fun

How To: Chinchilla Holiday Photography

One of our favorite ways to get festive during the holiday season is with winter-themed chinchilla photo shoots! This guide will go through my process with photographing LY Chinchillas on my own with no strobes or flash (basically, nothing fancy)! Be sure to have a fast camera (I use the Fujifilm X-T10 Camera because of the super-fast continuous shooting mode) and light sources ready to go! Koko Warm Posing Xmas The very first thing to check prior to starting the shoot is the chin-proof factor. Admittedly, the actual time on set is very short – and the rest of the time is spent coaxing your little one back on set or sending them back to their cage to nap off a hard 10 seconds of work! In those off-set moments, you’ll need to make sure that everything is completely chin-proofed to prevent any accidents, fur loss, or injury. Muff Sideways Holidays The next thing you’ll want to check are your ambient light sources – that means your natural light, ceiling lights, desk lights, lamps, floor lamps, whatever other illuminating tools you may have in the shooting area. This will help capture your chinchilla by allowing you to have a faster shutter speed due to more available light. Normally, I prefer a clean white light, but for the holidays, there’s nothing wrong with a warmer glow that comes standard in most home lighting.
Grab a portable spotlight if your natural lighting is low – ideally, this will be somehow diffused. You can do this by using a strong flashlight or adjustable desk lamp covered and tied down with a very sheer scarf. This will make sure that your light is not too harsh and capture your chinchillas in all their softness. Set design holidays 2016 The third step is to create your set: start out with a fun, safe idea and execute! Fleece is always great, but other textures can be visually pleasing too. For my holiday shoot this year, I went with simple silver and white tree decorations, along with a chunky knit sweater. It’s important to note that these decorations are obviously not safe for consumption, so I would not suggest this for anyone who is starting out with shoots; managing the talent on set is a huge part of the multitasking these types of productions require! Lulu Munching Warm Holidays The final step is to shoot away! I like to set up the scene, get the lights on, take a few test shots, and then plop them in one by one to see how they react. Normally, my chins are very confused at the new environment, so they’ll take 10 seconds to look around before dashing off. Those 10 seconds are crucial! With a fast continuous shooting mode, you can grab up to 8 images per second – more than enough to finalize at least one adorable final shot. Mitty Holidays Knowing your chinchillas, staying very patient, and setting realistic expectations is key: after shooting for years with them, I know that Fifi will be tough to contain (she has a strong dislike for unfamiliar environments) – so during this year’s shoot, she slipped out of the roster by her own sheer determination. Remember, it’s your own selfish cute-loving self who happens to be encouraging them to pose for adorable photos, so never get frustrated if things aren’t working out. If someone is being a diva, simply save the shoot for another day. Or, if you know a shoot is coming up, hold off on safe chews and treats for the week prior and let them munch on set. If difficulties arise, the rule is: better safe than sorry, always! It’s not worth straining your relationship with your beloved chin over some images. Muff Holiday Warm Eating Don’t be apprehensive to reinvent the concept if needed. Sometimes, simple is better. A fleece backdrop and a chew stick can yield incredibly cute shots, too! Staying basic is an awesome way to start learning how your chins will behave in front of the lights and camera. It’s always truly just a buildup of trust, anyhow. We all wish you a very warm and happy holidays with tons of bonding and photography, sweet friends! Koko Cute Head Warm Holidays

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Chinchilla Parenthood – It’s Ongoing!

Well, it’s official: this autumn has been incredibly busy for the human (that’s me!). However, that doesn’t mean that I’ve been neglecting my babies. Life is all about priorities: the people, experiences, and fluffs that are meaningful in your life will rise to the top of your to-do’s and will always be accounted for. So, let me catch you up on some of the fun changes ongoing in the world of LY Chinchillas! whats New Mitty

New DIY Goodies: I am a huge fan of DIY when it comes to the world of chinchillas: cages, toys, accessories, sourcing and preparing your own chin-safe wood (a list of safe wood can be found here), litter boxes, cookies, and more! Most recently, we’ve replaced our pine litter boxes, swapped out some older ledges for clean pine, and added in a slew of fun new hanging toys! It’s always great to make your own toys: it’s less costly than buying toys outright and allows you to be as creative as you want. I often dream up toy designs depending on each of my chins’ quirky personalities!

