chin hates being held and touched

[Macaroni and Chiz]

So my 16 week old chinchilla absolutely hates being held and touched!! I have has her since she was 10 weeks. She is used to her home and her new surroundings and even used to me, she comes up to the door when I walk in the room and she jumps on my hand and eats out of it. But all **** brakes loose when I reach for her, she squirms like crazy, kicks, bites and sprays. She let's me pet her sometimes for a short period but picking up is bad!! I don't try to pick her up or touch her every time I put my hand in there, so she knows I'm no in there to hurt her or annoy her, I let her come to me most of the time. Should I continue to hold her and pet her and eventually she'll get used to me?? Or what should I do??

 

[Narcissus]

She sounds like a normal chin to me.

 

[Godofgods]

Some chins hate being picked up. Some just arnt used to it.

All 5 of mine hate being picked up. One in fact is extremely fearful of it. I think he has past trauma involving that before i got him.

What i have noticed with most of mine tho is once they were very comfortable and fully trusting of me, they could handle being picked up... as long as they were the ones doing it.

I still cant pick them up with out them freaking. But many times if i open the door to the cage and have one arm up against it, and petting them with the other hand, often times they will walk out onto my arm. Slowly put surely, until they are fully in my arms. I call it picking themselves up. And they are perfectly fine with that. I just cant make any sudden movements during it.

 

[Macaroni and Chiz]

So its normal?? My other chin loves being held, touched and massaged, and I wanted this new on to be like her someday. My chin will roll onto her back to get a scratch XD and she nibbles any finger that isn't rubbing her

 

[Smidgeyy]

One of my chins loves it, the other will only accept scratches on his belly, chin and head. anything further back and he'll freak out. Most chins aren't fond of being held, they just tolerate it.

 

[Airyn]

I'm only permitted to touch the heads and scratch behind the ears of two of mine. Backs, bellies and butts are completely off limits. The other two let me touch wherever I want. None of them enjoy being picked up though. Sounds like a typical chin.

 

[Godofgods]

sounds about right. My father chin loves being scratched on his belly. I can also pet his head and upper back with no problem. He hates being touched on his lower back tho because hes afraid that means he will be picked up.

His son, is ok... with being pet on his stomach and bottom half of his back. He hates being touched near his face.

 

[EternallyCynical]

Yeah, my boy hates being picked up and won't really let me touch anywhere that isn't his head. They don't tend to be super cuddly animals, and some hate contact more than others. Sounds like your chin's behaviour is pretty normal.

 

[jacoby]

All three of our chins are different. Our very first one, which came from a pet store doesn't know he is a chin (thinks he is a lap dog). James is the youngest at not quite a year and he came from a small breeder locally. He took some time to work with being young. He was just so scared of leaving home. He isn't fond of being held long, but will come to us when he is playing and in the cage on his terms. Our newest, Kiara is a rescue and for less than a week doing well I think. She has NO interest in being held at all. No biting or spraying, but she will crawl on us at play time. We are thrilled with that level of progress. I think all of it just takes time and much patience. In the end it's just loving each one of them for their special personalities. If you have a cuddle bug and it sounds like we both do, enjoy that. However, we know he is special as far as chins are concerned and love the rest on their terms.

 

[Macaroni and Chiz]

Thanks everyone for the replies!! I'll just be patient with her and hopefully someday she'll come around and be a bit more friendly

 

[TwinkleDust]

Yep most chinchillas are a sit back and watch them play type. The good thing is that they don't need to be held to be socialised. Scratching them, feeding them, letting them jump on you when you clean the cage out is plenty socialisation. However if she's biting you may want to simply keep picking her uo and hug her in to your jumper so she feels safe then feed her raisins and scratch her head. The longer you leave it to pick her up the more unsocial she is going to become.

However if you try holding her daily and she's still going crazy then I would suggest rehoming her

 

[Airyn]

Yep most chinchillas are a sit back and watch them play type. The good thing is that they don't need to be held to be socialised. Scratching them, feeding them, letting them jump on you when you clean the cage out is plenty socialisation. However if she's biting you may want to simply keep picking her uo and hug her in to your jumper so she feels safe then feed her raisins and scratch her head. The longer you leave it to pick her up the more unsocial she is going to become.

However if you try holding her daily and she's still going crazy then I would suggest rehoming her

I disagree with most of this, especially the raisins. Chinchillas can't process sugar, so while they do love raisins, you're putting your chin's health at risk by offering them. Stick with a pinch of old fashioned oats, rose hips, half a cube of shredded wheat or a plain cheerio for treats.

Forcing any animal to be cuddly when it's not in their nature to do so doesn't build trust... quite the opposite, actually. Establish trust first. Exert dominance second. You'll need to be able to grab her for vet visits or in an emergency, but that's really it. Cuddling is very chin-specific, and I certainly don't think a chin should be rehomed for not being receptive to being held for long periods of time.

Moreover, by giving an angry chin treats, all you're doing is rewarding bad behavior. That chin will know that if she bites, she'll get cuddled, and then she'll get treats. It makes more sense to work with the chin on her terms to establish trust. When she jumps on your arm, give her a single oat. Use another oat to lure her up to your shoulder and reward her when she gets there. Tap a shelf in the cage to get her to jump down and reward immediately. Praise her when you give her a treat so that she begins to understand the different inflections in your voice. If you train her to understand what you want her to do, trust will be established and you'll have a much easier time picking her up in the future without the headache. They're prey animals and their instinct is to run, so it really just takes time.

 

[TwinkleDust]

I disagree with most of this, especially the raisins. Chinchillas can't process sugar, so while they do love raisins, you're putting your chin's health at risk by offering them. Stick with a pinch of old fashioned oats, rose hips, half a cube of shredded wheat or a plain cheerio for treats.

