To roam or not to roam

[Jenn]

I don't let my one and only chin roam around at all. I used to let her have playtime in the bathroom, and even with me sitting there with her, she still found a way to get in some chewing on the cabinets and wall trim. She is also known for chewing on the carpet fibers and has taken paint off the wall. She has destroyed one electrical cord and has done minor damage to other cords. It's amazing how fast they can get a bite on something. All it takes is one moment of distraction and then can do major damage. I also have a Doberman and a chihuahua and 2 cats, as well as children. The cats are scared of the chin, but I'm afraid if my chin were to roam in the house, she could get stepped on by the dobie, or by one of my kids. She is safest in her playpen, and that is where she gets play time outside her cage. Just don't want a "what-if" to happen.

 

[hownowbrowncow]

My chins have not received any unsupervised roam time in the past. Rather, I have chin-proofed my living room (easy to do since I live in a small apartment and the only electrical stuff in the room is the computer, the cords for which are not chin-accessible) so every night the kitties gets kicked out and given their wet food while my chin would get an hour or so of supervised play time in the living room.

If I had an extra room, I would consider letting the chin have free roam of that one room, providing it was possible to chin-proof it completely, but I wouldn't risk unsupervised, unlimited free roaming of my the whole house With the cats it's just not possible and the thought of them getting behind a stove, washing machine, into something in the bathroom, would drive me bonkers. Not to mention I would never be able to walk anywhere without scuffing my feet because I'd be afraid of having a chin dart under them and there would be chin-poop everywhere!

In general I like the idea of having a large cage and lots of regular supervised play time in a large space.

 

[Zoaea]

My chins have not received any unsupervised roam time in the past. Rather, I have chin-proofed my living room (easy to do since I live in a small apartment and the only electrical stuff in the room is the computer, the cords for which are not chin-accessible) so every night the kitties gets kicked out and given their wet food while my chin would get an hour or so of supervised play time in the living room.

If I had an extra room, I would consider letting the chin have free roam of that one room, providing it was possible to chin-proof it completely, but I wouldn't risk unsupervised, unlimited free roaming of my the whole house With the cats it's just not possible and the thought of them getting behind a stove, washing machine, into something in the bathroom, would drive me bonkers. Not to mention I would never be able to walk anywhere without scuffing my feet because I'd be afraid of having a chin dart under them and there would be chin-poop everywhere!

In general I like the idea of having a large cage and lots of regular supervised play time in a large space.

I think your comment highlights a great example of responsible spoiling. =) I could never chin proof my current apartment living area so I had my husband build a gianormous cage. When I own a house I plan to have a basement room or similar that I can fully dedicate to my chins. I learned from the past you gotta keep an eye on the walls though. When I was in middle school my first chinchilla would have the freedom of my room while I did home work, the little bugger made a chin sized hole in the wall under my dresser! Luckily he didn't get stuck in the wall!

 

[ChinChiq]

I have been giving Luna her "free time" in the hallway of my house. I close the bedroom and bathroom doors and stack 2 baby gates at the entryway that doesn't have a door to close. She loves to run up and down the hall, popcorning and bouncing off the walls and doors along the way. Last night she started to experiment with nibbling the baseboards and such, so I think I may have to eventually invest in a good playpen for her. For now I will just make sure she is supervised so that she can be distracted from chewing what she is not supposed to. I have a dog (a 7 pound Maltese) so I would never give Luna free range in the house. Not to mention, it's hard enough to get her back into her cage when she just has the hall...I can't imagine trying to get her if she had free range!

 

[Cuddlebug]

Regardless of how things are set up, chins should always be supervised when out of their cages. They can and will find mischief to get into.

 

[tranquility]

Regardless of how things are set up, chins should always be supervised when out of their cages. They can and will find mischief to get into.

+1

For such a small animal, they are EXTREMELY intelligent, always trying to find the best escape route. I liken them to the raptors from those Jurassic movies, trying to test the electric fence for areas of weakness lol.

They must be supervised all the time, even in supposedly safe areas. They will find a way to escape otherwise. :chin4::chin2::chin1::chin5::chin3:

 

[FutureUntold]

Chancho has free roam of my kitchen, once i "chin proof" it. then i sit down and read or surf the web, in a spot where i can see him. He is usually good, and I put down many obstacles and chew toys.

 

[KujoSutefanii]

Roaming is only ever done either on my bed or in the bathroom, since both places are chin proof and safe. Plus I'm always there supervising just in case. Otherwise, I don't let them roam anywhere else.
As a digital artist I have technology just about everywhere else so I wouldn't want them chewing on wires and possibly getting hurt and destroying my expensive equipment at the same time.

 

[courtyyryan]

I have one chin and if we're home he is out running around.. even if we leave for an hour or less he is still out (everytime we leave him out we come home to him sitting in the middle of the floor looking around, wondering where everyone went). I don't think he would be happy in his cage all the time. it is well set up.. clean, plenty of things for him to do.. but he is so much happier out squeaking around.

