Handling question and instructional video request

[astryea]

When I first brought Blitz home I refrained from handling him in order to give him time to get used to me and his new residence. Over time I kept my handling of him to a minimum for moving him to the pet carrier for vet visits so not to unnecessarily stress him (and he doesn't like to be handled). I would let him leave and enter his cage on his own for playtime since I thought that would be the easiest for both of us.

I started to realize over time that my more hands off approach was working against me. As I learned more and more about chin care I learned I need to regularly check him for signs of illness and injury.

I've started trying to handle him a bit more so he gets used to it, but I still have to chase him around his cage if I need to remove him. He generally sits still while I'm holding him, but will start to squirm a lot after a couple of minutes. I know he's not afraid of me or thinks I'm going to eat him at this point. I can pet him and give him scritches. He also loves to hop all over me during playtime and will hop onto my shoulder from his cage and let me pet him some that way. However any movement or gesture resembling me trying to pick him up (2 hands coming at him) will send him running.

Here are my questions...

1. Are there ways that I can possibly get Blitz to become more comfortable with me picking him up and handling him now, or do I just have to deal with a difficult "no touchies!" chinchilla ? Also I think I made it worse by unintentionally conditioning him to think that being picked up means going to vet or something not fun. Can I work him away from that kind of conditioning at this point?

2. Is it possible for someone to take photos or a video of the proper way to handle chins? I know how to support Blitz and hold him *after* I remove him from the cage. However I'm scared to death when trying to catch him about the floating rib cage thing. I would love to just see how you ladies handle it so I don't have to be so hesitant with him.

I've read descriptions of how to properly hold your chinchilla, but I know that I (and any other new chin owner) would greatly benefit from actually seeing and receiving instruction directed to that purpose.

Thanks

[dawn]

All mine are hand tame, I handle them daily. The more you handle them the tamer they become. Here is a quickie video of Franco getting removed and handled. I don't hold them by the base of the tail unless they are somewhere where if they got loose I could not catch them. If the chin is sketchy it is a good idea to have one hand holding the base of the tail, that way if they spaz they cannot jump out of your hands and get injured or worse.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uAp3t2SQmE

[partygirlha]

I found that offering treats only be hand feeding helped a lot with taming Mouse. If you have an area that's play safe, sit still on the floor during play time - he'll get curious and come over the check you out. Let him do that without moving at first. in time he'll warm up - but it will take tim. Use his dust bath to "pick him up" when it's time to go back in the cage.

[astryea]

Dec 25, 2008 16:47:52 GMT -5 dawn said:

All mine are hand tame, I handle them daily. The more you handle them the tamer they become. Here is a quickie video of Franco getting removed and handled. I don't hold them by the base of the tail unless they are somewhere where if they got loose I could not catch them. If the chin is sketchy it is a good idea to have one hand holding the base of the tail, that way if they spaz they cannot jump out of your hands and get injured or worse.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uAp3t2SQmE

Thanks for the video Dawn. I have it bookmarked for future reference. I definitely need to hold Blitz with one hand on the base of his tail because he is a huge spaz and has jumped to the floor from shoulder height already. He scared the crap out of me that day and I don't want to give him the chance to do that again.

He hops into my hands just fine when he feels like it, but he prefers to not be restrained like when I keep my fingers around the base of his tail. He wants to move about which is fine, but he's already done a leap of faith once and I just can't give him that freedom. He's very resistant to being held for a few minutes... never mind me doing chinnie health checks too.

I know this is something I need to work on and it'll hopefully get better over time. I was just curious if there are successful methods for working with difficult and spazzy chins like Blitz. Your video helps me for how to hold Blitz once he's sitting still which I appreciate, but I still don't know how to properly remove him from his cage since he doesn't sit still for me like your chins do.

I found that offering treats only be hand feeding helped a lot with taming Mouse. If you have an area that's play safe, sit still on the floor during play time - he'll get curious and come over the check you out. Let him do that without moving at first. in time he'll warm up - but it will take tim. Use his dust bath to "pick him up" when it's time to go back in the cage.

I started giving Blitz some crushed rosehips *after* a handling session when he jumps into my hands without me having to chase him around his cage. I interact with him during playtime constantly. He won't really play as much if I'm not there in the pen with him. He usually sits at the edge of the play area chirping at me until I join him. He absolutely needs me to be there to jump on and bounce off of. However the "no touchies!" rule still applies during playtime. I can occasionally give scritches and pet his back, but that's all he'll allow.

