Best way to go about playing with your chinchilla and making it happy..

[bianca]

hi. as i posted earlier today, my chinchillas brother passed away yesturday morning, and he hasnt seen his brother for 3 days now
i dont think he is happy because he has been isolating himself, and everytime i go to open the cage.. he thinks his brother is coming back. also, he is acting like he's scared of me.

in the past, when his brother was here, he wouldnt let me pick him up.
but i want to make him happy and i want him to feel less lonely.
what is the best way to go about playing with him?

usually, i open the cage and sit in front of it until he comes out.. but i dont have any "chin-proof" rooms, so i have to keep a close eye on where he goes. so that means his space to get out of his cage is very limited. i find it hard to let him out of his cage because he goes to a spot, and i have to make sure he doesnt get into anything.. but when i try to get him he is scared and runs.
what can i do to make him more comfortable and do you have any suggestions on where/how to let him run around?

 

[Jadebf700]

Out of all the rooms in the house, I find the bathroom easiest to chin proof. We have a small enough cage that it is easy to transport so we set his cage by the door to block it off and let him run around in there. This way we don't have to pick him up.

 

[Brittney]

I find the bathroom easiest to chin proof. .

Yeah, until they start eating the baseboards.... I had mine playing in one of our larger bathrooms but I had to keep sanding and painting the baseboards over. I then let them play in our half-bath which it just all tile from the floor up about 4 feet. I figured it was very chin proof until I ran out to grab my laptop, I came back and in just the 5 minutes they were alone, they found out that the door was wood, and now I have to fix that :banghead: Now they are back in the bigger bathroom, I just block off the toilet area... since that's where they go to chew because they think I can't see them :neener:

Bathrooms are fun though, especially my mom's bathroom. It's HUGE and has steps that go up to a big jacuzzi tub and a bunch of cut outs in the wall and a walk-in tiled shower. They love it. That's their playroom for the week...I'd be killed if she found out :hilarious:, but on weekends they are limited to the guest bath.

I have 2 boys. 1 has to be carried in a carrier to playtime because he's a bit wiggly, Bryson just likes to be carried to playtime, and back when it's over. You can always tell they have had a good run when they flop over and sleep for a while afterward.

Just let them use you as a jungle gym, they will love it and learn to trust you.

 

[Jovi]

Could you buy a playpen you can set up in one of your rooms so he has a safe place to play? Also, i had a breeder give me a suggestion long ago when my chins were babies that i liked for bonding with them. Just be careful not to let them over heat doing this but u can get an oversized shirt to wear over your shirt and let your chin play in there. My chin begs to get in my shirt now. He dives at the neck hole and was a nice way to be close and bond without holding or grabbing at him. Sometimes if i want to get him back in his cage all i have to do is lean down and hold open the neck of my shirt and he cant resist hopping in. My chin just lost his buddy of 6 years a couple months ago and i have been so worried about him too. I am sorry for your loss. I got mine a fleece cuddle buddy and spend extra time with him . He has started grooming me which he never really did before. I also spoiled him with a whole bunch of new kinds of chin safe sticks to chew on to keep him busy and happy.

 

[bianca]

lol aww. thats a good idea, i could probably buy a cheap play pen from a thrift store or something.
and oh, yea. im going to ask my mom to take me to the pet store tomorrow so i can get a bunch of toys for my chinny to play with.

also, do most/all pet stores sell "cuddle buddies?" and fleece is 100% safe for him?

 

[Isabella Whateva]

I've never seen a cuddle buddy at a pet store. Fleece is totally safe as long as there is no thread visible for the chins to chew.
You can get cuddle buddies at most online chin stores. Many people here have them.

 

[Sesame]

You can make an inexpensive cardboard playpen. Just get wide panels of cardboard (try to make get boards where they can stand about 4 feet. Need the panels to be tall enough so chins cannot jump over them) and tape them on one side all together. You can fold it down accordion-style and store it in a closet. I think Puddlesandchubbs started a "How-to" thread on how to make this makeshift cardboard playpen.

Playpens are great, but chins will try and jump/climb them to get out. Mine did this all the time, but now I have it reinforced with some tall cardboard boards (I think I got mine at papermart.com, but you can just breakdown sturdy cardboard boxes) so she couldn't jump out.

I found this to be less stressful for both Sesame and I. No more damage to the baseboards and paint, and no more crazy scared chin.

 

[Jenn]

I have a 2 playpens attached together that I bought from Petsmart that work great for me. My chin is not a jumper and has never tried to get over the pen. There are pens available that have tops on them for better security. I have attached my playpens to my chin's cage so she can come in and out of the cage as she pleases. During playtime, I sit in the pen with her and let her jump all over me and chew on me! She is kind of the boss at playtime, but she is really good at just sitting in my lap and letting me pet her. I love to get her all riled up, though, so she'll popcorn all over the place!