Always in Stock: While not such an exciting ongoing development, it’s important to mention that with chins, there come perpetual costs. Although pellets and hay are not that expensive if you buy in bulk, chinchillas are intellectual and emotional creatures that deserve (and need) a good deal of mental and dental stimulation. That’s why I always have a full stock of apple sticks, cholla sticks, pumice stones, rosebuds, rose hips, marigolds, shredder tape, and other delicious chew/treat options. Over the years, I’ve been able to curate a good balance of their favorite chew selections and make sure to award them for cuteness! This is all, of course, in addition to the plentiful hay and pellets included in a healthy chinchilla diet. Oh – it never hurts to remind everyone that I have two 26 oz water bottles per cage, and at least two extras on hand for replacement just in case. You never know, and water’s one of those fundamental necessities!

Muff Scratches New Fleece New Fleece: When the seasons change, so doth the fleece. While colors and designs bring a fresh new feel to their cages, it’s also important to discard fleece after a certain level of usage. Typically, when non-pill fleece starts to lose its original texture, that’s the sign to swap. Luckily, fleece ordered online is inexpensive and plentiful, meaning there’s tons of delightful – and affordable – designs to choose from!New Accessories: Not only have we re-stocked on some fun hammocks for Muff and Koko, but we’ve also been fortunate enough to have discovered a new chinchilla vendor – Whisking Woodworks! Creator Robyn is a young furniture designer and chinchilla lover in Seattle, WA, and Whisking Woodworks is all about creating unique chin-safe accessories for fluffy friends. Be sure to visit her website and check out the beautifully crafted octagonal furnishings – perfect for the contemporary, modern, or spunky chinchilla! 😛

As far as existing shelving and ledges, a super helpful tip for a super busy month: if you’re unable to make it out to refurnish your chin’s kiln-dried pine, simply flip your less-than-perfect ledges upside down and re-adhere! You’ll be set for at least a few weeks while you get ready to hit up the local lumber supplier. Over the years, I’ve found it’s much more convenient to buy large quantities of kiln-dried pine in bulk and properly store goods in a dry, clean environment until you’re ready to create some delectable chinjoyable structures! You never know, inspiration can hit you like a 50 lb. bag of blue cloud dust, so the basics are great to always have on hand.

Holiday Photos: Yes, it’s almost that time of year again, where the elves of the world ready their cameras for prime-time-chinchilla-photoshoot time! Fifi pumpkins While we’ve only managed to grab a few pumpkin and autumn-themed captures, we are keen on remaking horror movies and having some spooky fun (click the link – you won’t be disappointed by Mitty’s acting debut)! But definitely, be on the lookout for some Christmas-themed goodness headed your way, direct from the five flooferoos! 🙂 Have a wonderful month, fluffs and fluff-lovers!

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Our Favorite Chinchilla Topics!

Over the year, we’ve had some great topics and fun things to write about! Located on our Favorite Topics page, we wanted to share with you our most poignant and important posts that have helped out our furry friends and their owners the most. The entries are linked so you can click through and read whichever article you find most helpful!

ft page lulu cutie

What’s a Chinchilla?

ft page meemau

Chinchilla Health

Chinchilla Care

Chinchilla Food

ft page muff hammock

Custom Chinchilla Cages

Chinchilla Cage Accents

1 blog fifi eye

Chinchilla Playtime

LY Chinchillas: About Us!

ft page koko chubby

As always, don’t forget to reach out and stay in touch with LY Chinchillas on social media! We’re on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, and Twitter!

