My chin actually "bark" last night!

[Evelyn]

Ok, first of all, gizmo never make noise! He probably make very low voice a little bit when I reach my arm into his cage. But that's it. His cage located in my living room. I usually left a little light for him every night though and I have never stay in the living room all night so I don't really know how he is doing alone.
So, last night I fell asleep on the couch. There were no light at all. In the middle of the night, Gizmo barks very loud! It was two shorts and one long. It was loud enough to wake me up. I ran to turn on the light and check on him. He was on the wheel and just look at me who ran to him like "what??" I sat there with him a little bit and he seems to do normal thing. He didn't hurt. He wasn't depressed. He didn't looks scared. So WHAT THE HECK WAS IT? I mean the noise was frightening! This is the first time I heard it, but this is also the first time I'm with him at night.
I went to chinchilla-sounds.de and I think the one that closest to the noise he made washttp://www.chinchilla-sounds.de/sounds/warn1.wav

Do you have any idea?

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

He could have seen a shadow that scared him or any number of things. It's normal behavior don't be worried about it.

 

[jessla]

My chinchillas bark all the time. I hear them bark at least once most nights. When I go in to check on them, they always seem fine.

 

[Evelyn]

Yea, I'm more worry about what the heck they saw than their health lol I couldn't sleep try to figure out what was it. Especially he never made noise before so i thought he must be really scared. is that the common reason why they bark though? they saw something and get scared?

 

[GorillaJTA]

Yea, I'm more worry about what the heck they saw than their health lol I couldn't sleep try to figure out what was it. Especially he never made noise before so i thought he must be really scared. is that the common reason why they bark though? they saw something and get scared?

You said that you never sleep in the living room but that night you were sleeping on the couch. You may have moved or made a noise in your sleep that startled him. My chin stays in my bedroom and used to make his lonely sound at night when I first got him, then stopped, but still does if I am not in my room by a certain hour.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

They make that noise in their sleep sometimes, when they have nightmares, so don't be scared if he's sleeping and makes that noise

 

[Pleiades]

Like Brittany said, they can have nightmares! I have one boy that has nightmares a few times a week, and he just barks barks barks. Sometimes I go in there, and there he is barking away in his sleep. I wake him up, and he usually looks at me grumpily, but it ends his terrible dream, haha, so I'll take the hate. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

 

[tinkerbell2002]

the barking noise is basically a warning. He probably heard or saw something like a shadow maybe that he didn't like. But usually chins make that noise as a warning to others that there is something out of the ordinary. So it probably was you moving on the couch or you coughing and they can't see what it was so they make that noise to warn whatever the sound was to back off. lol it's normal for a chin to make that noise when they feel threatened. Usually night lights would help them see better at night. They are after all nocturnal so they're awake at night.

 

[pookie126]

Cheech barks once in a while - his cage is in my bedroom so whenever he barks, I just call his name, he calms down and he is usually quiet the rest of the time. Nothing to worry about....

 

[Kaygin]

First time I put Whisper in her cage every night she would bark. Its been about a week since I got her and now she don't make that noise. Her cage is right near my bed so she knows shes not alone.

 

[mcinnesp]

Sometimes Chi Chi barks at night (he's in my bedroom) and like Pookie126 said, I just call out his name and he stops.

During the day he's barked in his sleep as well. I just go in to see if he's okay. Sometimes he'll wake up and look at me with sleepy eyes then lay back down to continue his slumber. Other times he doesn't move at all - that's when I check to make sure he's still breathing LOL

 

[ChinnyMom]

your chin probably was telling you to quit snoring, lol!

 

[broderp]

bark!.......Bark!......... (Translates into "I see dead people")

LOL. Mine did the same thing one night, except he did it for about an hour straight. He would bark several times (really loud) then when I woke up, he would just sit there and give me the evil eye. As soon as I dozed off, he did it again. This went on for about an hour. I woke up at 4am and called my wife, of course she didn't believe me. :tantrum:

I went to work with a headache that morning.

 

[Amy555]

I usually reach in and pet the barker until the statue-shock wears off a bit and then give them a stick or loofah bite to snap out of it. Sometimes I'll read them their nighttime book and the sound of my voice comforts/distracts/drowns out whatever was scaring them. Crazy babies.

 

[Marie5656]

The first time you hear them bark can be a bit alarming (yes, pun intended). I remember when I first heard Trixie...I had just started using our back room as a playroom for her, and we still had a bed set up in there. She was under the bed, along the wall..and suddenly I heard this noise. I was sure she had picked something up to chew ad was choking to death. I got so scared I ran out and got my husband so sure she was dying. Of course I had left the door to the room wide open, not even thinking she may escape the room. She did not..but even Rick was a bit astounded. I had not found the chin sound site yet at that time..but it was sure funny.