Bored Chinchilla

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.

Jessica.bowman1010

New member
Joined
Apr 25, 2017
Messages
2
Hi all!

I adopted a 7 year old male chinchilla about 2 months ago. He seems totally bored in his cage. I let him out every single night for at least 2+ hours to run around the house. I have tried two different types of exercise wheels, and 1 flying saucer wheel - which Phil is just not interested in whatsoever. I even bought 2 granite slabs that I refrigerate to get cool and he seems scared of them.

Does anyone have any suggestions for boredom busters for their chinchillas? I need some chinchilla toys to keep my boy happy.
 
some chins are just happier staying by themselves like that. If they dont want to mess with things then they are not going to.

Side note: 2h play time is way to long. You generally dont want to push it past 30 min at most. Chins can sometimes keep going when they shouldnt. This can lead to them over heating/heat exhaustion or very low blood sugar which is not good for them.
 
You can try all different types of toys, hanging toys (vertical and horizontal), toss toys, shredding toys, and toys of different materials. If you check out some of the vendors on here they have lots of different types of toys to try. This thread of my cage from a few years ago should give you an idea of variety. Each chin is different though, and each have their own favorite thing. For example, some love lava chews, other love bamboo shredders, other love loofah, you'll need to find out what your chin likes.
Without seeing your cage it's hard to know what you do and don't have in there. However just as a general suggestion, you can try tunnels, both on the ground or attached to the cage, fleece hammocks if they don't chew fleece, more shelves and perches to hop around on. Some chins also like bridges (tight spaced, no gaps) and swings, though both make me kind of nervous. Another thing some chins like, and once again assuming your chin doesn't chew fleece, is cuddle buddies. You can either make you own (it doesn't have to be chin shaped) or buy them online.
As to the wheels, what kind did you try? Pet store ones or proper chins size metal wheels? The flying saucer wheel your saying you tried is the metal one right? Not all chins can figure that one out, and if your chin is big you may need the large rather then the standard size.

The granite tiles are more for added cooling in an already cool room when the chin has been playing hard and needs a bit extra. It's basically there if they need it but not something they use all the time. Like for example my guys will sometimes sit on the tiles after running on the wheel for awhile or they were out playing. They will also sometimes lay on them if the temp in the room gets a bit warm for them (lower 70s) and I haven't put the AC back in the window yet.

I agree with Godofgods on 2+ hours being too long for a chin to be out, though I would put the cap at about an hour. I really depends on the chin though, if they are going none stop or more just chilling and slowly exploring. If you want to give more time out try splitting the playtime up so it's not just one long playtime.
 
Back
Top