We’ll be sure to update the Favorite Topics page as time goes on, so don’t forget to leave us some commentary and follow the blog! 🙂

How To: DIY Chinchilla Hanging Toys

Hanging toys: the cutest, most heartfelt way to watch a chinchilla struggle without a twinge of guilt! They’re also dental-friendly treats that keep your fluffs engaged and entertained during long work or school days. I love chinchilla-safe woods and chews because they are a fabulous non-food way to make your chins happy and show them that you care – not that they need even more from you to be spoiled with! But really, just one more chew toy couldn’t hurt.. (and seriously, it couldn’t!) 😛 So, today’s post is all about how to make DIY hanging toys!

Lulu Fifi Lady Hanging Toy

There are only a handful of tools that are needed to make a very simple hanging toy:

Chinchilla-Safe Woods and Chews, 6″ or Smaller
Drill with Thin Drill Bit
Solid Craft Wire or Pliable Metal Wire
Hook to Adhere Toy to Cage Bars
Pliers to Cinch Wire Ends
Wire Cutter or Strong Scissors to Cut Wire

Craft Wire Drill Wood

The first step is to gather your goods! We use apple sticks, pear sticks, chunks of pine, and vine twirls – but some all-time favorites include natural loofah, blocks of pumice stone, shredder tape, and more! Feel free to read about chinchilla safe woods and chews to get some ideas for your own custom toys. Over time, you’ll come to realize which woods or chews your chins prefer. Another great tactic is to use the barkless wood that your chins have already partially demolished; it’s a thrifty way to re-purpose the seemingly unwanted sticks (they’ll be slower to go at them, but they’ll begrudgingly get to it eventually). Then, I drill through the center of the wood, but wood vendors tend to sell pre-drilled wood for easy toy-making.

wood and fine toys

The next step is to cut your wire to the desired hanging length, adding on a little extra just in case. I typically cut the wire to 12″ and remove any extra length prior to finalizing the toy. It’s important for your wire to be made out of a solid metal to dissuade exploratory chewers (although they’re typically too preoccupied with the hanging toy to consider munching on the wire). Another great way to put your mind at ease is to either fill the wood to the very top so that there is no exposed metal, or to hang the toy strategically so that the exposed area is not reachable. I have seen other varieties in toy-making such as seagrass or chains, but it ultimately depends on what you know to be the safest, best option for your particular chins. So far, there have been zero issues with our construction and the final products are spot-on for my five furry babies.

Muff going for his chew toy

For the top of the toy, I’ll wrap the wire tightly around the hook, using pliers to tuck the edge away. Since we go through faulty glass water bottles every few months, I make sure to keep the hardware for hanging toys – the hooks are perfect for the cage bars, because they’re made for just that! Another good alternative would be shower hooks, as they’re self explanatory and easy to work with.

Water Bottle Hook and Pliers

The funnest part for me is next: to string all the toys on the wire in my favorite order! I like to mix up the different woods and chews to offer some variety for the chins – plus, they look really nice when they have some diversity to them.

Mittenmaus Hanging Toy

The trickiest and final part is to close off the hanging toy. If you’re using a thicker wire, you can simply use pliers to close off the toy in a “U” with the wire and call it a day. Using a thinner wire is easier to work with initially, but is a tad tougher to close off. The way I do it is to string the wire through the last stick – enough slack for the wire to wrap around the stick twice – and thread the wire through the hole a second time, pulling the wire flush to the stick. Because this type of craft wire is so malleable, it will secure itself easily after being pulled and be unable to be readjusted without pliers. The last step is to cut the excess wire flush with wire cutters or strong scissors (although after a certain amount of practice, you’ll be able to calculate the perfect amount of slack not to need to cut the wire at all).

Drilled wood and secured wire Secured wire in drilled wood

And voilà! There we have it – hang away and watch your happy chinchillas struggle with sheer delight! 🙂 The more toys you make, the more endless variety you’ll find that there is! You can make toys in all different sizes and shapes – the fun is being able to take some time out of your day and do something that takes your mind off of how much money, time, and energy you spend on your chinchillas by creating something lovingly by hand for their spoiled enjoyment!

