chinchilla holding

[kkelly]

The breeder that sold me Mochi said to keep holding him, to get him used to being held. He struggles so much though! And when I put him down, he avoids me like crazy at playtime, if I try holding him before I let him out.
I don't mind not holding him, he runs all over me and is absolutely adorable the way he is. Besides, I know chinchillas aren't rodents that like to be cuddled or held, really. However, I don't want him to grow up a crazy, unsociable little boy.
Help?

 

[Isabella Whateva]

It sounds like he's pretty sociable.
I have one chin who likes being held and one who doesn't. I don't think one is happier than the other, they just have different personalities. Of course, I wish Banilly would let me hold her so I can get my daily dose of snuggles, but I try and try and she just wants none of it. She seems way happier when she's out playing.

 

[Laurie]

Many chins do not like to be held, it is actually normal behavior for them to scurry away. Letting someone hold them doesn't make them social. As long as you spend time with him, talk to him through the cage, spend time with him during playtime he will be social with you. Trying to force him into wanting to be held is going to do more harm than good.

 

[AZChins]

Give him some time, Kim. He's just a baby. He's going to squirm no matter what because there's a lot of fun things to get to once he gets down. Forcing him is bad because he'll just get mad at you and not look forward to being held - take it slow with him. Get down on the floor with him during playtime and he'll be good. He liked being held when he was younger, but most of the babies like it until they hit three to four months and then they aren't so happy with it.

 

[ticklechin]

If he is over 6-8 months old he is being a teenager chin, unruley little stinkers. When he gets to be around a year and a half he will calm down and taming will go better.

 

[Spoof]

There is training going on too - if you put a chin down when it wiggles frantically he/she learns that wiggling = release, and that can escalate into holding = frantic struggling = stress. When I work with babies I wait until they relax to put them down. Sometimes it can take a minute or two but they learn quickly.

As they get older the time they stay still waiting to be put down will get longer. This does nothing for them "liking to be held" but it does teach them to relax - which makes them less stressed out if you have to so anything that requires restraining in the future. )

 

[Jazicat]

I've started holding my chins and they settle really quickly but don't like it. Just like we weigh them often it's just good to be able to hold and look them over. However we just got a chin that came from a breeder to a pet home. His breeders handled him but it's just a different life especially not being surrounded by other chinchillas. Until this little guy gets settled we are trying to not to force him to do anything we don't have to. He gets as much attention as the boys but usually it's us just sitting and talking to him.

 

[broderp]

My boys are very different, our first chin, runs to he cage door and jumps in our arms to get out an play. Lately he's been going back into his cage on his own when he's tired (after about an hour). His routine is get out, play, go back in and eat when done.

Our other chin is just now allowing me to pick him up, without struggling, so I can put him on the ground to play. But when it's time to go back into the cage, he's a stinker. We usually have to resort to the dust bath house to trap him, (As soon as it hits the floor, he runs to it circles it one or two times, then jumps in.)

Into the cage it goes, where the first one jumps in for a few minutes with the first one before they go upstairs to eat.

By comparison it was only last week, I had to trap the smaller one just to get him out. Don't rush it. If they are going to allow you to pick them up, it will be on their own time. Go SLOW. During playtime, ours jump on the bed, and then usually on top of us, and we can pet them or feed them a treat.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

How are you holding your chin? Most chins don't like being held around their middle - their ribs are also very fragile and they can slip fur being held this way - best way to hold them is firmly at the base of the tail (not too close to the body) and support them from below with your other hand. they calm down dramatically being held this way. if they start struggling just readjust them back onto your hand still firmly holding the tail. I think there is a video of it somewhere...

 

[SamiJami]

I have 3 very different boys when it comes to holding. Altair likes being held with his back on my chest, one hand under his leg, and the other around his tummy. Ezio runs around my arms and chest til he finds his spot and that's usually standing on one forearm while he's getting scritched with my other hand. Zipper likes to be cuddled to the chest. None of them appreciate having their tail touched.
We rescued Zipper and it took a long time just for him to let us give a scritch. We made holding Ezio and Altair a game for them so they appreciate it more now. We'd sit in front of the cage with the door wide open, they'd come to the edge and hop on our hands to try to run away and we'd put them up on a shelf or something. This went on for hours at a time, until our arms got sore. After several times of this, they became more willing to be picked up. You could try it.