Activities

Chinchilla are strong-willed animals, and in their behavior they have aindividual needs. usually you can't pick them up in your arms to cuddle and pet them as you might a guinea pig. They like that type of close contact only when they initiate it. Never force it on your chinchilla!

Fun with Your chinchilla

Enjoyable activities with your new housemate will center on oberving its antics.

**By hopping around, the animal will soon have explored all the ups and downs of your living space, tested many things to see if they're edible (careful!), and delighted you with its curiosity and lack of inhibition.

**After it's let off some steam in the room, it will gladly turn its attention back to you. Many animals are then ready to cuddle and be affectionate with a human, and become real snugglers, but this tendency varies greatly among individuals.

**Of course, you can try some little games with your chinchilla to see if it likes them, such as carrying chew branches and rose hips, but be careful! Don't confuse a flight reaction by the animal as playful behavior. you can't train a chinchilla to do what you want it to, as you can a dog.

**If the cage stands off the floor, you can provide a staircase from the floor to the cage door for easy access to the cage. If you set the stairs a little further apart and place treats on them, they become observation and feeding sites for the chinchilla- and a good opportunity for you to study the amusing way the little creature eats.

Be Careful during Free Exercise

If you let your chinchilla run around loose in a room, you will frequently have to intervene with some type of distraction when either the chinchilla or your possessions are endangered. In such cases, don't try to get the animal to stop what it's doing by hissing, shouting loudly, clapping, or scraing it away, and don't try to get itt to obey. chinchilla aren't capable of obeying, and that type of discipline is harmful to them. (Possible side effects include nervousness, hyperactivity, and cramps.) It's better to divert its attention to an interesting chew stick or a favorite snack.