Can chinchillas be clicker trained?
- Thread starter Sage12
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That would be tricky, since you can't give too many treats, and also it would depend on what you are trying to train. It can be done, I've never bothered to try myself, but I've heard of and see people doing minor tricks like spin around, come, touch a target, or even go back to the cage. However chinchillas don't think the same way as a dog, which tend to do thing to please you, they are more like cats, they don't care too much if they please you they think more along the lines of "why? what is in it for me?" so I'm not sure you would ever be able to space out (go a few clicks between giving a treat) or remove the treats from the equation like you can with a dog. It also means if you don't have a high enough value treat they may not cooperate, and high value treats tend to be the more "junk food" type ones, which you need to ration the most, lol.
LillyChu
Lilly
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2015
- Messages
- 27
I don't use a clicker myself, but I thought one of my chinchilla's (the other one I don't have a good enough bond with yet, still working on that) a couple of things like.
"Come" "Take it"(Whenever I give a stick or something) "Gimme kiss"(He then presses nose against my lips) "Leave it"(Whenever he trys biting something that is not allowed, like cables.. Or trys to roll through his pee pan.....)
This I did by praising a lot, like "Good boy!" Or "Good job!" In a tiny bit of a higher voice than normal and in the beginning I mostly gave rolled oats or rose hips in very tiny pieces, maybe about 1 4th of a rolled oat.
Just try and see how your chinchilla reacts to it, not all will do it and keep in mind that they are very playful, so even after 6 years mine still doesn't always come when I tell him to, because he likes the chase >-< but 90% of the time he will come back after saying it a few times and other times I leave him be and he will come eventually back lol
Hope this helped a bit? (Also reason for not using a clicker is because they can hear a lot better than a dog, yet they are so small I'm pretty sure if it was used that they wouldn't really appreciate the sound)
"Come" "Take it"(Whenever I give a stick or something) "Gimme kiss"(He then presses nose against my lips) "Leave it"(Whenever he trys biting something that is not allowed, like cables.. Or trys to roll through his pee pan.....)
This I did by praising a lot, like "Good boy!" Or "Good job!" In a tiny bit of a higher voice than normal and in the beginning I mostly gave rolled oats or rose hips in very tiny pieces, maybe about 1 4th of a rolled oat.
Just try and see how your chinchilla reacts to it, not all will do it and keep in mind that they are very playful, so even after 6 years mine still doesn't always come when I tell him to, because he likes the chase >-< but 90% of the time he will come back after saying it a few times and other times I leave him be and he will come eventually back lol
Hope this helped a bit? (Also reason for not using a clicker is because they can hear a lot better than a dog, yet they are so small I'm pretty sure if it was used that they wouldn't really appreciate the sound)
Shooper
"Ellie Mae"
If you try it, keep us informed on your progress.
Binki
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2020
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- 69
I have pretty wild chin and if he managed to get clicker trained, it is very likely that a more amenable one can get trained too. I limited the training to getting him into his cage and his carrier. The cage was peremptory, in case I needed him back in within the two hours in which he is allowed to roam (under dupervision) between play sessions.
Started with tapping on a wooden toy on the floor while using the word "pod" and offering a food reward (a sliver of organic rosehip, the with of a thread, cut with scissors or a specle of dehydrated nettle) immediately after clicking. Then slowly moved the toy towards the cage and did the call with the toy inside the cage; then did the same with the carrier. The key is in the timing with the clicker.
In Amazon Kindle there is a clicker training for rabbits for very little money but there are a couple of videos in youtube about clicker training chins. The principle is the same as for dogs and cats. My chin responds to other commands as well but did not use the clicker for those.
Clicker training a chin can be both fun & interesting; one just needs patience and reminding oneself that while dogs have been domesticated for 15,000 years chins have only been around humans since the 1960s and raised in captivity rather than really domesticated.
Good thing about training: makes you realise how smart chins are.
Started with tapping on a wooden toy on the floor while using the word "pod" and offering a food reward (a sliver of organic rosehip, the with of a thread, cut with scissors or a specle of dehydrated nettle) immediately after clicking. Then slowly moved the toy towards the cage and did the call with the toy inside the cage; then did the same with the carrier. The key is in the timing with the clicker.
In Amazon Kindle there is a clicker training for rabbits for very little money but there are a couple of videos in youtube about clicker training chins. The principle is the same as for dogs and cats. My chin responds to other commands as well but did not use the clicker for those.
Clicker training a chin can be both fun & interesting; one just needs patience and reminding oneself that while dogs have been domesticated for 15,000 years chins have only been around humans since the 1960s and raised in captivity rather than really domesticated.
Good thing about training: makes you realise how smart chins are.
Devynthecatwithsocks
Well-known member
Mine isnt clicker trained but she does know some tricks like walk (walk on two legs) kiss, high five, come, back to cage, spin, and hop up (hop onto shoulder or ledge that i point to). It probably can be done but i would use its dinner as a reward. When i do training its usually crushed rose hips or just her dinner.
