Very Gumpy Chillie

[crisco_lovefest]

i wonder if anyone can help. about 5 months ago my partner and i re-homed our first pair of chinchillas. they are both male, and about 2/3 years. One is gray called Loren and he is small and fun and affectionate and likes to interact with myself and my partner. however, the other we have called Curtis is a much larger chinchilla, he is white and albino and much more agressive than Loren. Although we have never seen him biet loren he does steal his food and dominate the sleeping and living areas. apart from when they are sleeping Curtis will not interact with Loren. Our main problem is that Curtis hates being touched in any respect whatsoever. he also refuses to be caught. they have their own room so they can run around when freed but Curtis will do anything not to be caught and we are scared of hurting him as he struggles so much and often malts which we know is a sign of distess. sometimes he will take food from us but he is agressive an instantly retreats. we have no reason to think the previous owner abused the Chinchilla becuase the condition and size of the cage and animals was excellent and the other chillie loves people. please help!!?

 

[jk_chinchilla]

We had a pretty agressive female, and once we separated her from the other females, gave her her own cage and room, she turned into such a sweetie.

With all our chinnies, it took awhile for them to get used to people. It seemed to help to put them on a routine - they always get a treat when we get up in the morning, then each has a set time that they get to come out of their cage to play. After playtime when they go back in their cage, they get another treat. Then before we go to bed they get fed. It seems to really help them to know what is going on when, and when the routine is off they really get upset. Another thing that helped our chins to get used to us was to become "furniture" during their playtime outside of the cage, where they could come up to us and sniff us and climb on us without us trying to touch or catch them, so they could get used to us.

 

[Chinniechantel]

Welcome to the forum! Have you tried using a dust bath to catch them? You tap the top (get a bath house, with just a hole opening) and they usually come running. They love the dust bath! That usually works really well. Have you considered getting them a wheel? That way you don't have to let them out as often and chase them around, most likely causing Curtis to be even more scared of you and taking a few steps backwards in the great routine you have going.

I bet Curtis is a pink white, does he have white fur and pink eyes and ears? There are not many albino chins around, but lots of pink whites, which could easily be mistaken for an albino. I have actually never even seen an albino chinchilla.