Chinchillas are supposed to like hammocks... right?

[DartandZorosMama]

Hi! I inherited 2 chinchilla's from my best friend (she just couldn't commit the time to them anymore) about 3 months ago. The boys are about a year old now. When she first got them she had a hammock in the cage, but it was (I now know) designed for ferrets, etc.. not chins. So they ended up chewing off the supports and she just took it out. But they did get in the hammock and lay there before that. Well, since I found this website I decided to use the DIY Hammock instructions I found on one of the forums to make a chin safe hammock!

The hammock is all fleece, hung with binder clips, and very secure... but my boys will not get into it! Once I walked in and Dart jumped out of the hammock when he heard me open the door. So I wonder if they think they're not allowed in the hammock or something...? Anybody have any ideas why they don't seem to like it? I thought chins are supposed to love these things? :hmm:

Thanks!!

 

[tunes]

Nope. Some like them, some don't. Just depends on the chin. They have different personalities just like any other living being and their preferences vary.

Give them time though and they may adjust. It may be new to them and with time they will hop in.

 

[ChinnyMom]

it's a new thing in their cage, and it will take them some time to get used to it. the fact that one chin was in it is already a positive note on how quickly they may take to it.

like Peggy said, some chins just don't like hammocks. some only like corner hammocks, and some only like the square 'normal' ones. some only will go in a hammock if it's in a certain spot in the cage........ picky lil critters.

my boys scramble out of their hammock sometimes when i come in the chin room too. flighty lil critters......... lol.

 

[becky12883]

My boys have hammocks in their cage and they only use them when we aren't looking. One is at the tops of the cage with no shelves above it and there are always poos in it, but I never see either of the boys in it. Another one has become their hay holder.

 

[DartandZorosMama]

Ooh! OK.

Thank you guys for the replies! It really helps. :thumbsup:

Glad to know I didn't accidentally make them afraid of hammocks...

 

[rosa160]

I don't see my chin in the hammock, just poo

 

[Godofgods]

I put a hammock in my boys cage, and my girls cage. It took quite a while but my girls started to use theirs off and on. My boys still rarely touch theirs. One of the boys i have; i have never once seen in it. So some like them, some don't. And with everything, it will probably take some time.

 

[Lilune]

We made Amp one of the folded fleece do it yourself hammocks when we built her new cage, and she had absolutely no interest in it (aside from using it as a springboard and getting mildly frightening heights) until we bought a different style online. We got her one of the corner types thats almost like a hanging tent and oh did she love it. She slept in it, on top of it, she even squeezed herself between the fleece and the side of the cage, clung to the cage with her paws, and slept behind it. Not long after she discovered the joys of that, she started sleeping on the one that we had made, too. We ended up getting a third, a hanging tunnel, and being the adorably finicky creature that she is, she picks one every week or so, and uses it exclusively, then a week later switches to a different one. From zero interest to obsession in no time flat. Maybe they'll come around, too ^^;

 

[Marie5656]

I bought Trixie a fleece tent to replace her old worn out hammock, which she loved. For several weeks she would go sit by it..or in front of it, but would not get in. She even tried to crawl underneath it (I had a wide legde under hammock, she'd sometimes sleep there.) Now, she is in it all the time. Even over the summer, when I figured she would be too warm, she'd sleep in there. Sometimes I will go looking for her, and all I will see is her tail sticking out of the back of the tent.