Koko Hanging Toy

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How To: Build Pine Litter Boxes

Litter training a chinchilla is possible, but success depends on your chinchilla’s personality. A chin that likes order in their home will typically be well-receptive to training, whereas the more throw-caution-to-the-wind personalities might not take to litter boxes quite as well. Still, there are a few tips that may help the success of training – the most important of which is the litter box, repetition, and consistency. Of course, the training we’re talking about is for #1 only! 😉

Boxes

So, while I’m in the process of changing cages (yes, it’s happening and no, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it yet), I decided to re-imagine my litter boxes. In my custom cages, I had pseudo litter boxes, sectioning off a corner of each cage with pine frames and filling it with chinchilla-safe bedding. My favorite bedding is Eco-Bedding: a safe, recycled bedding that resembles crinkled recycled paper (or, actually, that’s exactly what it is). The chins have been using it for so long that they no longer have any impulse to snack on their bedding. Anyway, I’d decided a while back to construct pine litter boxes in place of the faux box structure, and this is what I came up with!

Litter Box

Step 1: Tools!

Kiln-dried pine. For each box, I used 2 pieces at 6.5″ x .75″ x 1.5″ and 2 pieces at 8″ x .75″ x 1.5″ – however, any lengths that will form your desired shape (triangle, square, rectangle, etc) will work. Try to make sure the surface area is high in relation to the height, so that it would be very difficult for your chin to flip the box over. Use a jigsaw to cut the wood to your desired lengths.
Drill & Screws
Cardboard & Box Cutter
Staple Gun & Hammer
Eye Hooks / Alternative: Machine Screw, Wing Nut, and Washer

Tools Box

Step 2: Construct!

With a drill, screw your pine pieces together to create your desired shape. It’s best to use a countersink method, which better hides the screws in the wood. After creating your shape, outline the box’s perimeter against a piece of cardboard and use a box cutter to cut the shape out. Use the staple gun to adhere the cardboard to the bottom of your box, using as few staples as possible to achieve a secure bottom. I use one staple in each corner and then hammer them in to make sure they are secure and impossible to remove without a screwdriver and some leverage. Finally, I use a drill to make a small hole on the side(s) of the box and insert the eye hook(s), which keeps the litter box secure to the cage corner. I use potential plurals, because cages can be different and may need more than one hook to stay in place. I have found that one hook works fine in my cages, because the bars are 1″ and the hook width-wise is 1.25″, meaning the hook would have to be turned vertically in order to be removed from the cage. However, an alternative is using a wing nut, washer, and machine screw – a common technique for removable shelving and other chin items.

Hooks

Step 3: Set Up!

The best way to introduce a litter box is to secure it to a corner of your cage, filling the box halfway with clean bedding and topping it off with soiled bedding. Since chinchillas have excellent sense of smell and smell is tied heavily to memory, the scent of their soiled bedding will encourage them to return to the same place to urinate. Of course, some chins will dig all the bedding out and trample all over it – the best way to move forward is simply to place the bedding back and continue to encourage the use of the box. It may take a few weeks, and it’s possible that it simply may not work for your chins, but the only way to know for sure is to keep going and display consistency as an owner. The cardboard will have to be changed out every 1-2 weeks, but it serves as an absorptive layer that retains scent and reinforces the training – and also tracks progress. Of course, you could use wood as a bottom, but all organic materials will also require changing out over time. To start off and build a new habit, the cardboard is a great and inexpensive way to encourage repeat behavior. A side note: please watch for cardboard ingestion. At the dimensions and with the installation of my litter box, it’s not possible for my chins to flip the box in order to reach the cardboard, but depending on your shape and method of adherence to your cage, cardboard ingestion could be dangerous and lead to blockage.

Koko Cutie

Step 4: Monitor!

