carrying question

[Lilune]

Ampersand is a parkour champion and *loves* play time in our chinchilla-proofed bedroom. We have a solid routine, and it only took her about a week before she got used to coming out to play around 8pm every night. Shes all bouncy and excited and stares at us until we open the cage, when she hops straight into our hand, and once shes in the room she uses us as jungle gyms, so I know she enjoys it, and is relatively comfortable with us.

The problem is getting her there. If either of us holds our hand out flat, she bounces in and sits still while we lift her out of the cage, but as soon as we start moving she freaks out a little bit. If I try to hold onto her she flips around like shes in a dust bath and tries to bolt, if I let her stand on my hands or arm she just tries to bail. I'm afraid if I try to restrain her while walking the 20 feet from cage to bedroom she'll get hurt in her spastic twitching, but a 5 foot fall to the ground from her trying to jump before we make it down the hallway seems just as dangerous.

Any tricks to keeping them calm or more comfortable holding methods/positions? Or maybe ideas on why shes fine being held as long as the holder is standing still?
On a side note, I found that letting her stand on one arm while I hover my other hand over her head kept her calm while we walked, but once we were in the room she was agitated and wanted nothing to do with me, which was pretty unusual. I took that to mean she did not like it and haven't tried it again. Am I reading too much into it or was 'putting her in the dark' not a good idea?
Thanks much ^^

 

[Airyn]

To carry my guys, I position my left hand palm up against my chest with their back feet on my palm, facing away from me. Then I put my right hand in front as a wall so they're in a hand-coccoon against my chest. If one is particularly squirmy, I bow my head down, using my chin as a head cover/jump guard. If you do that every day, you should be able to lift your chin up pretty quickly, as she'll realize that it always leads to playtime.

Putting her in the dark is fine. She was calm because things over her head makes her feel secure. They like small spaces for the same reason. I wouldn't read too much into getting snubbed, as she was probably just thinking "YAY! FREEDOM!"

 

[jess32247]

My chin will jump on my arm to get to another place easily with no problem. If I stand up though as she's perched on my hand, she starts to freak out a little bit like yours does. It helps if I hold her aganist my chest, enough for her to move a little bit but not enough to jump out. Like Airyn said, hand coccoon against your chest lol. If I feel like she's going to jump out, I move one of my hands enough to grab the base of her tail and hold her steady.

Heh my chin is like that too, as soon as I put her down she's like "alright, I've had enough of you for right now" and ignores me as she popcorns around the room!

 

[Lilune]

Brilliant! I had been carrying her facing me with her paws on my chest, but last night I flipped it and had her facing out. Had to hover hand when we passed through the kitchen, but for the most part she was much easier to handle, I guess seeing just how far the floor was changed her mind hah. Thank you ^^

 

[Airyn]

No problem! I'm glad she cooperated! )

 

[tcraighenry]

Vincenza likes to face inward when I pick her up. I support her feet and hold her over my heart. It's a trial to get her there but she calms down. Someone here said a squished chin is a safe chin.

Cinnamon likes to face outward but we still put our hands over her ribcage and support her little feet.

You're kind of lucky they ignore you. I end up with poop on my head

 

[jess32247]

You're kind of lucky they ignore you. I end up with poop on my head

LOL that's happened one to many times for me

 

[Chinessa]

Sorry if this is kind of hijacking the thread, but could someone post a picture of how they hold their chin?

It's a little hard for me to try and visualize it with words only, haha.

 

[jess32247]

Sorry if this is kind of hijacking the thread, but could someone post a picture of how they hold their chin?

It's a little hard for me to try and visualize it with words only, haha.

I google'd it real quick and this is what came up: http://www.chinchillachronicles.com/holding_a_chinchilla.html

Hope that helps

 

[Chinessa]

I google'd it real quick and this is what came up: http://www.chinchillachronicles.com/holding_a_chinchilla.html

Hope that helps

It was perfect, thanks!

 

[xBrianx619]

I guess I'm lucky...lol the moment I stick my arm in my chins cage, he'll smell it for like 10 seconds, then run up my arm and sit on my shoulder. He wont move usually unless I make any sudden movements, which I try not to do anyways. He sat on my shoulder while I cleaned his cage out the other day. It was pretty cool/cute. haha..sometimes he'll jump onto my head and sit there for a little. He hasn't pooped on my head....YET! lol. I get paranoid every time..