One of our readers recently moved and describes the following situation with her chinchilla:
We have had our Chinchilla for about 6 months, and when we brought him home everything was normal. We recently moved and now he is making noises at night. The first 2 nights after making sounds every couple of hours I finally went and slept in the same room as him and he was quiet after that. Then a couple of nights went by with nothing, now he has started again. I looked up the noises and found that they were stress related, but it has been over a week. Is there anything I can do to help him relax into his new home?
Our advice to Krysten:
We're sorry your chinchilla is having a hard time adjusting. The first thing to realize is that chinchillas can be made nervous by the oddest of things. It seems like we could crash plates all around ours and they won't react. Yet, if we shuffle our feet suddenly across the floor they'll go running. Ours also don't like the sound of rain or wind and on such days will stay in their cage.
A couple of things to consider:
- Are there any noises outside of the house? Chinchillas have good hearing so they may be hearing things that don't register with you. A dog in the distance? Raccoons or cats fighting?
- Does your chinchilla have enough room to run around in your new home? Ours will sometimes "bark" if we're out for the evening and don't have a chance to run around before we go to bed.
- Do you still have time to play with your chinchilla? Or has the move sapped all of your free time? Your chinchilla may be missing you.
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my small animal class is looking for a new animal, i want to know if a chinchilla would be good for a class setting
Chinchillas are nocturnal they like to sleep and rest during the day. So unless your class is after 6-7pm I would not recommend it. Guinea pigs would be better I think, they are friendly.
I woulodnt suggest it for a class setting because chinchillas are nocturnal and the noise of a classroom would be bothersome to it, as well as chinchillas dont enjoy being held or pet for long period of time so the interaction with kids would be stressful or limited. I would highly suggest a rat as a classroom pet, rats are clean and actually enjoy human company a lot more willingly also they are highly unliklly to bite :] I have chinchillas and rats and i love them both for their differences.
hi.
we have bought two new chins (females) from two different breeders, both about 2.5 months old.
one of them is very active inside the new cage, while the other one in sitting in their wooden box without getting out for two days now. she's eating and drinking normally, though her droppings are more wet then normal.
she's also barking at the other chin whenever she tries to get close.
how can we get her out of the stress she's in? do we need to seperate them even though they're not harming each other?
Do you have these two in the same cage? It sounds to me like the one in the box isn't letting the other one near?
You may have to get two separate boxes so they each have their own.
Since you got these two from two different breeders I would have separted them at first to be sure they are both healthy. One may have something since it's stool is more wet than normal but that can also be caused from stress. She may need more fiber. If she isn't getting out of her box, she may not be eating as much of what she should. She could also have parasites.
There is a book out that is called the Joy of Chinchillas by Lani Ritchy, Elizabeth Current Cogswell & Roxane Beeman. It has alot of interesting facts on Chins. It covers so many issues with chins. Amazon has alot of books on their website (which is where I buy my books) & you can get a good used copy-although I haven't gone on there to see if they have that particular book just your local pet store. That's where I got mine.
This book says that a chinchilla under 4 months is very young and must learn to eat properly. Maybe yours hasn't learned to eat properly yet.
It also says to introduce the two new one slowly over a period of time under close supervision. You need to watch how they interact with each other.
Female chinchillas are more territorial than males. If these two aren't related or aren't littermates, for example sisters or mother and daughter, one can become so territorial that they will kill the less dominate one. If you can, I would get another cage and put a large piece of cardboard between the two for a while and slowly introduce them to each other. Also, too, maybe having two boxes would separate them enough to let them get used to each other. I know these two are young, and that is a plus I think than to introduce two older ones set in their ways.
This may not solve the problem but it may help the one that has a more than wet stool to calm down.
I have one male and was going to get another one for company but found out from a breeder that they do fine by themselves if you give them enough attention.
I suggest to buy the book and read it since you have two chins in your possesion. It will tell you about health, disease, parasites, introducing them, etc. Well worth your money.
Another thing that helped our chin at night was to put a night lite in his room and he calmed down alot. I know they are nocternal but each has their own personalities.
I hope this helps you and good luck.