How do I bond with my Chinchilla!?!

[mayajambalaya]

Hello!

I am a new chinchilla owner. My chinchilla's name is Bandit and he is 3 months old. I've had him for a about four days now and I'm freaking out about a couple things.

1. He was starting to warm up to me, closing both eyes when sleeping, not running away from my hands and crawl on my hands and such so, I decided to let him out. Unfortunately, I didn't have everything blocked off as good as I thought and he crawled under the bed and started freaking out (i.e barking). I waited for him to come out but he never did, so i went through a massive ordeal trying to get him out and I feel like I seriously scared him now and I don't know what to do!

2. He's not that active. He sleeps a great deal morning and night. He eats and drinks water still but he does not do much besides that...is this normal? Should I invest in different types of toys for him??

Any tips or pointers?

 

[mgonya]

Most chin owners recommend letting your new chin adjust to his new home for a few weeks before trying to hold him. Sit beside them and talk, let them come up to your hand, etc. Earn their trust. I didn't let my chin run outside of his cage until he was about 5 mo old. Then it was in a bathroom where I could control him somewhat. If you can't catch them or pick them up to go back to their cage I recommend you let him hop in his dust bath and sit the bath in his cage. Chasing them will make them run even more. Everything is new to Bandit so try to keep him in a routine for awhile. Hope this helps. There is a new chin owners section here that will answer a lot of your questions. Good luck.

 

[Gemma]

Congrats on Bandit, this will be a very rewarding experience of paitience.

As mgonya said, don't attempt to pet/hold him for a few days.
Your company is very important to him, so comminicating with a soothing tone will make him get familiar with you. Also - as you might've noticed sudden movements are abit scary to him, so move slow - make sure the room he is in is quiet and free of any dangers (he might get loose a few more times before you get used to handling a chin!)

After a few days if hes willing to come up to you to check you out and sniff - try barracading a space around the cage free of "escape routes".
Keep in mind he can squeeze in small spaces/jump pretty high.

He will love the ability to run back in the cage if he needs to/come out on his own. Let him jump over you and smell you - this will be a bonding experience.

Just keep in mind hands are scary! Grabbing/chasing are negatives.

I did the same thing - get a chin stuck under the bed as if she was crying for help! Your boy must've been scared, it was just a contact call - but until he's used to your room everythings scary! (same ordeal made me cry!).

Toys are good, especially chewable things (untreated wood toys) because thier teeth grow and they need to chew chew chew. He is fine, everythings new to him!

His true personality will come out to you soon, just be gentle and paitient!

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

This site has some great recommendations for bonding with your chinchilla (and chinchilla care more broadly) http://owningchinchillas.webs.com/bringing-your-chin-home

 

[Jelly]

Congratulations on your new chinchilla! Bonding with your chinchilla is not going to happen over night, and it is not going to happen in a week, bonding with your chinchilla will take a while. You should first let your chinchilla get use to his new surroundings for about a week or maybe even longer depending on your chinchilla.Then you should feed him treats through the bars of his cage (remember only 1~2 treats a day) after a couple of days of doing that you can place your hand inside the cage, remember let your chinchilla come to YOU, don't shove your hand in your chinchillas face it will scare him. In general chinchillas don't like being handled so once in a while even if your chinchilla bonded with you he might not let you pet him sometimes. Another tip is that when he us having floor time sit with him in a chinchilla proof room.Just sit there let your chinchilla come to you it might take a couple of days for your chinchilla to know that you aren't a threat and might even jump on your shoulder when they're out of their cage and you're sitting there still The most important thing however is being patient with your chinchilla. Have allot of patience. Good luck with Bandit!

 

[mayajambalaya]

Thanks everyone for the tips!

Bandit and I have officially been together for two weeks! (haha)

Its going very well. He climbs onto my hands, mostly just to nibble on my sweater. He doesn't run or hide if I walk into the room while he's eating which is good. And I'm pretty sure he is more comfortable now, cause he sure makes a lot of noise at night! It is definitely a longer process but I like seeing the progression.

My only concern now is letting him out for free time. I still have yet to do so after the above situation. I'm bit concern because I know chinchilla's need a lot of exercise.

 

[becky12883]

At his age he really shouldn't have much playtime outside the cage, or a wheel, or treats. All those things should start at about 6 months old. He needs his calories for growing right now. Young chins also seem to run too hard and wear themselves out quicker than adults.

 

[akane]

Chins tend to take steps backward as they get comfortable in a new place and are no longer frozen by stress or fear.

Katsu sits in the closet and barks sometimes. I'm not sure what's going through his head. He's not stressed and he can come back out. It happens more when aika is in the room even though he spent minimal time with the antisocial aika to get her bred. He just seems to like her despite the fur she pulled out of his butt every few days. He's just a silly chin. I actually tell him that and sometimes he pops out of the closet and sits on a laundry basket to look at me.

Like others have said leave him in the cage for now. They do forgive rough handling pretty well but until he's older and you have the place chin proofed it could be stressful or dangerous for him. As you saw he'll also just hole up somewhere for hours if he's not used to you and his new location.

Talk to him, pet him where he'll let you, feed him stuff even if that's his own pellets or you can get various woods online and apple from local orchards that don't spray the trees. We occasionally use plastic free bird toys. They chew through the natural materials ropes over a couple days and then play with the individual pieces. When they get bored of it I put all the drilled pieces on one of those metal sticks with the screw off bell they often advertise for feeding veggies to guinea pigs. Then it's a new toy for awhile. Makes such things last several months.