his newphew's screaming, but I wanted to stay, I wanted to get out of the cage and explore the new wilderness. It smelled like more friends. The trip back home was a bit scary, but when I got home he opened the cage and let me out. I went out, then went back in to grab a piece of hay, because I didn't want to leave empty-handed, and I went to my usual corner to rest for a bit.
Every evening he opens the window and lets me look outside. I love the breeze and I'm very curious about the outside world. There are other animals, some sound nice - like birds - while others sound scary - like cats and dogs - and I want to go out and explore that world! I can't because there's an almost invisible wall, like a net or something, that keeps me inside. Sometimes I get up on my hind paws and stick myself to that invisible wall and just stare outside for hours. It's a fascinating world. I hope my friend will let me explore it; I'm sure that will never happen, but I still hope. I often hear those small humans talking and screaming and I see them running around and I want to get near them, but the wall keeps me locked inside the small wilderness.
When it's time for bed, my friend lets me stay with him in the bedroom because there's nothing dangerous for me there. There are no high surfaces and there are no wires I can reach. I have my own place where I sleep and where I make poopy so it's easy for him to clean it every morning and, as I said before, I always pee in the cage. When I'm awake during the night I stay at my friend's feet and don't make poopy in his bed (I hope he appreciates it) and when I want to nap, I go in my corner. When I want to play, I only have to jump on my friend and wake him up. He sometimes hisses at me and I go to sleep, but usually he wakes up and plays with me. He chases me and I run around the room and, to annoy him, I jump on him when he's looking for me in another place. To end the game, I just go to my cage and he goes back to sleep. Then I eat for a bit and drink some water and go back to my corner to sleep, too. My two biggest wishes are for him trust me enough to always let me out of the cage (he always puts me in when he's not home and I really hate that) and to have another friend like me. I'll probably get a girl friend soon, but I don't know about it yet, so don't tell me I also wish I had more stuff to chew, because everything is out of reach for me in my room, except for the furniture and the toys in my cage.
Sometimes he puts me in my big cage and takes me outside on the balcony. We live on the 3rd floor and it's a long way down, but I'm not afraid at all, because the balcony is also enclosed in glass so I'd have to escape from my cage and then chew break the tough glass, both of which as impossible tasks for me. I like to stare outside for hours at the small humans playing in the park and at the birds that nest in the tree in front of our apartment. I can't wait for the cool sunny days when het puts me out there, but there aren't many cool sunny days anymore since the summer is almost here and heat isn't good for me. I have two more friends. They're boring. I like them because they're fluffy, but they don't say or do anything and I have to drag them with me wherever I sleep. One of them is a plush tiger about my size and the other is a fluffy slipper, which my human always puts back in the cage when it's time to go on the balcony.
The best thing about me and my friend is that whenever I don't like or want something, I can just bark or growl (I'm ferocious!) and he understands me. Sometimes he doesn't listen to me, but he always understands when I'm afraid of something. A couple of days ago he grabbed me and lifted me above his head and I didn't like it, so I made a noise and he put me in his lap and scratched me behind my ears. I know he will never do that again, because he understands and respects me.
We also have play time with the ball; this is my favorite game in the whole world! There's this red rubber ball that he throws at me when he wants to play and, if I want to play with him, I just have to run away from it. He then throws it at me again and I run to another place. When it's play time with the ball, he lets me out of my room (he calls it "our room" but we both know that it's *my* room!) and we run around the whole wilderness! It's a fun game that we play for half an hour or more until one of us gets tired. The game stops when the ball disappears. If I get tired, I run in my cage and he puts the ball away so the game stops and I can immediately come out. If he gets tired, he puts the ball away when he feels like it. He always pets me after we play. I don't think he knows, but sometimes I just run in the cage because I want him to pet me. Sometimes he plays this game with me when I am upset to cheer me up, but when I'm too upset and don't want to play, I don't run from the ball. That's when he comes at me and scratches me and talks nice to me. If I feel better after the scratch, I run away to a place where he can see me and we begin to play. When he's not paying attention to me and I want to start the game, all I have to do is run around the room a couple of times to get his attention.
We are best friends!
p.s. here is where I found it, Reddit Chinchilla section, very cute section.
http://www.reddit.com/r/chinchilla/?count=25&after=t3_1eplj0
Enjoy!
My name is Chippy, but everyone calls me "chip-chip-chip", I am 10 months old and I have a human best friend. Here's my story.
