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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April 15th, 2007 at 12:36 am
Since Chinchillas are nocturnal they can get noisy at night when they are active. Ours used to run on his exercise saucer at night all the time or bark and we couldn't get any sleep. He did this when we brought him home and even months after. I put a tiny night light in his room and that has seemed to help a lot. He hardly ever gets upset anymore and we can all sleep at night. We get winter storms here and our electricity goes out a lot in the winter and when the light goes out so goes the exercise saucer! So the night light really has helped.
April 15th, 2007 at 7:26 am
Teresa,
Thanks for the tip. Our chinchillas would occasionally bark at night, but not often enough to be a real bother. I think part of what keeps ours quiet is that there are two of them together so they have each other's company.
July 7th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
I am planning on getting a chinchilla soon at the end of the summer and I would like to know with my two small 7 pound dogs will my chinchilla adjust or will it be too much even if the chinchilla is downstairs and the dogs strictly upstairs? And will it require a friend or if I have a schedule will it be okay?
July 7th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Kellie,
Many chinchilla owners have multiple pets and don't have any issues. However, you can never tell ahead of time how a chinchilla will behave as they are all different. And, of course, you have to be aware that even if you're really careful, the dogs may come in contact with the chinchillas accidentally one day which would not be good.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:20 am
We have had our chinchilla for almost 4 years now. We had two dogs (one has since passed away). The one that passed away was a cocker mix and she was very good with the chinchilla and would just lay and watch him in his cage however my other dog is a terrier mix. Terriers were bred originally to kill rodents. I don't let him in or near the chinchilla at all as he has killed rats in the past out in our barn. Our chinchilla is in a room all by himself but he also hears all the daytime activities that go on in our household as he is on the same level. We also have two cats and they don't seem interested in him at all.
Our chinchilla is very territorial and we tried to introduce him to our son's chihuahua. He will run around in his cage and try to taunt another animal that is in the same room and when the puppy went up to the cage to sniff the chinchilla tried to bite him thru the cage. So now we don't let any other animals into his room. He is really friendly otherwise and when we let him out he will come and sit on our legs and is really sociable.
We only let him out in his room as they can get into really tight places which can harm them. Also they like to chew on plastic or electrical cords so make sure cords are up and out of the way and not anywhere near their cage as they can grab the cord and pull it into their cage. I know someone whos chinchilla did that and luckily wasn't electricuted!
Chinchillas like company and love to get out and run around their rooms and are very curious little creatures. They love to explore and hide in dark places so we built ours a little 3 story house out of shoe boxes with a long skinny box as a ramp and he loves it. He goes in and out of it all the time.
Anyway, don't know if this helped or not. Good luck with yours when you get it.
September 5th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Wow! I am now really nervous about getting my neighbor's chinchilla. She has 2 dogs & a horse & noone pays "Chico" any attention. My 17 yr. old son thought the chin would make a good addition to his biology class study of small mammals & reptiles. This would require taking Chico to high school & leaving him. Is this a good idea? Should he be brought home every weekend? We have had numerous gerbils & fish in the past & our dog of almost 10 yrs. recently died. I am concerned because I didn't realize that chins were so delicate. They seem to need more care than I thought & I guess I'm nervous about the school situation. My friend thinks he'll be fine, but I'm not sure. Any thoughts? I'm keeping him regardless, just don't want to jeopardize his health.
September 19th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Hi, I am thinking about getting a chin, but i have 2 baby brothers that are 2 and 3. My mom is wooried that the chin might make them sick, will it?
I also want to get a chin from petsmart or petco, should i, or should i go to a smaller company, because i dont know any breaders.
I live in florida and the temperture gets really high, my house is usually 78 degrees and my mom doesint want to make it higher because my brothers can get sick, what should i do to keep the chin cool?
My room is right next to my brothers room and thats were i want to keep the chin,(im gonna keep it in my room) will it wake my brother up at night or can i train it to sleep at night by putting a night light or somthing?
September 20th, 2007 at 7:00 am
Victoria,
It is unlikely a chinchilla will get your brothers sick. In fact, at that age they probably shouldn't be playing with a chinchilla anyway. While pet stores aren't the best places to buy chinchillas, if that's your only choice, look for a chinchilla that is lively, has "bright" eyes, and good fur. None of that guarantees a healthy chinchilla, but it is a good start.
As for living in Florida, it sounds like your home will be too hot to keep a chinchilla comfortable especially if your area is humid along with being hot. You really need an AC to keep the temperature down even if it is just a window unit for a single room.
It is unlikely that you will be able to train a chinchilla to sleep during the day and be awake at night unless you completely simulate night and day. We've never tried.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:28 am
HI, I bought from a breeder a 4 month old male chin as a friend for my 4 year old male chin. The breeder thought that the younger one would be easier to introduce because he will be more passive. well it has only been 2 weeks. so i am still trying to get them used to each other before i try letting them out together. well My older one is still trying to attack the younger one through the cage. is this normal? even after 2 weeks? or should i just plan on 2 chins in 2 different cages and different run times? Also the little one is easy to handle and doesnt mind it. when we first got him he would sit on my shoulder and cuddle for a little while. well he now seems to only want to be in his cage. he doesnt want to take treats from my hands. which he did before. He also no longer wants to cuddle at all. Do you think he is nervous about the other chin? Missing his littermates? or did i go too far too fast?
October 20th, 2007 at 7:26 am
Randi,
Introductions can take longer than 2 weeks. Our last one took a month.