Aside from being active and playful...

[Chinmin]

Can anyone share with us some unique characteristics of their chinchillas or how cuddly or affectionate they are as pets?

 

[Jawramik]

My chin, Margaret, is fascinated by zippers. She loves to play with the metal zipper on my favourite hoodie. She'll sit on my lap and stretch her head up to the zipper pull at my neck, grab it in her mouth, and zip it up and down repeatedly. She'll do that for a solid 5-10 minutes at a time. She also like to sniff and nibble at the zipper teeth when it's unzipped. It's like she's bound and determined to figure out how it works, but just can't quite get her head around it, haha.

 

[Chinmin]

My chin, Margaret, is fascinated by zippers. She loves to play with the metal zipper on my favourite hoodie. She'll sit on my lap and stretch her head up to the zipper pull at my neck, grab it in her mouth, and zip it up and down repeatedly. She'll do that for a solid 5-10 minutes at a time. She also like to sniff and nibble at the zipper teeth when it's unzipped. It's like she's bound and determined to figure out how it works, but just can't quite get her head around it, haha.

Margaret, you are fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JamaisVu]

My chin, Margaret, is fascinated by zippers. She loves to play with the metal zipper on my favourite hoodie. She'll sit on my lap and stretch her head up to the zipper pull at my neck, grab it in her mouth, and zip it up and down repeatedly. She'll do that for a solid 5-10 minutes at a time. She also like to sniff and nibble at the zipper teeth when it's unzipped. It's like she's bound and determined to figure out how it works, but just can't quite get her head around it, haha.

Mine doesn't care for zippers but is obsessed about the strings on my hoodies. She'll reach out and try to pull it. Pushes it away. Gets annoyed at it. Runs away, then comes back and starts again.

 

[Jawramik]

Mine doesn't care for zippers but is obsessed about the strings on my hoodies. She'll reach out and try to pull it. Pushes it away. Gets annoyed at it. Runs away, then comes back and starts again.

Haha, that's so cute!

Mine also loves to chew on my bracelets. I've actually had to stop wearing the leather one around her, because she REALLY goes at it and I didn't want her to end up swallowing any of the leather (plus I like the bracelet and I'd prefer for her not to destroy it). The others I wear are stone beads strung on wire, so I'm less worried about her nibbling on those. When I wear long sleeves, she'll try to stick her face up my sleeve to get at them, haha.

 

[Chinmin]

Haha, maybe its not actually about the zipper nor the strings but the hoodie. Fascinating, thanks for sharing.

 

[JamaisVu]

Haha, that's so cute!

Mine also loves to chew on my bracelets. I've actually had to stop wearing the leather one around her, because she REALLY goes at it and I didn't want her to end up swallowing any of the leather (plus I like the bracelet and I'd prefer for her not to destroy it). The others I wear are stone beads strung on wire, so I'm less worried about her nibbling on those. When I wear long sleeves, she'll try to stick her face up my sleeve to get at them, haha.

Mine is also obsessed with leather, so I can't wear leather bracelets and have to avoid jeans around her or she'll try to bite the tag in the back.

I had her on a 3-week watch once because she actually ate a piece of leather she bit off my watch strap and would rather not go through that again.

 

[Jawramik]

Mine is also obsessed with leather, so I can't wear leather bracelets and have to avoid jeans around her or she'll try to bite the tag in the back.

I had her on a 3-week watch once because she actually ate a piece of leather she bit off my watch strap and would rather not go through that again.

Leather is probably a pretty interesting texture to chew, so I guess it's not surprising that they're drawn to it. Smells interesting too, so it's got at least two things going for it.

Mine will also nibble on my watch, but thankfully it's all metal. She also likes to tug on my necklace and earrings. I'm kind of glad I no longer have my lip and nose piercings, because I'm sure she'd want to pull on those too!

My rats (one in particular) also like to pull on my earrings. Despite being smaller, she actually pulls them a good deal harder than Margaret the chin.