Jawramik
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2021
- Messages
- 296
As most of us who have chins or who have even just researched them a bit probably know, chinchillas are not normally known for being especially "cuddly" pets. They're typically very interactive and even affectionate with their humans, but most don't really appreciate being picked up, held, and cuddled by their human caretakers. Many can be conditioned to tolerate being picked up and handled when necessary, but it's generally not something most chins enjoy or seek out.
Until recently, I would have described my chin, Margaret, as being pretty typical in this regard. She'd run to the cage door when she saw me, she'd gladly accept pets and scratches, she'd take food, treats, and chew toys from my hand, and she'd even jump and climb on me, but if I made any move to grab her or pick her up or restrain her, she'd try to escape. I could manage to pick her up and handle her for brief periods when necessary (like transferring her between her cage and playpen), but it definitely wasn't something she enjoyed, so I tried to handle her briefly and infrequently, and only when necessary.
However, over the past couple months or so, that's been changing. A while back, she started jumping into my arms when I'd open her cage. At first she'd just stay there for a second or two before jumping back into her cage (this is all happening with me standing right at the open cage door, where she could escape from me by jumping back into her cage at any time), but over time, she started spending more and more time sort of loosely cradled in my arms. I could actually cuddle her a bit, and the amount of time she'd spend in my arms and her level of comfort being there gradually increased. It got to the point where I could even sort of pick her up in my hands and re-position her against my body without her becoming startled or uncomfortable.
So about a week ago, when she'd been comfortably being cuddled in my arms right in the open cage door for a few minutes, I decided to try an experiment. I made sure she was situated in such a way that I could safely tighten my grip on her to prevent her from getting loose if necessary, and I took a step back from the cage. She didn't panic or struggle. She just sort of looked around. So I took another step back from the cage. Margaret remained calm, so after a minute or two, I started slowly walking around the living room with her in my arms. I wasn't really holding onto her or restraining her, though I was keeping a very close eye on her body language and was ready to catch her at a moment's notice if I sensed she was thinking about making a break for it. She seemed very relaxed and content just looking around from her vantage point in my arms. She'd move around a bit to get better views of things, but never panicked or made any attempts to escape from me.
I've repeated this several days in a row now for about a week. Two or three times a day, I'll open up her cage, she'll jump into my arms, and we'll just walk around my apartment together. She's always very calm, relaxed, and curious to look around at stuff. Sometimes she'll get up on my shoulder, but mostly she just hangs out loosely cradled in my arms. She seems to especially like being up right under my chin. There have been a couple times that she's been startled by a loud noise, but rather than trying to escape from me, she just snuggled closer to me and hid her face in the crook of my elbow. Every so often when I have her out I'll go back in front of her open cage and give her the chance to jump back in the cage if she wants, but she usually just cuddles closer to me or jumps up on my shoulder rather than going back in her cage. In fact, it's sometimes a bit of a struggle to get her back in her cage when I actually need to put her away. She'll just keep trying to jump back into my arms or onto my shoulder, haha.
For those who don't know, I originally got Margaret back in October of last year as a rescue. She'd been purchased from a big chain pet shop by someone and then returned to the pet shop a few days later because she'd apparently bitten her first human. The pet shop declared her to be aggressive and unsellable, so they were planning to euthanize her. My previous roommate (who worked at the vet clinic this pet shop used for their animals) heard about the situation, and we offered to take Margaret off their hands as an alternative to putting her down. I instantly fell in love with her, and the rest is history. It's kind of crazy to me that a chinchilla who was once sentenced to death because she was perceived as being aggressive and bad-tempered has now morphed into being the ever-elusive and much-desired "cuddly chin" less than a year later. And it's not like I'm some sort of chinchilla-whisperer with any special skills or abilities. Margaret is my first chin, I'd never even touched a chinchilla before getting her. Point being, I didn't do anything special or out of the ordinary to make Margaret cuddly. All I did, besides making sure I was caring for her properly, was exercise a little patience and compassion with her. She's an incredibly sweet-natured animal who just needed someone to be patient with her and earn her trust.
Sorry this got so long, I just wanted to share this with some folks who might at least have some idea of why it's so exciting for me, haha.
What have your experiences been like when it comes to handling your chinchillas? What degree of handling will your chins allow or enjoy, and how long did it take for them to get to that point? I know that many new chin parents (myself included) experience some degree of anxiety and frustration around the issue of touching and handling their chins, because it can often take some time before a chin will even allow their human caretaker to touch them, let alone pick them up and handle them. Maybe this thread can be a place for us to share our experiences, worries, triumphs, questions, and advice on the subject of touching and handling our chins. And to be clear, I'm not trying to hold myself up as some sort of expert on the subject. I think I just kind of lucked out with a chin who has turned out to be very tolerant and affectionate with a little time and patience. But I'm curious to hear about other people's experiences.