I don't know where I was born and I don't remember much of my childhood. It was an enclosed place, so it may have been a chinchilla farm where they butcher us for our fur, or it may have been a chinchilla breeder doing it for the money or because he loves my kind. When I was about 6 months old, I was put in another cage and taken to a place full of wild animals. There were many other rodents (rabbits, guineea pigs, hamsters), some bird and there may have been some fish (I never saw them, but it smelled a bit like it). I was locked up in a cage with invisible walls for a few weeks with a friend - whose name slips my mind right now - but I had everything I needed there: food, hay, water, holy dust, and nice dried wood bedding. But all that was about change soon.
One day a human came into the wilderness and stared at me for a few minutes from behind the invisible wall, like most humans do, but suddenly he put his hand in my home and picked me up. I don't think I was ever so scared in my life. I don't know why he chose me and not my girl friend, but there were some rumors that it was because I was more active than her (she was kind of boring, but I've always loved enjoying life). He examined me, he looked at me from every angle, stared into my eyes, looked into my ears and even at my no-no parts. The pervert still does that to me about once a month! Then he put me in a big metal cage with plastic bedding, no food, no water, no nothing, just a place for me to hide in, and after a few minutes the whole world began to move about three times faster than I could ever run (my top speed is ~20km/h or 18ft/s for the Imperialists). I've never been so dizzy in my life. Suddenly, we stopped and my cage bagan to move again, this time, the human was carrying it. I was still hiding, but I kept my the front of my head in the open to see what was going on and I saw this big wilderness that I've never seen before, but there were no other animals except humans. I was taken into a bigger enclosure than I had before, again with no animals except for humans, and I was finally given food, water, bedding, and holy dust. There was no hay. It was a disaster. How could I live without hay? I kept protesting that I didn't want to live there, I couldn't stand confined places - unless I chose them myself - but nobody would listen to me. I tried to chew through the bars for hours, I grabbed them and pulled as hard as I could, but my tiny paws were no match for them. Another disaster. I was alone, without friends and these horrible predators (they have their eyes in front of their head, so I recognize them as predators!) were just moving around me and talking to me. I have no idea what they were saying. The tone was comforting, but that may have been a trick. I was already getting ready to become their dinner. I had lost all hope.
But I shouldn't have been so quick to lose my hope, because after a few days they let me out. I found a corner in which to hide from them and I was sure they couldn't reach me there. "No meat for them! They'll have to settle for pellets, like I do." I didn't come out for hours, I was just sitting there scared, thinking about the delicious food in the cage while I felt my stomach growling. Actually, I could probably go for days without food, but I'm exceptionally greedy. This new wilderness was intriguing and I was too curious to not explore it, so I finally decided to go back to the cage, steal some food and take it to my new hiding place. In two leaps I was there, I grabbed what I could, and in another two leaps I was back in my hiding place. I thought the predatory humans didn't notice me, but they did. One of them began talking, saying something like "chip-chip-chip" all the time. I didn't know what that meant at first, but I was about to learn soon. He found me in my hiding place and he had his face right above me; I thought I was lucky because his face couldn't get in there, but these animals have long arms. These guys are *huge*! You wouldn't believe how big they are, about 150 times bigger than me, so they have very long arms. He almost reached me, but I was quick enough to run away and hide in another corner, then he came to the corner and, when I tried to outrun him, he managed to grab me. I was toast. I was sure he was going to eat me.
He put me back in the cage, closed the door and I kept protesting to be let out, but he didn't care. Bastard! I ate and drank some water and then fell asleep in the middle of the cage. I stayed on guard, so I could run and hide again if I found the door open. When morning came I noticed the light was different than usual. It was no longer blue/white, but more yellow. It was really great for my eyes. When I woke up, I ate and drank again and then I protested again. "Let me out, you monsters!" I yelled at them. They finally let me out and I hid again, but I was just *too curious*. I'm sure one of these days my curiosity is going to kill me, like it often does with my arch enemy, the cat (the wilderness smells a bit like cat, but there aren't any around; they left a few years ago). I moved around from place to place during that day, looking for the perfect hideout, but the human always found me. Then night came again and he grabbed me and put me back in the cage. The same story repeated for a few days.
After a week, I finally got some delicious hay and I just kept eating for maybe half an hour, then I went into snooze-mode for several hours. This guy was probably trying to fatten me up, like in that story, before he would eat me. A few days later something strange began to happen and my ritual was broken again. When I was in my cage, he gave me delicious sweet treats. I'd always been greedy fella', I couldn't ignore such an opportunity. I knew he was fattening me up, but I had to take his treats, they were delicious. After a few days, I couldn't wait for night time so he would put me in the cage and feed me treats. Treats! Treats! Treats! The daily treat became part of the new routine. It wasn't all that bad...