Accidents will happen, that’s expected. When they occur, be sure to clean up the area well enough to remove as much of the scent as possible. Keeping all soiled bedding in the litter box will be the key to eventual success! Of course, there is no one solution for individual chins, but this method has worked for most of my chinchillas, and is continuing to show signs of potential success in the stubborn ones (cough Fifi and Muff). 🙂

Fifi Smiles

Have a great week, all! I’ll be writing about my transition into Ferret Nation cages as soon as I’m able to formulate a solid opinion on the change. 🙂 Cheers!

April 2015 Update: I have switched the cardboard bottoms out with kiln-dried pine! Over time, it became clear to see that the maintenance of cardboard was too frequent to be efficient. Pine will have to be switched out every several months, as opposed to every week with the cardboard bottoms. 🙂

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Custom Pet Portraits!

So, are you guys ready for this? It’s time! I’ve opened a shop on Etsy for custom chinchilla and pet portraits!

In an attempt to encourage everyone to celebrate their respective pet love, I’ve combined my passion for visual art and my sweet, lovable pets to create these art pieces for your space.

I use largely natural materials to create my artworks, which are mixed media pieces created with linen paper, homemade herbal paint, fire, charcoal, watercolors, acrylic paint, graphite, and ink. They are carefully created with lots of time and lots of love, and produce an awesome effect that is perfect for any home or apartment!

Celebrate your adorable pets with these unique artworks, which are centered beautifully on a 4-ply white archival mat board. The final size is 8×10″, with your pet’s likeness approximately 6×8″. Names and text can be inscribed in ink beneath your pet with a little linen paper plaque. These pieces ship fully assembled in a sleek black 8×10″ frame, and come with a pair of white cotton gloves for handling and care.

Visit us today! We look forward to spreading art and love to as many awesome pet owners as possible 🙂

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Get To Know: Mittenmaus

MITTENMAUS [my love] AKA Mitty, Mittybae, Mitts, and any other adorable version!

Pure Standard, Born 07/03/2013, approximately 800 grams

Mitty Toy

Role in Playtime Kingdom? Top Dog and engineer – Mitty’s the king of his playtime! He utilizes his time out to jump, surf, investigate, measure, climb, and stretch those adorable paws.

Favorite Hiding Place? Under the couch, but near the edge so he can catch action and wall jump around it at any given point.

Mitty Couchy

Physical Capability? Super strong and a high jumper! Watch his epic jumps below!

Vocal? Sometimes, but this is one mature chin. He doesn’t like to make a ruckus! Mitty has been known to purr or sing from time to time, but never in excess.

Human Cuddle Status? Not a huge fan. 75% of the time will not accept cuddles, although if you catch him on a rare day, he will turn all the way around for scratches! Other than that, puh-leeease! This is a chin that is nearly human! He demands freedom and respect. Eskimo kisses during playtime are a 50/50 shot – take it human, it’s better than nothing.

Loaf

Favorite Way to Be Picked Up? While Mitty doesn’t like feeling small enough to be picked up, he will accept daily and necessary pick-ups with ease. He enjoys being held gingerly by the torso and base of the tail, although he will sometimes rest like a fluffy loaf in my arms (it’s part of the dance before he pounces off and announces cessation from the herd).

Intelligence? Soaring. Super. Very high. Potentially smarter than me. Watch him communicate his needs below!

Is He Compatible with Other Chinchillas? He likes to flirt with Lulu, but has a rocky history with the rest of the group. Muffton was his best bud until they lost their bond – now, they are mortal enemies as they chirp competitively at the ladies. Fifi was once amicable with him until she decided to go berserk and partially sever one of his fingers; needless to say, they don’t talk anymore. Koko is not very interesting to him. So, he spends most of his time alone or with his mom (that’s me!). On rare occasions, he’ll be given supervised playtime with miss Lulu until she starts getting annoyed.

Ready for a Photo Shoot? Nope! He’s no object to be paraded around, and he knows it. He likes to be known for more than just his good looks, and will jet off set as soon as he’s placed on it. Multiple attempts are needed to get a still shot (tips on chinchilla photography here)!