Forcing any animal to be cuddly when it's not in their nature to do so doesn't build trust... quite the opposite, actually. Establish trust first. Exert dominance second. You'll need to be able to grab her for vet visits or in an emergency, but that's really it. Cuddling is very chin-specific, and I certainly don't think a chin should be rehomed for not being receptive to being held for long periods of time.

Moreover, by giving an angry chin treats, all you're doing is rewarding bad behavior. That chin will know that if she bites, she'll get cuddled, and then she'll get treats. It makes more sense to work with the chin on her terms to establish trust. When she jumps on your arm, give her a single oat. Use another oat to lure her up to your shoulder and reward her when she gets there. Tap a shelf in the cage to get her to jump down and reward immediately. Praise her when you give her a treat so that she begins to understand the different inflections in your voice. If you train her to understand what you want her to do, trust will be established and you'll have a much easier time picking her up in the future without the headache. They're prey animals and their instinct is to run, so it really just takes time.

I think you have misunderstood my post. You don't reward an angry chin I never said that I said you reward the chin for being held. Ive haf many chins and none of them have had problems with raisens also.

You have over exaggerated my post to your own liking no where did I said a chin should be rehomed because it doesn't want to be held for long periods of time. I think youare just looking for a debate or something which simply you've made up yourself lol crazy.

A chin who is aggressive and biting or not social can be rehomed happily with someone who does not want a cuddly pet. Plus breeding such chins would not be good in the future.

Please do not exaggerate my post for your own pleasure it's simple not an effective way to discuss this poor ladies concerns.

And to the lady who posted the original question I apologie for this and hope you can find a solution it is my experience that it is rare to find a cuddly chin however my chins like to be held I simply pick them up everyday and show them there is nothing but fun when being picked up. I found the quicker you get them used to be handled the less the problem becomes. All animals to a degree will become more tame when being handled and given a treat for it

 

[Pikaia]

My thought is that maybe, just maybe, something traumatic happened to her in early life, before you got her. My Chichi is VERY skittish and doesn't really like people. She was a 5 year old's pet before I got her and before that she was in breeding and she was born at a backyard breeder. The 5 year old was very grabby with her, so she really hates being pet or picked up. I think you have the right idea. Just be patient and see what happens Every chin is different..

 

[Cuddlebug]

I agree with most of what Airyn said. As far as them not needing to be socialized, that is not true. If you ever need to take them to the vet, an unsocialized chin will be next to impossible to examine and treat. Also, if you need to pick them up to give them medicine, check an injury or, God forbid, get them out of a burning house, you will have serious problems. You cannot make them like being picked up and held but you should teach them to tolerate being held. That involves picking them up and holding them frequently. It will not traumatize them if you just reach in and pick them up. Whether they like it or not, mine all get handled regularly.

 

[Airyn]

I think you have misunderstood my post. You don't reward an angry chin I never said that I said you reward the chin for being held. Ive haf many chins and none of them have had problems with raisens also.

Perhaps I did misunderstand you. You said "if she's biting you may want to simply keep picking her uo and hug her in to your jumper so she feels safe." I took that to mean that the actions were sequential, which is what I disagreed with. If that wasn't your intention, I apologize.

If you use the search feature at the top to run a search on "raisins", you'll see that the majority of breeders and pet owners on this forum agree with not using fruits or vegetables as treats. The goal is to give them a healthy diet because they have sensitive digestive systems. A raisin is akin to a candy bar. It's neither necessary nor helpful in the grand scheme of things.

You have over exaggerated my post to your own liking no where did I said a chin should be rehomed because it doesn't want to be held for long periods of time. I think youare just looking for a debate or something which simply you've made up yourself lol crazy.

Please do not exaggerate my post for your own pleasure it's simple not an effective way to discuss this poor ladies concerns.

I apologize if you felt I was doing this. You said, "However if you try holding her daily and she's still going crazy then I would suggest rehoming her." I took that to mean that if the chinchilla doesn't want to be held, the OP should rehome her. I simply disagreed with your advice, just as Cuddlebug has disagreed with part of mine.

The bottom line is that we all have methods that work for us. I definitely grab my chins less frequently than most on this forum, but when I need to do so, I have no issues because they trust me. My guys have just made it clear that they hate being held for longer than a few seconds, so I try to respect that boundary whenever possible. So far, so good.

 

[Macaroni and Chiz]

Thanks everyone!! She isn't very old yet so I'm not doing treats. And she is perfectly happy with her timothy hay for now. I discipline her when she bites me, and she didn't spray when I picked her up today I'll just continue to be patient and let her come to me at her own pace. She is letting me pet her more and more, I think she's finally realizing it feels good XD Her previous owner was a vet, so I don't think she would have treated her badly. The chin may not have been getting enough attention though, cause the Lady was nursing a baby pack rat and was working long hours. She also had tons of other animals to tend to. Now all that's left is introducing my two chins..,. Help me

 

[LYChinchillas]

She sounds like a normal chin to me.

Lol, agreed. Although in my experience what it truly takes is a LOT of invested time being around your chinchillas.

Of my 5, only 3 will come up to me to be picked up (so as to say, they'll actively try to be picked up). On the other side, I have one female mosaic who doesn't like much of anything to do with human interaction, and a black velvet who will be picked up only if you do so with the palm of your hand (so that he's always sitting on a silver platter, if you will).

You can take a look at my mosaic girls being really good here, and they're actually both in my hand one on top of the other!

Every chinchilla has their own personality, and if I didn't know you had your chin since 10 weeks I'd suggest some kind of past trauma. However, I'd say be patient, sometimes it takes years to win that kind of trust, and sometimes they never come around.