Chin not coming out of his tunnel

[onlyaquote]

Hi, I've only had my chin for three weeks and he's been fine (or so it seems) but since last night he seems to have become more mellow. He's been sitting in his tunnel huddled up all day. He usually jumps around and eats a little more than he does now...I know that the smallest changes are telling of a bigger problem but does anyone know of what that problem might be? He's got fresh water, hay and pellets and all that and no major changes have been implemented to his lifestyle. I don't know if I'm just being paranoid. Any thoughts would be appreciated

 

[ticklechin]

Mellow as in lethargic?

 

[onlyaquote]

Mm...I mean he still hops around and chews things and what not, but only when we go over to him and open the cage door for a bit (without letting him out). He also stuffs himself in the corner of his cage after he goes out for a run. IS THIS NORMAL!? i am so confused.

 

[Chinmama]

My guys are only active at night, and stay in their fleece tubes for most of the day. Maybe he is just settling into a routine in his new environment. Keep an eye on him to make sure he isn't lethargic vs. just settling in.

 

[kellylynnmarie]

If it's during the day, he probably just wants to sleep. My guys play ALL night. Cotton wakes up at about 7pm and is ready to go until about 7am... whereas Splinter doesn't wake up until 10pm and is good to go until 10am. Sometimes they have different schedules and they'll adjust to yours as well. My boys will wake up and say hi when I get home on my lunch break in the middle of the day sometimes... other days, they sleep right through!!!

Obviously, keep a close eye on him to make sure he's not lethargic... and always make sure it's not too hot in the room he's in.

As for hiding in the corner... When I first got my boys, Cotton was very social right off the bat. Splinter spent a lot of time hiding in the corner of his cage or in his tunnel. He was very shy. I found it helped by being around when he wanted to be social, but also just giving him his space, so he wasn't frightened by me.

 

[mercynursie]

Just keep an eye on the usual chinnie check list-pee,poo,water and food intake, and weight changes.Oops,forgot room temps!

 

[onlyaquote]

Thanks so much everyone , that makes me feel better. His pee and poo are all normal, everything is pretty much the same other than the "shyness" Do you know about how long it takes for chins to settle in? It's just that when we first got him he seemed to be more active ie: jumping from floor to floor and finding things to do but maybe that was just him getting used to his new home?

Also, I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions on where I could buy good quality chin toys online. I bought a few of the "living world" brand but the wood chew with loofah had some kind of glue residue on it so I wasn't sure if it was safe for him to chew on.

Thanks again for all your help, I really appreciate it heh

 

[onlyaquote]

Do you know of any chins that haven't liked their marble or granite slabs?

 

[Cuddlebug]

Some settle in within a few days and others take quite a while. He was probably more active to start with due to being nervous. Nervousness could cause him to be "on the lookout" until he is sure that nothing in the new home is going to harm him. Once he relaxes, he will calm down and do more sleeping than he sis before.

Check out the suppleis for sale threads in the classified ads section. There are quite a few members that sell fantastic, chin safe items listed there.

Some chinchillas love the chinchillers and some could care less. You can get tiles from the hardware store that are much cheaper and work just as well.

 

[Chinmama]

My guys never use their marble slabs. I leave them in the cages all the time, but I've never seen either chinchilla actually sit on one. They are in their fleece tubes about 80% of the time.

 

[Narcissus]

I put the granite slabs in the freezer for an hour or so, then put them in the cages, my chins go crazy for them. They lounge on them until they warm up

 

[onlyaquote]

HM, interesting. Yeah we got a marble slab from a bathroom renovation store (for free!) and we put it under his house because we had read that chin's generally love them. But after we put it there he stopped sleeping in his house as often so we moved it out and he seems more lively (back to normal) now so I was thinking maybe he was acting off because he couldn't sleep in his out because of the marble slab? It was very cute though because (when the slab was under his house) he used to push his house away and then huddle in the space between his cage and his house on the marble slab hehe

one more question: he's got this crusty white-ish smear on his ear, do you know of any way to clean his ears without him shaking me off or running away?

 

[kellylynnmarie]

One of the things about trying to clean them off is to not stress them out. If he doesn't clean it off himself somehow, I'd say hold him on your lap and use a very damp washcloth. It may not come off all in one try but you also don't want to force it because he'll get scared/stressed. And be very careful not to use too wet of a washcloth so it doesn't drop and get him too wet. Key is to be gentle and if he runs off, leave him be and try again later.