Mitts Mailbox

Love to Dust? Yes! Mitty favors dusting and has no dry skin issues, but he won’t go crazy – he knows how many full body turns he likes to do at bath time (4-5) and after that, he’s all set for the day. He’s all about maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle. He’ll do a quick dust every day, as supervised by mom.

Three Words/Phrases to Sum Up His Personality? Smarty-Pants, Freedom Fighter, King of the Castle

Mitty Wicker Chair 2

Next Week… Mufftoneous!

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Chinchilla TLC: Toys, Love, Care!

As we know, the holiday season is in full swing! As we cross off Santa’s ever-expanding list for family and close friends, we turn to our chinnies for a sweet, longing gaze. I heard you, buddy. I know what you want. Let me grab my Santa hat, hop online, and get to ordering your holiday stocking stuffers. Who could say no to such sweet faces?

Around this time of year, I spend a few hundred on the little guys, most of the money going towards stocking up on diet essentials and safe chew toys. Not only are prices competitive, running on a fever from Black Friday deals, but delivery is prompt and customer service steps up its game. The earlier, the better, though – the closer you push towards Christmas, the crazier the frenzy on all operational fronts, increasing the chances of higher prices and sloppy service.

This year, we opted for a mix of willow balls, a few fleece hammocks, apple sticks, sisal toys, mulberry sticks, and a variety of wooden coins! Nothing too special or different from their usual mix of toys.

I think it’s important for us all to remember that it’s not necessary that we spend a great deal of our babies in order to have a fun time this holiday season. A playtime favorite for us is building and playing around in cardboard mansions! They’re free to make and safe, as long as you keep a good eye on your chinchillas. Cardboard, if ingested, can expand and cause blockages that may lead to health issues. However, if you are an active participant during playtime, you can prevent issues before they arise. I created and modified a three-story mansion as my Cyber Monday deliveries rolled in, and the kids simply loved it! The funnest part about creating toys, cages, and mansions is that you are free to modify whenever you want, offering a new feel every week. The more creative you’re able to be, the less you’ll have to depend on others for your fun chin toys.

Oh, and our holiday photo shoot was a great success! We love taking photos and sharing our images with the world. We’re even considering making cards in the future and offering chinchilla photo shoots for interested owners! Of course, all these great additions will come with time and growing interest. For now, enjoy our videos and posts! Stay tuned and subscribe by email for next Wednesday’s blog post.

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Tips for Chinchilla Playtime!

As all chinchilla owners know, chins are high energy and high maintenance – there’s no sugar-coating it! We go out of our way to provide safe multi-level havens for our babies, order them the finest foods, and hope that one day they’ll come around and show us some love back! A major part of chinchilla health and bonding is playtime. Playtime is critical for chins, as it gives them a chance to discover a new environment, stretch their legs, and get to know their owners a little better.

Get to know your fluffball. Playtime is an incredible way to get to know your little babies. Chinchillas have abundant personalities, and you miss a lot of that while they’re in their cages. Letting them out will encourage them to approach you (as so oftentimes it’s the other way around) and share their squeaks, leaps, wall jumps, and more with you! I encourage all owners to be very aware of their chinchilla’s behaviors – study them: their idiosyncrasies, movements, and physical characteristics. Any change in personality or behavior can be indicative of a health issue and should be carefully monitored – but you need to know your chinchilla’s baseline personality in order to detect any semblance of a change. There are a lot of health issues or injuries that can be fixed simply by detecting them early, and to put it simply, you can’t catch it if you aren’t looking.

Be present at playtime. Watch them like a hawk! – at least, keep a very watchful eye when you first start letting your chinchillas out. As you get to know your chins, you’ll be able to know which ones respect authority more than others, which ones you can trust around the furniture, and where they like to hide. There’s nothing more terrifying than fearing your chinchilla has dissipated into thin air when they’re actually snoozing under the couch – true story.