Until recently, I would have described my chin, Margaret, as being pretty typical in this regard. She'd run to the cage door when she saw me, she'd gladly accept pets and scratches, she'd take food, treats, and chew toys from my hand, and she'd even jump and climb on me, but if I made any move to grab her or pick her up or restrain her, she'd try to escape. I could manage to pick her up and handle her for brief periods when necessary (like transferring her between her cage and playpen), but it definitely wasn't something she enjoyed, so I tried to handle her briefly and infrequently, and only when necessary.
However, over the past couple months or so, that's been changing. A while back, she started jumping into my arms when I'd open her cage. At first she'd just stay there for a second or two before jumping back into her cage (this is all happening with me standing right at the open cage door, where she could escape from me by jumping back into her cage at any time), but over time, she started spending more and more time sort of loosely cradled in my arms. I could actually cuddle her a bit, and the amount of time she'd spend in my arms and her level of comfort being there gradually increased. It got to the point where I could even sort of pick her up in my hands and re-position her against my body without her becoming startled or uncomfortable.
So about a week ago, when she'd been comfortably being cuddled in my arms right in the open cage door for a few minutes, I decided to try an experiment. I made sure she was situated in such a way that I could safely tighten my grip on her to prevent her from getting loose if necessary, and I took a step back from the cage. She didn't panic or struggle. She just sort of looked around. So I took another step back from the cage. Margaret remained calm, so after a minute or two, I started slowly walking around the living room with her in my arms. I wasn't really holding onto her or restraining her, though I was keeping a very close eye on her body language and was ready to catch her at a moment's notice if I sensed she was thinking about making a break for it. She seemed very relaxed and content just looking around from her vantage point in my arms. She'd move around a bit to get better views of things, but never panicked or made any attempts to escape from me.
I've repeated this several days in a row now for about a week. Two or three times a day, I'll open up her cage, she'll jump into my arms, and we'll just walk around my apartment together. She's always very calm, relaxed, and curious to look around at stuff. Sometimes she'll get up on my shoulder, but mostly she just hangs out loosely cradled in my arms. She seems to especially like being up right under my chin. There have been a couple times that she's been startled by a loud noise, but rather than trying to escape from me, she just snuggled closer to me and hid her face in the crook of my elbow. Every so often when I have her out I'll go back in front of her open cage and give her the chance to jump back in the cage if she wants, but she usually just cuddles closer to me or jumps up on my shoulder rather than going back in her cage. In fact, it's sometimes a bit of a struggle to get her back in her cage when I actually need to put her away. She'll just keep trying to jump back into my arms or onto my shoulder, haha.
For those who don't know, I originally got Margaret back in October of last year as a rescue. She'd been purchased from a big chain pet shop by someone and then returned to the pet shop a few days later because she'd apparently bitten her first human. The pet shop declared her to be aggressive and unsellable, so they were planning to euthanize her. My previous roommate (who worked at the vet clinic this pet shop used for their animals) heard about the situation, and we offered to take Margaret off their hands as an alternative to putting her down. I instantly fell in love with her, and the rest is history. It's kind of crazy to me that a chinchilla who was once sentenced to death because she was perceived as being aggressive and bad-tempered has now morphed into being the ever-elusive and much-desired "cuddly chin" less than a year later. And it's not like I'm some sort of chinchilla-whisperer with any special skills or abilities. Margaret is my first chin, I'd never even touched a chinchilla before getting her. Point being, I didn't do anything special or out of the ordinary to make Margaret cuddly. All I did, besides making sure I was caring for her properly, was exercise a little patience and compassion with her. She's an incredibly sweet-natured animal who just needed someone to be patient with her and earn her trust.
Sorry this got so long, I just wanted to share this with some folks who might at least have some idea of why it's so exciting for me, haha.
What have your experiences been like when it comes to handling your chinchillas? What degree of handling will your chins allow or enjoy, and how long did it take for them to get to that point? I know that many new chin parents (myself included) experience some degree of anxiety and frustration around the issue of touching and handling their chins, because it can often take some time before a chin will even allow their human caretaker to touch them, let alone pick them up and handle them. Maybe this thread can be a place for us to share our experiences, worries, triumphs, questions, and advice on the subject of touching and handling our chins. And to be clear, I'm not trying to hold myself up as some sort of expert on the subject. I think I just kind of lucked out with a chin who has turned out to be very tolerant and affectionate with a little time and patience. But I'm curious to hear about other people's experiences.
That's amazing that he trusted you so instantly. Thanks for sharing.