At first he chewed EVERYTHING but with a LOT of discipline he stopped.. or maybe he just got bored. it seems now the only things he cares to chew are the few blockades we still have up (behind the stove, behind the fridge, and behind the tv) we also block out the bedroom because once he's under the bed he isn't coming out unless we crawl under to get him.

he's mad if were home and he's caged.. he will sit there, all puffed out, with one hand on his cage and stare at you until you feel bad enough to let him out.

as far as getting outside.. there is just no chance. he does not like it outside.. even if the sliding glass door is open he won't go near it, i think he may be scared of the wind honestly.

 

[Cuddlebug]

You should never leave him for any length of time totally unsupervised. Chinchillas are pros at finding trouble. t is a matter of safety. You could come home to an injured or dead chinchilla.

 

[courtyyryan]

You should never leave him for any length of time totally unsupervised. Chinchillas are pros at finding trouble. t is a matter of safety. You could come home to an injured or dead chinchilla.

yet we do it all the time, and have never come home to him getting in any trouble. he just hangs out in the middle of the floor looking around. I've learned that no chinchillas are the same. I read things online and he ends up being polar opposite. what is right for you and your chin may not be right for me and mine.

respect my decision. I know my chin, I know his behavoirs, I know what I can and cant do with him.

 

[Claire D]

yet we do it all the time, and have never come home to him getting in any trouble.

Yet......

he just hangs out in the middle of the floor looking around. I've learned that no chinchillas are the same. I read things online and he ends up being polar opposite. what is right for you and your chin may not be right for me and mine.

respect my decision. I know my chin, I know his behavoirs, I know what I can and cant do with him.

I sincerely hope you never have cause to regret your choice to leave him unsupervised but I suspect that one day you will.
I also suspect that, when that day comes, your chinchilla will be the one who suffers - because he is a rodent & you have absolutely no idea what he gets up to while you are not watching him.

Chinchillas can hurt themselves in a padded cell let alone a house filled with possibilities & no-one to help them if they get into trouble.

 

[Tagna]

At first he chewed EVERYTHING but with a LOT of discipline he stopped

How on earth does one discipline a chin for chewing? And what does a lot of discipline entail?

 

[ticklechin]

Why discipline a natural instinct is beyond me, chins chew its what they need to do and being the owner you should keep your chin in a safe environment that they can chew without being disciplined.

 

[RichInGB]

My chins only roam free when they get away. Very temporary. I made a wire pen for them to run in. Probably 5x5 or so. Sometimes I'll take them one at a time and let them run around on my bed with me too for 10 minutes or so.

 

[Morganpanda]

When we first moved in, we had this horrible extra bathroom. It was just... reallyyyy needing to be redone. But we'd only redo it if we had another kid. Which, won't happen for another while. So we let that be the chin-room. The extra bathroom is pretty decently sized, and we tag off any moldings or anything dangerous that could be chin-hazardous. It's his roam time where he can climb and chew along various apple and grape twigs that we line the room with to make sure he doesn't chew on anything that we'd even save.

Worst case scenario is that he destroys this bathroom and it needs to be redone which... in the honest case, it needs to be redone anyways. So... it's not the end of the world.

The guest bedroom, too, is the smallest- open, room that we have that we can also let Sigma run. But that's going to wait until he's a bit older and can go for longer play-runs. We'll probably be moving his cage into that room, and making that entire room and chin-fest once he hits about a year old. But until then, we keep play-time short. Just for his safety, and ours. Haha.

 

[EBB]

I found a great wooden playpen that I bring to school whenever I am introducing a chinchilla to a new classroom. They are quite large and give enough space that I can easily introduce the kids to the animals. Pretty cool. I'll see if i can get pictures

 

[knitdragon]

I keep my chin cage in my bedroom and this is also his playspace. My room just stays chin-proofed 24/7. So much easier this way. He gets a couple of hours of playtime every night (why yes we are spoiled LOL) but I'm so paranoid about him getting into trouble that he goes in the cage if I so much as need to go the bathroom. He also has access to his cage during playtime, there is hay out in the room, a place to hide (cardboard box with two 'doors') and lots of safe chew toys.

 

[Jenn]

yet we do it all the time, and have never come home to him getting in any trouble. he just hangs out in the middle of the floor looking around. I've learned that no chinchillas are the same. I read things online and he ends up being polar opposite. what is right for you and your chin may not be right for me and mine.

respect my decision. I know my chin, I know his behavoirs, I know what I can and cant do with him.

I can't respect this decision because it is very irresponsible. It's like letting a toddler roam around unattended in your home...just because trouble hasn't found him yet, doesn't mean that will always be the case. The more often your chin is left to roam around on his own, the braver he will become, and will check out new areas that could potentially be very dangerous. One plugged-in cord, one poisonous plant, one small object on the floor that gets ingested...that is all it takes to lose your beloved pet.

 

[jinggles]

I use roaming balls like the clear one I put my chin in and I set him down on the floor and let him go and then I settle down on my bed with a book or I go on CnH.