Set your boundaries. Many people like nice things, chinchilla owners being no exception (in fact, I think we have the best taste). So, it’s natural to be apprehensive letting your chinchilla out with such lovely molding, fabrics, and wooden furniture strewn about – chins are known for filing their teeth on wooden toys, and they don’t care whether that toy is your bed frame or an appropriately sized apple stick. It’s critical to set your boundaries and take up a stern talking with your chin. The easiest place to start for most homes is the bathroom or closet, as it’s a confined space and easier to spot a misbehaving chin. When you feel comfortable moving into a larger space, start in the new space by keep the playtimes short and working your way up. Trust is something that is built over time, chinchilla-human relations being no exception.

Chin-proof the playroom. The method I use for training my chinchillas not to bite my things starts with me. As people, we are responsible for our furniture, rug, walls, and important documents. No one can protect these things better than ourselves. Oft, it’s as simple as moving something important out of reach or closing the drawers. Chinchillas are so curious – you really can’t blame small animal instinct for why your favorite book (or camera, or passport, etc.) got destroyed. If you can see it, they can probably get to it. There is always a way. So put the birth certificates away, remove the climbing mechanisms, tape cardboard against your molding (make sure the tape is not reachable), shove pillows and blankets under your couches and around your radiators, and close those windows. When you’re done, you’re probably still not done. Those little buggers are more compact than your foresight will lead you to believe, and aren’t scared of venturing where no chin has gone before. It’s best to simply be there and catch them before they do the deed.

I know many owners have playpens, and I’m all for that – but if you have the time and energy to expend on chin-proofing, you’ll find it’s a much more interesting experience, allowing them to be more fully integrated into your space, if only for a moment.

Train. I don’t use treats when I train, I simply use the concept of ‘playtime’ vs. ‘home’. If they want to be out, they have to be good. If I see someone lingering by a wall for too long, I’ll say his/her name in the same manner I’d speak to a disorderly 4-year-old or a misbehaving dog – I’ll utilize the don’t you dare tone. They will hear you, and if they know you well enough, they’ll turn to you and be aware that you are talking to them. Sometimes they’ll stare right at you as they decide their playtime fate, chomping into a picture frame or art piece. Then, they’re headed home to think about what they’ve done. Less intellectual chins may never put it together, wondering with the same fascination each and every time why they’re going back to their cage! However, most chins will begin to see a trend in playtime consequences and learn what they can and can’t bite. I leave chew toys out for them, and allow them to bite on certain furniture such as my barn wood table and wicker chair. Everything else will simply buy them cage time. Again, you must be present in order to train. You can’t be sending mixed messages while they’re out (i.e. when you’re lazing they can bite, when you’re training they can’t), as it defeats the consistency required to teach & learn. If my chins are good, they can be out for up to 45 minutes before they decide they want to fall asleep, tap on the door to go home, or need a sip of water. I’ve found that some of my chins are now able to communicate their needs to me, which is extremely rewarding to recognize.

Enjoy and take your time. My chins are my children. I love spending time with them! They are badass kids at times and don’t care at all for what I have to say. That’s fine, they’ll learn – and, don’t tell them, but if they don’t, I’ll still love them. And watch out for them, and take care of them, and make sure they are safe and healthy. When playtime is over, be sure to collect your chinchilla carefully! Do not rush that final process, and if your pet escapes your clutches, do not panic. Be patient and coax your kids back into your arms or their cage, as long as it takes. I have heard too many horror stories of owners losing their chinchillas by stepping on their beloved pet accidentally, or falling on them when chasing an escaped chin. With all your might, try your best to avoid thoughtless and tragic accidents. Safety first! My best advice is to just take your time – don’t force it, and be genuine. If you love them, they’ll know – and on some level, they’ll reciprocate. Enjoy their company and never stop doing your best. Patience, practice, consistency, and human foresight can all create an extremely fun and productive playtime for all.