New chin won't eat. :(

[mslove]

Hi! So I brought home my first chinchilla yesterday. His name is Mochi Sesame. (My roommates named him...hehe.) :chin1:

I've been really worried because he won't touch his food, water, treats or chew toys.

Some background info:
-He is about 8 months old now.
-He was all alone in Petco for two months before I got him. (There were no breeders and no other pet stores in my area that had chinchillas!)
-He likes to stay in a corner/in his house for hours without moving.
-Sometimes he lets me pet him when he's like that ^
-He makes a sound similar to the "decoy sound" whenever he gets frightened but he seems to calm down when I talk to him.
-I try to talk/sing to him whenever I'm by his cage. I'll put my hand in and sometimes move stuff around.
-He won't go up to my hand even if I have treats.

Also, I read somewhere to not pet a new chinchilla until he comes up to you. Should I stop petting him until he gets used to me?

What kind of personality do you think he will have once he gets used to me?

So, basically three questions: How should I get him to eat? What is the best way to socialize him? What's his personality?

I have a billion questions, but I feel like I already asked a lot here. Sorry if this is really jumbled and has a lot of useless info. I'm new to this. And thanks very much if you have an answer! )

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

He is probably experiencing a lot of stress right now due to the new environment, so I think that best thing to do is leave him alone for right now. Continue sitting by his cage and singing and talking to him like you are doing and he should start to calm down. It can take weeks to months for this to happen, so patience will be the key here. I have one chin, who I have had for 6 months and she has only let me pick her up once and will only let me do the basics to her cage and if I even try to pet her, she runs onto her tube.

If you do not mind, what are you feeding him? And what are you offering as treats? If you are really worried about him not eating, try weighing his food every time you feed him and then weighing again the next morning. I know that 2 of my chins only eat about 2 TBSP a day, but eat lots of hay, while I have 2 that eat a whole 10 oz bowl a day and lots of hay. Are you feeding him hay as well? He may be eating more hay then pellets also, so it may look like he is not eating but very well may be.

There are never such things as too many questions, so keep asking! the best way to find out is to ask, right!

 

[lauralynne]

Hello & Welcome to the forum. Congrats on your new furbaby.

I'll direct you here http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=857 which is a general FAQ section and talks about bringing a new chin home and the things you should/should not be doing.