Speech perception

[Vcchinchilla]

I have two chins
only MeiMei at the moment understands, some commands are with hand signals and or voice together

"come" + "wheres baby??" -come where to where ever i am, but if he doesn't come..you know he heard you because he twitches his whiskers

"up" + tapping shoulder - sit on my shoulder

"off" + tap where you want off - if he sits on my shoulder i put my hand on the shelf and tap the shelf he uses his my arm as a bridge to get off

 

[rainey]

I've had Snoops the longest and I think he's the only one who responds to me directly. He comes when I say his name, and when I make a chirping noise it means I want him to come and get a treat/dust bath/chew stick etc. I think my other chins know that when I say "Snoopy!!" and come into the chin room, that I'm letting him out first and will get to them later; I actually just did that, and Snoops perked up but the other 3 hardly even looked at me.

The minute I scoop up Snoops and put him back, all 3 start going crazy popcorning, looking at me to let them out next. I don't have an order after that, so the chin that gives me the most kisses/shows most excitement gets to come out next! If I let out Chicken, then I'll reassure my other 2 that they're being good and I'll let them out next.

I need to try some of these other commands out! Maybe they know more than I realize they do

 

[Vcchinchilla]

When the light bulb goes on in their head and do what you ask
And they look at you like "is this what you wanted/mean?"
It is extremly cute!

 

[dragsil]

I am certain they respond to words as well as the actual tone you say them in, I spoke English to mine at first and they were pretty ho hum about everything but as soon as I asked if they wanted to `come out and play`in Swedish for the first time, they went beserk and started jumping around all over the place. If I say the same phrase in the same tone in English the response is not as great and they also seem to respond to the swedish word for´candy´more than if i offer them a treat in English.

Silver is adorable, as soon as he gets into something he shouldnt and I shout out `Nej!`he whips around to glare at me......before resuming whatever it was he was doing. Naughty goy.

Trying to make them bilingual to make it easier on myself, lol.

 

[LittleNerdyOTAKU]

Baby X knows a few words it seems too :,)

If I say 'Baby X' in a really cute, talking-to-a-baby voice he'll look up at me like a deer in headlights or come to the side of the cage I'm at. If I say it like I'm fussing he'll stop whatever he's doing and normally goes to eat. I hope he doesn't think it means to eat. xD

He only really seems to respond to 'baby' or 'x' he doesn't know 'No' yet xD

 

[Airyn]

Bilingual chins! I love it!

My current challenge is to try and teach someone (anyone!) to push one of those large bouncy balls. So far, only Maia and Boji understand that whatever I'm saying has something to do with the ball. They'll stand next to it with their hands on it, looking at me exactly as Vcchinchilla described above. Somehow, I think this may be a fruitless effort.

 

[~@Pokemon@~]

My one boy Kiwi knows the word "GET DOWN" since the lil sneak always finds ways to get to my bookshelf levels and chews my books (only the old ones tho?) i point down and 90% of the time he will hop down and run off. He also knows his name and slowly learning the word "come here." He likes the word "baby" he always runs over to look at me, prob expecting a treat or to come out. Pikachu knows "come here" though he just looks at me and pretends he never heard it ​

 

[VolcanoBunny]

I would imagine it is helpful to employ a specific tone when you use certain words. Many animals can't discern much from human language, but nearly all animals seem to distinguish good, bad or neutral context from the type of sound used. When I chastise my boys for chewing on the molding, I try to use a lower register and conversely use a higher pitch when I reward them for returning to their cage of their own accord. I wonder how effective this might be with rodents....

 

[landrk11]

My chin will respond to certain words or phrases.

She knows some words and I beleive knows what each means.

If you say Papaya she does a specific dance because she knows what the papaya is and loves them. She gets a small piece on rare occassion.

If you ask her "do you want a fig" she will do a little flip like jump and gets all excited. She gets a small piece on rare occassion.

She responds to the word treat and if you say "show me your belly" she will put her hands up and stands on her hind legs and shows you her white belly. Her treat is a dehydrated marigold or a mint leave.

I find that they are amazing little creatures

 

[Stormcrow]

man I am wondering what you guys mean by kecking and chirping sounds. Please -we all live in a smartphone era- can someone make a short movieclip with these sounds... Maybe a silly question but would help me tons

 

[Zoaea]

I have been reading some papers on chinchilla speech recognition and cognition, including Patricia Kuhl's work, and I wondered if anyone here had succeeded in conditioning a chinchilla to respond to certain words?

Mine definitely can distinguish sounds pertinent to them, but it would be nice if I could teach them to learn their individual names and to respond.

OMG page 139 it says "They're also cuter than rats (see Figure 5.12)", as a reason for using chinchillas for the tests. xD Figure 5.12 is a pic of a cute chin being fluffy.

 

[xkatxrinax]

This page has some very interesting facts about chinchilla speech recognition, if you go down to the speech section, it even says one study shows that chinchillas have the same level of speech recognition as rhesus monkeys. Very interesting http://www.chincare.com/HealthLifestyle/Chintelligence.htm#speech

 

[chinchillin2005]

My chinchilla knows my voice AND he does recognize what I say!! Like I will say, "Shadow, do you want a dust bath? dust bath?" and he will go running around in his cage whimpering. He KNOWS what "dust bath" means, and my voice because im the only one who took care of him for 7 years. he knows his name too.

 

[Jazicat]

My boys know their names. They know what I mean when I ask if they want to run. The know what squishies are and their reaction depends on if they want them. Hey is usually what the heck are you doing? They really know what cookie means and if I ask if they want to sit like Handbag they run terror so I don't do it anymore. The cutest is Jackie who when he really wants to come out will dig at the bars. If we ask him to sometimes he does to show how much he wants to come out. Of course it's been between two and three years of getting to know each other to get so far.

 

[mknoblich1]

My girls definitely know what bath means. When I ask if they want a bath they start running around their cage. I think one of my girls knows what show me your belly means but it's hard to say. I'm not sure if she thinks I have a treat over her head and stands on her back legs to try to get the treat or knows what I'm asking her to do.

 

[chinchillin2005]

I've noticed chinchillas are really smart animals. He knows how to open a wire cage from inside out even with a paper clip on, and the sound of the dust bath, and knowing that he will get in trouble if he bites the molding, he literally stops himself from biting the walls when he remembers not to