Taming your Chinchilla

Patience is the key to this. It may be very tempting to try and rush this process but any trust you have gained you could lose. When you bring your new pet home give it chance to settle into its new home. It will have many changes to get used to, ie new nosies ,different smells , a different feeding routine etc.

When you think your new pet has settled down to your routine, try sitting quietly by the cage with the door open and your hand just by the door. If you are very lucky your chinchilla’s curious nature will get the better of it and it will come and investigate you. If you have a very timid chinchilla the process will be a lot slower, but as I said patience is the key.

You could try feeding your pet a treat such as a raisin through the bars first, then try opening the cage door and sit with your hand holding a rasin by the cage door. When your chinchilla is comfortable with your hand in its cage you have overcome the first hurdle.

Once your pet has decided you are interesting and no threat it will come forward a lot quicker to investigate you. If for any reason it becomes startled and retreats to the back of the cage DON’T chase it. You want to gain your pets trust not get it to associate your hands with something nasty.

Once your pet is used to hands and comfortable being near them, you can then try stroking it. Most chinchillas like to be scratched under the chin and behind their ears. You have to remember that some chinchillas will not let you touch them.

A.C.