Unfortunately the dust bath trick doesn't work with Blitz. He associates it with being moved and will refrain from using it. He's just starting to "trust" bath house again so I don't want recondition him to not use it. I'll just have to find other means for moving him myself.

Blitzer is a huge pain in the butt in regards to being picked up, but I never expected him to trust me and interact with me as quickly as he did. Even if I did mess up somewhere with handling him, I must've done something right since he always chirps at me for attention and scritches every night. ;D

[saras]

You know... Scrat doesn't like to be handled at all... and no matter what I do, he doesn't want any part of snuggling or being held and loved. He tolerates it for what it's worth, but some chinnies just aren't as affectionate as others. Scrat will come up to me when he plays and hop all over me and stuff, but he just hates to be held and confined to my lap. Maybe Blitz was mishandled as a young kit and just won't forget it or something like that??? Or maybe Blitz is just ADD as I call it with Scrat. Scrat just gets so excited that he's going to get to run around when I take him out that he won't sit still.

[partygirlha]

it sounds like he adors you. I think Sara is right he may not be a snuggler - or it may be a phase - Mouse loved scrinches until a few weeks ago - now he's acting like a teen boy.

Good luck.

[astryea]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I know each chinnie has their own opinion in regards to being handled and Blitz is certainly enough of a spaz to not be held in place. However I don't want to be afraid to pick him up and hold him when I have to and if there is anything I can do to make Blitz just a teensy bit more comfortable with me handling him when I have to... then I want to know what that is! Once again, thanks for all the help.

[dawn]

Just keep doing it, the more they are handled the more tame they become. It can take a long time to happen but they all will come around.

[♥Pam AB Chins♥]

I agree with Dawn. The more you handle them the more tame they become.
I have a routine I follow with all my chins I have gotten as adults.
I allow them to get used to their new surroundings for a week or two. All the while I will tempt them with soft talking and oat and rose hip treats sooner or later they all come freely to take them from me. Once they are to that point I'll try and bribe them to come out onto my hands or shoulder. After that is accomplished I will get them to sit on my lap for a while and only after that do I ever let them out to run and play. They all start to know the routine.
Even now with all my crew before I let them out for their playtime to run around they have to sit on my knee while I pet and handle them. I use that time to examine them, check teeth, feel bellies, do hair ring checks as well as give scritches and lots of petting.

I have to be able to handle all of my chins. I do have a few who really don't like all the attention very much but they will tolerate it. Then I have quite a lot of them that will sit for hours on my knee and tolerate whatever I have to do with them with no protests. It only helps for later when and if I ever have to give meds or hand feed.

[Carol~Anne]

I just kinda scoop them up under their belly using two hands, more like cupping them and then I've got my right thumb ready at the base of the tail to keep them steady and to keep them from leaping off. Pip's the toughest to hold on to and he drops a lot of fluff. He hates being held.

[lilchinchilla]

One thing I always suggest to those who get new chins, is to not have a house or a hiding spot for their chin for the first while. Your chin will be that much friendlier with you, if they have no place to hide or withdraw to.
This might not be an issue with your chin, but I find if you remove the sleeping houses or tunnels, etc... just till your chinchilla is more comfortable being handled and touched, they will be that much more comfortable to be held and picked up, etc...It was advice given to me a long time ago by one pet owner/retired breeder and it definitely does work.

Another thing that I do myself, when I have time, is I find sitting with them in a chin proofed room and allowing them to explore my arms or whatever(without me reaching out or touching them, myself.), jump on my lap, etc... on their own - it seems to get them to trust me more and become friendlier that way also...

And one other thing I do, which has worked for me when I had females who loved to spray...is I massage/rub their bellies and body, gently. At first they DO protest and are like "WTH are you doing?" kind of attitude, with lots of little grumbles, but over time they tend to enjoy it and look forward to being held. My females who used to spray - stopped spraying me a long time ago, and they don't grunt at me no more or rear up. I had two who used to do it all the time...but they are much more happier and comfortable with me after doing that.

And you don't have to do it for long either. I used to do it for 5 - 10 minutes a day and it worked perfect. Sometimes the one girl falls asleep on my lap while I do it.