After a couple of months, things changed *again*! I didn't understand what was happening. I was being let out of the cage more and more, until eventually I wasn't locked up at all. This new wilderness was so much bigger than what I've ever had before and I only had to share it with this one guy so, as long as I was being careful, I was staying alive. I explored more and more of it and came upon some weird things hanging from a wall. The human wasn't around, so I decided to check it out. I did it as I always do when I want to understand something: I put it in my mouth. It didn't taste good, but it didn't taste bad, and the texture felt very nice for my teeth. I sank my teeth in it and chewed it all the way through. I felt a strange tingling sensation, but nothing bad happened. It was delicious (not the taste, but the feeling of chewing it) so I decided to seek out more of that. Unfortunately, the human discovered what I did and now I never have access to those chewy things. I don't undertstand why he deprived me of it, but he's bigger than me so there was nothing I could do about it. And all that, too, was going to change soon.
The new routine was that he'd stay with me in one room until very late at night, after sunset, and then he'd open the door and take me to another room where we'd sleep. It went like that for months and it's still the way we live (this, too, will change in the next few days, but I still have no idea of what will happen). I discovered other chewy things besides the toys I had in my cage, but the human wouldn't let me chew these new things! He kept hissing at me and chasing me when I sank my teeth in wood outside my cage. I mean, "dude, this furniture is ancient and of little use, why won't you let me have it?" but he still won't let me chew it. One day, I was really pissed that he put me in the cage earlier than usual, so I barked at him. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I gathered up the courage to *bark* at him! It was *now or never* and I chose *now*. At first, I thought he didn't hear me because he didn't seem to care. I protested again but he was set to keep me in the cage while he wasn't around. A few days later I sank my teeth in the furniture again and he hissed at me again. I didn't want to take that from him, so I barked at him again and he didn't care again. It's like he has no fear. I could sink my teeth in him and hurt him really bad, maybe even bite his head off! All he did was grab me and move me to the cage and then he began playing with my toys. That's when I realized that this was going to be the strangest friendship in the world. He wanted to be friends with me! A predator wanted to be friends with prey. At first I was reluctant, but then I began to play with the same toys as him. We were friends! I wanted to shout out as hard as I could, but all I could manage were some squeaks. He responded "chip-chip-chip" to me and that was when I understood that "chip" means friend. We were best friends from that day on. He's still bigger than me so I have to listen to him, but I now know we're friends and he's not going to eat me. I found out that he was sharing his food with me. After I watched him close for several months, I saw that he was taking food from some place and putting it in my bowl. Shortely after that I realized that he wasn't just playing in the cage but he was taking it appart and cleaning it and putting in new bedding every week. Imagine that! Now, every time he's changing my bedding, I stay around him and I squeak and jump around to show him I'm happy that he takes care of me, because that's what friends do, they take care of each other and we've become *best friends*. Now I'm not scared of the cage anymore. It's my home, which is why I only pee there because I don't want to leave my scent around in case other predators come around. I still poop everywhere but that's okay, he takes the time to clean up after me twice a day.
A few days ago something strange happened and it was terrifying, but I still trusted my friend! I was napping in my usual hiding place and he put his hand there. Usually when he does that and I bark at him, he leaves me alone, but this time he grabbed me and put me in a small cage. I didn't understand anything of what was happening. The cage began to move, but I always saw his face. We moved for a couple of minutes and he never left my sight, until we reached a bigger wilderness. It was full of humans and it smelled nice. The smell of grass was drunkening, but the humans were making so much noise that I couldn't process what was happening. After about half an hour, I began to move around and I went to the closed door of the cage and looked around. It was full of small humans, some of them were even tiny. My friend kept telling me that place was called "the park" and he kept saying "chip-chip-chip" to calm me down. It didn't work at first, but then I realized that the cage was to keep the humans from reaching me. I would go near the door, smell them, touch them with my whiskers and then I would go to the back of the cage. This went on for half an hour, until I understood that I had no reason to be afraid. The noise was horrible, but I was safe. More and more little humans came to my cage to see me and touch me with their fingers and, as long as I saw my friend there, I let them touch my glamorous fur and even scratch my neck. I suppose they wanted to be friends, too, but I wasn't sure and it took me about four months to become friends with only one human, so there was no way I could make sure I was safe around all of them. They're all predators, they all have eyes in front of their head and they all have long arms and big teeth. That was a terrifying experience, but I still enjoyed it and it will probably happen again soon. I loved being the center of attention for so many humans.
