Whats your opinion on...

[Yuudoku.Niji]

Bringing your chin(s) outside? Do you do it? Do you not? If you do are there any requirements and such? If you don't, whats your reasoning behind it?

I've brought my chin Ashe outside as long as its dry, clear, and under 65 degrees. He is very social and though he doesn't like to be held, he doesn't mind people and such. He'll sit on my shoulder or in the hood of my jacket. I have a light harness for him that he doesn't mind either. He doesn't try to jump off or run away as well.

Whats your opinion?

 

[Dreamlite]

Bad idea. What if he gets loose? There are a lot of risks. From getting loose, to getting sick or hurt. Why risk it? Pick a safe play area inside and stick to that.

 

[Godofgods]

there is more risks then i could count in doing that. I would never try it.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

Do not use a harness!! Your chin could be severely injured.

 

[Yuudoku.Niji]

Bad idea. What if he gets loose? There are a lot of risks. From getting loose, to getting sick or hurt. Why risk it? Pick a safe play area inside and stick to that.

there is more risks then i could count in doing that. I would never try it.

Do not use a harness!! Your chin could be severely injured.

My apologies? He never has tried to run and I like being able to enjoy the outdoors with him. I never put him on the ground or anything. He just sits on my shoulder or in my hood and looks around. The harness doesn't go on very tight either, its a thin one so he doesn't overheat. I mean like there was this guy who I had seen on YouTube with a chinchilla that had no harness and was able to just run and eat at bark and leaves or anything for that matter, without any stopping and the chin would go back to the guy and he was fine for 10+ years(I believe the guy had said). I guess I "risk" it because I know my chin well enough and I trust him. I could put him in a carrier and walk around with him too if him running away was that big of an issue to me. Ever thought of giving it a chance? Maybe it isn't as bad as you may think it is? I certainly never have had a problem.

I'm sorry if this offends you or anything or I rub you the wrong way or I give you the wrong impression.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

Alice we are attempting to help you care for your chin. We know you love him and don't want anything bad to happen to him. That is why you are asking questions. The advice you have been given is good advice. You may "know" your chin but too many things can happen that would cause him to not act normally.

Unfortunately in the past people have done these things and we have tried to help them deal with the tragic accidents that occured during these activities. We don't want you or your chin to experience what others have experienced.

 

[Yuudoku.Niji]

Alice we are attempting to help you care for your chin. We know you love him and don't want anything bad to happen to him. That is why you are asking questions. The advice you have been given is good advice. You may "know" your chin but too many things can happen that would cause him to not act normally.

Unfortunately in the past people have done these things and we have tried to help them deal with the tragic accidents that occured during these activities. We don't want you or your chin to experience what others have experienced.

I understand, thank you.

 

[Amethyst]

Well you did ask what people's opinions were on it, so don't take offense when you get what you asked for, which is how people feel about it. The harness could seriously hurt the chin though, you'd be better off not using it since if it's loose the chin can escape and get tangled, so what's the point of it? and if you have it tight enough as to prevent an escape you run the risk of broken ribs or spine. There really is lot that can go wrong, what if something startles the chin? A dog or cat outside or even wildlife, a loud bird, cars going by, or other loud noise, all these can cause the chin to get scared, even if for only a second. Even with it on your shoulder or in your hood a bird of prey could try to go after it. It's great that one guy's chin lived 10+ years, but the average lifespan is 15-20+ years. Besides there's a lot of stupid/bad things people do to/with chins on YouTube, people feeding them human junk food, putting them in swimming pools, letting them get chased by cats and dogs, etc. YouTube is not a good judge of how to care for your chin. Since you said you don't put him on the ground I wont get into that, but what about things that float through the air, not everything is safe for chins to eat, and chins can eat things very fast if they want to, faster then you can grab it from them. In the end it's your pet, you can do whatever you want with it. I will say that before I knew better when I first got chins as a kid I did allow my chins outside playtime on a second floor desk, so you aren't alone in the outside world idea.

 

[AZChins]

Chins aren't very good outside animals, they get so scared outside. Harnesses don't help much because they can get loose so quickly. I had a customer lose her chin just because she put him out on the back porch in his cage outside for 45 minutes when it was 70 degrees outside and sunny. I always recommend leaving chins inside....they do so badly outside.

When I adopted my very first chin 16 years ago I got a harness for him. We went outside to explore and he ran up a downspout! I had to get him out of there, it took awhile. The next day he ran through a chainlink fence when we were out for a walk...I nearly lost him. (This was before there was much about chins on the internet...) I still have him all these years later, but I got rid of that stupid harness after I nearly lost him. Chins do so badly outside or in situations where they have a wide open space to get lost in.

 

[ticklechin]

Chin rib cages are floating, they are not attached to the back bone so when using a harness it is easy for the ribs to be compressed towards to internal organs and they can puncture, that and the ribs are thinner than toothpicks, easy to snap.

 

[EternallyCynical]

Wouldn't do it.... I don't like harnesses on any small animal and always get irritated when I see hamster/ferret/rabbit/guinea pig/rat 'leashes' in stores. Itsnotadogggggggg. I'll take my guinea pigs outside, but only on days when the temperature is fairly neutral/ground is dry. They go in a large playpen with a plastic gardening net secured over the top (not that I worry about THEM getting OUT, more like other things getting IN, not that I ever leave them unsupervised) and an old bed sheet over half the enclosure so that they have the option to be in the shade. Its fine for my pigs and I know lots of people do it with rabbits, but chins can be so unpredictable and have such specific needs.... I wouldn't risk it with my chin....

