Chinchilla Scared when I let him out for Playtime...

[Nadia]

I've had my chinchilla for a little over a week and yesterday I decided to let him out of his cage to get some exercise. The cage door sits about a foot off the ground, so I opened the cage door and he hopped down. He immediately ran under the cage and wouldnt move. The cage is up on wheels so there is a space underneath it that he can hide under, and no I can't take the wheels off. He wouldnt come out from under his cage so I sat there and waited. It took him over 20 minutes to even start moving around. Slowly he would sniff around a few inches from his cage, but if I made the SLIGHTEST movement or sound, he would race back under his cage and hide. I sat there two hours with him and he got a tiny bit more comfortable about exploring, he even came up to me once and sniffed me a bit, but I had to sit as still as a statue or he'd scurry back under his cage. And getting him back into his cage was a NIGHTMARE. He didnt want me to touch him at all (he's ok with me touching him when he's inside his cage) so I had to coax him into his dust bath to get him back into his cage cause he refused to let me pick him up, kacking and running away. Did I let him out of his cage too early? He just acted scared like he didnt want to do much but hide under his cage? I'm afraid that if I don't start letting him out, he'll never be comfortable with it. What should I do?

 

[Chinmama]

This is normal. It was almost a month before I let Marble out for playtime, and she still hid the entire time. I've has her for 3 years now (I think...) and she is still very skittish sometimes during her playtime.

 

[Laurie]

One week is really too early of a time. He is still getting used to you let alone his surroundings. They are what's considered a prey animal, which means most often they are prey or meals for larger animals. Because of this they are naturally very skittish animals and may never get used to sudden movements made by you. Just give him some more time to get used to what's going on around him and hopefully he'll come out and explore a lot more during playtime

 

[chinchewy1]

Sounds normal to me also. The more you let him out the more comfortable he will become. Chinchillas are prey animals and are very skittish anyway. They are quick to bolt with any quick movement or unknown sound. They also take a long time to get used to new things. They really do not like change.

I always tell my customers not to let their new chin out for at least two weeks and then only in a small area to play such as a small bathroom or a pet pen where it is easy to chin proof and not many places they can hide. That way you can get them back easier and they are almost forced to interact with you durring play time. It's also much easier to get them back into the cage if you can catch them easily or get them to go into their dust house quicker...not as many places to run either in a pet pen or small bathroom.

 

[starleomach]

Sounds normal. They do need some adjustment time

 

[jess_w]

My guy is quite skittish too, but don't worry, it will get better if you spend lots of time with him and especially if he's young. It might be an idea to put something underneath the cage like some pillows so he doesn't have the option of hiding under there.

When I first let mine out he used to always be running back into his cage every 2 seconds, whenever I moved or made a noise. But a few days ago I let him out and shut the cage, so he didn't have the option of going back and hiding all the time. I felt a bit mean doing this but it really worked, he became a lot more confident when he "had" to explore and realised there was no danger. He even started jumping around on my legs, it made such a difference!

So yeah - maybe try something like that in a week or two when he's got a bit more used to his surroundings. For now I'd let him have the hidey spaces because he's probably nervous enough anyway being in a new place.