A week later I was awoken by him again, I growled again as I'm very moody and cranky when I wake up, and I was put in the small cage again. This time I wasn't scared anymore, I stayed in the front of the cage knowing what was about to happen, but I was in for a surprise. I was taken to *another* wilderness and this time there was only one small human there. His smell indicated that he was related to my friend; it smelled like it was his nephew. This small human kept screaming and jumping but I wasn't scared at all. I loved it when he put his finger in my cage to pet me and he even fed me treats! I was taken home after a while, when my friend couldn't stand his newphew's screaming, but I wanted to stay, I wanted to get out of the cage and explore the new wilderness. It smelled like more friends. The trip back home was a bit scary, but when I got home he opened the cage and let me out. I went out, then went back in to grab a piece of hay, because I didn't want to leave empty-handed, and I went to my usual corner to rest for a bit.
Every evening he opens the window and lets me look outside. I love the breeze and I'm very curious about the outside world. There are other animals, some sound nice - like birds - while others sound scary - like cats and dogs - and I want to go out and explore that world! I can't because there's an almost invisible wall, like a net or something, that keeps me inside. Sometimes I get up on my hind paws and stick myself to that invisible wall and just stare outside for hours. It's a fascinating world. I hope my friend will let me explore it; I'm sure that will never happen, but I still hope. I often hear those small humans talking and screaming and I see them running around and I want to get near them, but the wall keeps me locked inside the small wilderness.
When it's time for bed, my friend lets me stay with him in the bedroom because there's nothing dangerous for me there. There are no high surfaces and there are no wires I can reach. I have my own place where I sleep and where I make poopy so it's easy for him to clean it every morning and, as I said before, I always pee in the cage. When I'm awake during the night I stay at my friend's feet and don't make poopy in his bed (I hope he appreciates it) and when I want to nap, I go in my corner. When I want to play, I only have to jump on my friend and wake him up. He sometimes hisses at me and I go to sleep, but usually he wakes up and plays with me. He chases me and I run around the room and, to annoy him, I jump on him when he's looking for me in another place. To end the game, I just go to my cage and he goes back to sleep. Then I eat for a bit and drink some water and go back to my corner to sleep, too. My two biggest wishes are for him trust me enough to always let me out of the cage (he always puts me in when he's not home and I really hate that) and to have another friend like me. I'll probably get a girl friend soon, but I don't know about it yet, so don't tell me I also wish I had more stuff to chew, because everything is out of reach for me in my room, except for the furniture and the toys in my cage.
Sometimes he puts me in my big cage and takes me outside on the balcony. We live on the 3rd floor and it's a long way down, but I'm not afraid at all, because the balcony is also enclosed in glass so I'd have to escape from my cage and then chew break the tough glass, both of which as impossible tasks for me. I like to stare outside for hours at the small humans playing in the park and at the birds that nest in the tree in front of our apartment. I can't wait for the cool sunny days when het puts me out there, but there aren't many cool sunny days anymore since the summer is almost here and heat isn't good for me. I have two more friends. They're boring. I like them because they're fluffy, but they don't say or do anything and I have to drag them with me wherever I sleep. One of them is a plush tiger about my size and the other is a fluffy slipper, which my human always puts back in the cage when it's time to go on the balcony.
The best thing about me and my friend is that whenever I don't like or want something, I can just bark or growl (I'm ferocious!) and he understands me. Sometimes he doesn't listen to me, but he always understands when I'm afraid of something. A couple of days ago he grabbed me and lifted me above his head and I didn't like it, so I made a noise and he put me in his lap and scratched me behind my ears. I know he will never do that again, because he understands and respects me.
We also have play time with the ball; this is my favorite game in the whole world! There's this red rubber ball that he throws at me when he wants to play and, if I want to play with him, I just have to run away from it. He then throws it at me again and I run to another place. When it's play time with the ball, he lets me out of my room (he calls it "our room" but we both know that it's *my* room!) and we run around the whole wilderness! It's a fun game that we play for half an hour or more until one of us gets tired. The game stops when the ball disappears. If I get tired, I run in my cage and he puts the ball away so the game stops and I can immediately come out. If he gets tired, he puts the ball away when he feels like it. He always pets me after we play. I don't think he knows, but sometimes I just run in the cage because I want him to pet me. Sometimes he plays this game with me when I am upset to cheer me up, but when I'm too upset and don't want to play, I don't run from the ball. That's when he comes at me and scratches me and talks nice to me. If I feel better after the scratch, I run away to a place where he can see me and we begin to play. When he's not paying attention to me and I want to start the game, all I have to do is run around the room a couple of times to get his attention.
We are best friends!
p.s. here is where I found it, Reddit Chinchilla section, very cute section.
http://www.reddit.com/r/chinchilla/?count=25&after=t3_1eplj0