 

[akane]

Chinchillas might get stressed too easily and be too quick to spook for leashes but rabbits do fine on harnesses. There is even rabbit hopping which is an agility competition for rabbits. We taught one of our previous rabbits to harness so we could use her as a therapy animal because she was so laid back. People have taught them to cue off their feet while on a leash so they can direct them around. I've also seen them staked out on those swiveling dog tie out rings so they can enjoy a larger area of the yard. There's a vid somewhere on youtube of a staked out rabbit digging an 8' plus tunnel through the yard without being hampered at all by the rope.

 

[Yuudoku.Niji]

Well you did ask what people's opinions were on it, so don't take offense when you get what you asked for, which is how people feel about it. The harness could seriously hurt the chin though, you'd be better off not using it since if it's loose the chin can escape and get tangled, so what's the point of it? and if you have it tight enough as to prevent an escape you run the risk of broken ribs or spine. There really is lot that can go wrong, what if something startles the chin? A dog or cat outside or even wildlife, a loud bird, cars going by, or other loud noise, all these can cause the chin to get scared, even if for only a second. Even with it on your shoulder or in your hood a bird of prey could try to go after it. It's great that one guy's chin lived 10+ years, but the average lifespan is 15-20+ years. Besides there's a lot of stupid/bad things people do to/with chins on YouTube, people feeding them human junk food, putting them in swimming pools, letting them get chased by cats and dogs, etc. YouTube is not a good judge of how to care for your chin. Since you said you don't put him on the ground I wont get into that, but what about things that float through the air, not everything is safe for chins to eat, and chins can eat things very fast if they want to, faster then you can grab it from them. In the end it's your pet, you can do whatever you want with it. I will say that before I knew better when I first got chins as a kid I did allow my chins outside playtime on a second floor desk, so you aren't alone in the outside world idea.

Alright, thank you for your opinion!

 

[Yuudoku.Niji]

Chins aren't very good outside animals, they get so scared outside. Harnesses don't help much because they can get loose so quickly. I had a customer lose her chin just because she put him out on the back porch in his cage outside for 45 minutes when it was 70 degrees outside and sunny. I always recommend leaving chins inside....they do so badly outside.

When I adopted my very first chin 16 years ago I got a harness for him. We went outside to explore and he ran up a downspout! I had to get him out of there, it took awhile. The next day he ran through a chainlink fence when we were out for a walk...I nearly lost him. (This was before there was much about chins on the internet...) I still have him all these years later, but I got rid of that stupid harness after I nearly lost him. Chins do so badly outside or in situations where they have a wide open space to get lost in.

My chin was never scared though, that's the thing. And alright, thank you!

 

[Yuudoku.Niji]

Chin rib cages are floating, they are not attached to the back bone so when using a harness it is easy for the ribs to be compressed towards to internal organs and they can puncture, that and the ribs are thinner than toothpicks, easy to snap.

Alright, I knew about the floating rib cage, just not this much about it, thank you for letting me know.

 

[Yuudoku.Niji]

Wouldn't do it.... I don't like harnesses on any small animal and always get irritated when I see hamster/ferret/rabbit/guinea pig/rat 'leashes' in stores. Itsnotadogggggggg. I'll take my guinea pigs outside, but only on days when the temperature is fairly neutral/ground is dry. They go in a large playpen with a plastic gardening net secured over the top (not that I worry about THEM getting OUT, more like other things getting IN, not that I ever leave them unsupervised) and an old bed sheet over half the enclosure so that they have the option to be in the shade. Its fine for my pigs and I know lots of people do it with rabbits, but chins can be so unpredictable and have such specific needs.... I wouldn't risk it with my chin....

But I don't think leashes are just only for dogs :/ I mean yeah, I suppose they are more widely known for dogs in the first place but that shouldn't refrain you from thinking otherwise for it having a use with a different animal... but alright, thank you for your opinion!

 

[ticklechin]

Chinchillas are chinchillas, not other animals and in any situation should not be compared to.

 

[Yuudoku.Niji]

Chinchillas are chinchillas, not other animals and in any situation should not be compared to.

I wasn't comparing chinchillas to any other animal though. Or at least I don't believe I was.

 

[Narcissus]

my brother had a parrot that he took every where. it was very tame and loved being handled. For 10 years he took the parrot in the car, outside, in stores.. literately everywhere. then one time he was walking out of pet co with the bird on his shoulder and a motorcycle drove by, it was very loud. the bird got scared and flew off my brothers shoulder. it took us 6 hours to find the bird and by the time we found him he had gotten hurt by something. the parrot lived by in now an inside bird only. the point is, just because an animal is tame, trained, or you know the animal that doesn't mean that natural instincts wont cause the animal to do something out of the ordinary. chins are prey animals. Their natural instinct is to run and hide. i personally wouldn't ever take a chin outside, it is just to risky. i also know that leashes are dangerous, I've had two chins come in as rescues with damaged ribs and internal organs from leashes. neither survived.