chinchilla digging, knocking over house

[Rosie]

So my recently acquired chinchilla was starting to be sweet and get along with me, but the last several days she hops into her pink plastic house and tries to DIG. This eventually results in the house being upside down at the bottom of the cage, and now she is always stressed out and tired looking. I've tried putting the house in different places to make her happy, nothing satisfies her. She has several other hide places, but wont sleep in any of them.

I don't know enough about chinchillas behavior to deal with this... is there something particular causing it? Do chinchillas dig tunnels to live in in the wild?

any help with this would be great,

thanks

Rose

 

[mishellyshel]

She probably thinks its a dust house and is trying to dust. You would be better off with a wooden house OR a fleece tube. Or if you wallet allows.......both!
What are the other "hide places" that you have? Also do you have some wood in the cage to keep her busy and chewing??

Plastic isnt recommended for most chins as they have the impulse to chew it and then they can get a blockage. I have some chewers and others wont even touch plastic.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

Is the plastic house also her dust house? It could be she wants a bath. And on another note, watch out for her chewing on the plastic..it can cause impaction and other problems if they swallow it.

 

[Rosie]

I inherited her with plastic house, tunnels, and boxes. She does have wood to chew on. Her house is separate from her dust bath. She seemed happy with her house for a few weeks... I'll try making sure the shelf is cleaner so that she doesn't think about dust. It does seem different than dust bath behavior, but maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention. It seems like she's not happy with her house, trying to move it or dig or something but she won't sleep in anything else.

Do they live in tunnels in the wild??

 

[Laurie]

I have 2 digger chins. I had to switch them from shavings to a fleece bottom as they would dig all their shavings out and it was quite messy. They also both dig through their pellets. Chins do not dig a burrow like some animals however I do think they dig to get their cage perfect to their specifications or to get the perfect pellet.

It does sound as if she's wanting to bathe but digging in the upturned house. As others have said if you can get a wooden house and keep it on the bottom of the cage--I don't think they are strong enough to tip a wooden house over.

 

[Rosie]

OK I might try that. She doesn't dig in the bedding, just tries to dig through a plastic shelf and her house. It definitely seemed like she was digging because she was unhappy with how something was... Do Chins like houses on the floor better than on a shelf? And is having two entrances important to them?

thanks for all your help much appreciated.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

Chins are weird little creatures! My Herby will only have her wooden house on the bottom of the cage and if I put it anywhere else, she pushes along until it is where she likes it. They love to rearrange their cages to THEIR specs! It may not be that her ledges, shelves etc are dirty it may just be she likes to dig! I do have one that digs his fleece so he can sleep under it, instead of on it!

 

[cindyv3737]

I have a digger. She would dig in her house at night like a crazy woman. I have no clue as to why she digs other than she is a nut. She no longer has a hidey house in her cage. Shell never slept in it. She sleeps in her tube, hammock or on a shelf. Every night she relocates her bedding and every morning I fix it. Chins are nuts.

 

[ticklechin]

Is this a plastic dust house, the one with one opening and shaped like a house? If so there is a risk of the chin suffocating, on CNQ there was a chin who had that house and was a digger, one morning the owner woke up to find the house with the chin in it at the bottom of the cage with the opening closed by the floor. Attach the house to the cage or replace with one with more openings.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

Is this a plastic dust house, the one with one opening and shaped like a house? If so there is a risk of the chin suffocating, on CNQ there was a chin who had that house and was a digger, one morning the owner woke up to find the house with the chin in it at the bottom of the cage with the opening closed by the floor. Attach the house to the cage or replace with one with more openings.

Never thought of that! If it is, I would just take it out all together and get something else for her to sleep in.

 

[sheltiefan]

Chins are weird little creatures! My Herby will only have her wooden house on the bottom of the cage and if I put it anywhere else, she pushes along until it is where she likes it. They love to rearrange their cages to THEIR specs! It may not be that her ledges, shelves etc are dirty it may just be she likes to dig! I do have one that digs his fleece so he can sleep under it, instead of on it!

mine does this too. For a while she would constantly take to roof off then she started to turn it on its side. with the hole facing up. LOL

 

[Rosie]

So the answer is: Chins are crazy. Thanks, my problem is solved! Just kidding. I have a better idea now though.

Don't worry about her house, it's safe. I was just wondering if she was trying to dig another entrance. Maybe she was just trying to move the house... don't know where to! I have it on the bottom shelf now and it wasn't kicked to the floor, but I don't know if she slept in it there either! I'll just have to take some time to figure her out.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

mine does this too. For a while she would constantly take to roof off then she started to turn it on its side. with the hole facing up. LOL

My other chin, Zoe did this with her roof too. In fact, I just took the top off and let her have it as a chew toy, which she destroyed in minutes! Now she has it, on its side, and likes to sleep with her head sticking out the hole.