Help Taming

[drenwick]

Hello, my name is Drew, new to the site so I am not sure if I am posting in the proper area but this seemed like a good place to go!

I own 2 chinchillas, my male I have had for a little under 2 years (I am not sure of his age, the pet store I got him from did not not exactly know but somewhere a little over 2) and my female I got 2 months ago, and is 5 months old that I got from a lady that breeds them in a small town not far from where I live.

I have done tons of reading ever since I got Stan, my male, and have been very patient and followed lots of reading online about taming my chins but I cant seem to gain their trust completely. Stan will come up to the cage when I open it, but seems more interested in just jumping out of the cage and not curious in me. I can pet him if I am feeding him some oats from my one hand and I pet him gently with my other. And with my female, its only been two months but shes still very afraid of me and takes probably around 20 mins after I approach the cage for her to come and take a treat from me, usually is a cheerio or raisin.

I want to let them out to get some excersize but I am afraid to because they do not let me pick them up yet, so getting them in and out of the cage is very difficult, and only Stan can really be let out because his cage door is on the floor so I just guid him back into the cage when its time to put him back.

Is there something I am doing wrong? I have been very patient and I dont chase them around and keep things quiet in the room they are in but I just dont seem to making any progress.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as it seems there is lots of very informative people on this site!

Thanks for havin me!
-Drew

 

[tunes]

Hi Drew - Welcome.

It sounds like they are acting pretty much like typical chins, the male especially. The female sounds a bit more timid, but again, that's very typical for a chin.

I rarely tell people they can "tame" a chin, because most chins want no part of that. They will become more interactive with you, more friendly towards you, but they are rarely if ever going to be lap dog/lap cat type of pets. They are just too busy for that. I think your male is pretty tame with you already, and is actually a lot more tame then many chins. That probably isn't what you want to hear, but it sounds as though you are doing things right - just taking your time, giving them their space. You can try sitting by the females cage and reading out loud to her. That helps with some chins. Other than that, they are just going to come around in their own time.

As far as play time, you can still do that, but unless you plan on breeding and having kits, they can never have play time together. It takes seconds for the male to impregnate the female. By the time you separate them, the deed will be done. Wasn't sure what your intentions were with a male and a female, but just wanted to point that out.

You can still let them have play time, just do it in a more confined space. Either make sure your bathroom is chin safe, or buy a playpen that you can get in with them. They will get more accustomed to you that way, and it is much easier to catch them to return them to their cage when you don't give them an entire room to run and hide in.

 

[drenwick]

Thanks for the quick reply! Hearing that sounds very comforting the only reason I thought they would be tamer is you see a lot of people able to pet their chinchillas no problem as well as picking them up, etc but if its not meant to be I wont stress over it anymore, thanks for clearing that up. As far as getting a play pen for them, I keep them seperate right now and trying to get the female out of the cage is difficult, should I just let her stay in the cage? Im worried she wont get enough excercise in there and would like to let her out but I didnt want to chase her around her cage trying to grab her to take her out, any tips?

As far as breeding the chins that was my plan (would the new kits be more tame if I handle them from birth) but I did not want to breed right now, I want to wait for me to have done enough reading up on it and experience a birth with the breeder I am friends with first before I start up on my own, but yes breeding them is the eventual plan

Thanks again,
Drew

 

[Sandi]

(I am not sure of his age, the pet store I got him from did not not exactly know but somewhere a little over 2)

Sorry, but a ton of research will tell you that you should never breed a chin where you have no background on that chin.

 

[drenwick]

Sorry, but a ton of research will tell you that you should never breed a chin where you have no background on that chin.

Oh I had not read that yet, I'll have to keep that in mind and maybe find a new male! I have read that you should not breed chins that are the same colour? Thats about all of done for reading on the subject, but thanks for the tip I'll have to look for a different male if I want to breed I guess!

-Drew