TheTonnina
New member
Hi, new to the forums and I've had my chinchillas for one month now, I had gerbils for 3 years but they have since passed on, so I'm experienced in rodents.
We got our girls from a rescue where they weren't held much and they were suspected to have had a rough start to their lives at a "Breeder's" (they were VERY skittish 3 weeks ago!) one of them, Violet, loves to climb on to my lap and explore me. She allows me to scoop her and hold her for a while. She's calm and doesn't fight to get away... She even winks and poops (signs she's relaxed, right?) so after holding her for 5-10 minutes I go to put her back. I allow her to go back into we cage on her own. She does so hesitantly now... But as soon as she gets to her favorite spot in the cage, she lays down like she hasn't slept for days! At first we thought he was just worn out from the excitement... But I'm worried it's something else. Anyone else's chinnies do this? She is okay, she reacts to touch normally and will get up for treats, but goes back to laying down when the snack is finished... Is my chinchilla weird or what? Her sister doesn't get held yet (we are waiting until she is okay with us more) so I don't know if she does it too yet or not.
They are 3 years old, sisters, live in a chin-safe cage from qualitycagecompany.com with a healthy diet minimal treats, and the temp is cool and comfortable for them(a/c) and they came from a suspected rough start with some "breeder" (we guess the breeder didn't handle them much or show them much love as they were very skittish... They are better with us touching, interacting, holding, and caring for them after a month) if there's anything else I can add let me know.
We got our girls from a rescue where they weren't held much and they were suspected to have had a rough start to their lives at a "Breeder's" (they were VERY skittish 3 weeks ago!) one of them, Violet, loves to climb on to my lap and explore me. She allows me to scoop her and hold her for a while. She's calm and doesn't fight to get away... She even winks and poops (signs she's relaxed, right?) so after holding her for 5-10 minutes I go to put her back. I allow her to go back into we cage on her own. She does so hesitantly now... But as soon as she gets to her favorite spot in the cage, she lays down like she hasn't slept for days! At first we thought he was just worn out from the excitement... But I'm worried it's something else. Anyone else's chinnies do this? She is okay, she reacts to touch normally and will get up for treats, but goes back to laying down when the snack is finished... Is my chinchilla weird or what? Her sister doesn't get held yet (we are waiting until she is okay with us more) so I don't know if she does it too yet or not.
They are 3 years old, sisters, live in a chin-safe cage from qualitycagecompany.com with a healthy diet minimal treats, and the temp is cool and comfortable for them(a/c) and they came from a suspected rough start with some "breeder" (we guess the breeder didn't handle them much or show them much love as they were very skittish... They are better with us touching, interacting, holding, and caring for them after a month) if there's anything else I can add let me know.
