Chinchilla has no desire to leave cage?

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
Messages
8
Location
In a chinchilla palace
So, I've posted before about my nervous boy, Nimbus, and things have gotten better, he's warmed up to me a little more, but he has no desire whatsoever to explore outside his cage. Free-roaming time terrifies him and he just hides under the nearest thing he can get under. I bought him a harness to get him out of the cage more, walk him in other places around the house that he shouldn't necessarily free roam in... he barked the whole time I tried to put it on him, and once in it, he ran a little, but then just sat stationary looking zoned out and tried very hard to get it off him. I've done this twice now, and he's just a very unhappy boy and I feel like the worst chin mom ever. He just runs away from me now when I open the cage and is very skittish about pets cause he thinks I'm gonna pick him up.

Is it fine that he doesn't want to leave the cage? He lives in a ferret/critter nation 142 (the old, clanky version). It's double one so he has two floors. I provide new chews and things for him when I have the money, and always throw him a toilet paper tube to chew on. It's probably his favourite.

What can I do to help regain trust and make him comfortable?

I'm definitely feeling frustrated and frazzled. :/
 
Ok first, using a harness on a chin is extremely dangerous, you are lucky you didn't kill him. They not only have very thin bones, which could lead to a broken rib if it was on too tight or he turned wrong in it. Chins also have a floating rib cage, meaning even if you don't break his ribs, you could end up puncturing a lung, and you are squishing his lungs if you put it on tight enough that he can't get out of it. So it's very likely that it hurt and he couldn't breath, which is why he didn't want to move.

Ok that being said, yes he is fine inside the cage if he doesn't want to come out. Not coming out of the cage to play is more of an issue if the cage is too tiny for a chin to be in to begin with, like less then 2'x2'x2'. If you are worried about not getting enough exercise you can get him a chin safe wheel.

I would work on rebuilding trust from the beginning. Back to just sitting by the cage, talking to him, and giving him treats and sticks. You need to re-earn is trust, prove that you aren't going to hurt and torture him anymore.
 
Back
Top