Chinchilla scared????

[Keirazak]

Hi I have had my two chinchillas Charlie and angel for about 3 weeks now. They seemed to come round really quickly Charlie loves a good stroke and a fuss not too keen in being picked up but will let me. Angel took a little while longer to come round but seemed to come round slowly she did aventually let stoke her but that was the lot. They used to play in a pen with me and my daughter sat in loved it they would both come and sit on our knees and shoulders even sat on my daughters head!! We got them a new cage about a week ago and angel seems to have gone backwards they love ther cage it is really big loads of things for them to climb and jump on but I can't get near angel since we got it she just runs off and hides won't even let you give her a scratch :-( any suggestions?? I don't know if she's scared or just doesn't like us!! Unfortunately as there cage is so big the pen is no good anymore so they have a good run round the room on a night but its not the same they don't want to sit with us anymore. I miss the close contact with them but aren't sure what to do. Any suggestions would be great. I want them to be happy but really miss the climbing and sitting with us so does my daughter :-(

 

[becky12883]

Are these both girls? How old are they?
I would guess that the stress of moving to a new house and then moving to a new cage just has Angel a bit freaked out. It will take some time for them to be completely comfortable with you, sit by the cage, talk to her, put your hand in and let her come to you. Every chin has a different personality so they will each take a different amount of time to come around, could be days, weeks, or months. If they are boy and girl they should be in separated cages, or you may end up with more than just 2 chinchillas.

 

[Keirazak]

Hi yes they are both girls they are 7 months old and been together since babies. I changed there cage as there other one was a bit small for 2 of them. She will take treats from me but as soon as I moved hand to give her a little scratch she just runs off :-( Charlie is totally different will let you stroke and give her a little scratch all day also when they come out on a night they both come to front of cage at same time every day usually around 7 o clock is there play time but if I don't block off sofa and edges of cage angel will just squeeze under there and stay there for ages she wants to come out but then just hides!! :-(

 

[jbcstratton]

You could try giving them playtime in the bathroom (toilet lid closed). That is usually an area that they can't hide from you and you can interact with them more.

 

[javachin]

She probably just needs to get used to the change again. Give her time and I'm sure she'll come around.