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Wars

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Joined
May 1, 2017
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1
So I got this little guy from a buddy to watch for a while.

He's adorable and he's not afraid to show it. Whenever I seem to let him out, he can't handle himself with biting **** around my room, floorboard, chair, cardboard.

I think he's swallowing this **** too, which isn't good obviously.... Are chinchillas smart enough to learn from their mistakes if he gets sick from eating something stupid? Or do they rinse and repeat till the death!


Also, when he's in his cage, he's all about me scratching his neck and what not, but once I try to pet him out of the cage, he doesn't want anything to do with me!

I think he has a bad history of getting picked up wrong from my buddy, he used to throw a t-shirt over the chinchilla and pick it up that way...

Should I chase him until he runs into his cage like he usually does when playtime is over, usually ends early because he keeps biting ****...

I don't wanna grab him then he tries to bite me... I think he's traumatized by this experience but its what I gotta doooo..

I can't find much TBH on YouTube about these problems, so any advice is appreciated!
 
Chinchillas will chew everything, they have teeth that grow all the time so they have to. It's not something you can train a chin not to do, and even if you could not chewing would cause their teeth to overgrow. It's up to you to make sure the only things the chin has access to are safe to chew, they are not smart enough to know something is not safe (they are about as smart as a 2 year old human). They will likely remember if something tastes good or bad, but that's about it, they don't really have intelligence for more complex cause and effect. For example the idea that I ate ___ earlier today and now I don't feel well, a chin isn't going to be able to put that together. They also have sensitive digestive tracts, so if they do eat something they aren't suppose to they will likely get sick and die without medical treatment, unless it's small, nontoxic, and passes without issue. Even if it's not something toxic though, if enough is swallowed it could cause a blockage in his gut. Getting emergency surgery done on a chin with a gut blockage is not cheap either (hundreds to thousands of dollars) and going under anesthesia is dangerous for them. So obviously it's better to keep him in a safe environment where he can't eat inappropriate things.

A safe environment means a chin proofed area, as in, nowhere it can go that you can't reach, no electrical cords, painted or treated wood, plastic, or anything else that it shouldn't chew on. A lot of people use bathrooms, since they are small, easy to clean, and most don't have electric wires hanging around. Another option is to get or make a playpen so you can more closely control what the chin has access to. You can add chew sticks and other toys in the play area for him to chew on too, so it's interesting and gives him safe things to chew. There are also a couple websites that have cool out of cage structures for chins, Simply Chintastic is one. I know you said you are just watching the chin for your buddy though, so I'm not sure you are willing to spend the money, but could give you some ideas anyway if you are willing to make him anything.

I would also not let him out until you have formed a better bond with him, chasing him is only going to hurt any bond you have formed. Start by establishing a bond, by sitting by the cage and talking to him, putting your hands in the cage and petting him if he lets you. Let him climb on you and come into your hands. It's very common for them to not really care about you when they get out of cage time, which is also why a small room or playpen work well, the chin is sort of forced to interact with you. Especially with a play pen, he can't get away so you wont be chasing him all over the place to get him back in the cage. One thing some people have found that works (until the chin figures out the trick) is offer the dust bath, then bring the chin back to the cage in the bath container. Most chins will happily jump into the bath without much convincing.

YouTube is a terrible place to get info about chinchillas, so it's not a bad thing you didn't find anything worth using. There are way too many video of people doing bad things to chins and giving harmful advice on there.
 
I’d also recommend a playpen. I made a cardboard playpen about 3 feet high with old moving boxes. You just need decent tape to make sure the accordion-folds hold. If you’re worried about him jumping out (one of mine seems to always be looking to make a break for it — whiskers twitching to size up what he can do and where he can go…) then a sheet/piece of fleece secured with binder clips seems to do the trick. And just provide lots in the playpen to do. There are playpens out there with covers, but if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative for the moment cardboard boxes seem to work!

If they’re in a more confined area, as Amethyst said, it’s a lot easier to catch them calmly to go back into their cage. I leave their carriers out while they’re playing and they freely run into them and hop on top of them. When their playtime is up, I’ll sometimes line up their play-time tunnels/tubes leading straight to the carrier, and wait for them to run through them into the carrier. Chins *cannot* resist tunnels/tubes. Other times, I'll sit on the ground with my knees up and feet on the floor to make a little human tunnel and then position their carrier at the other end. They love running under me and it makes it super easy. Both methods seem to be less stressful for them than anything else I’ve tried. Definitely less stressful than throwing a t-shirt over them!
 
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