06 September, 2005
Pippin update
I've been reading a lot about chinchillas, and it seems that we've been going about it all wrong.
Steph and I started stroking Pippin as soon as she got home. We also pick her up, play with her, let her run around in the hall, have her running over our hands and legs and generally having lots of fun.
According to most of the material on-line, we should have started slower. Chinchillas are timid and won't want to play or be petted and will run off until you've gone through the weeks-long process of getting to know them.
I'm glad we didn't read that until after we've had so much fun.
Pippin isn't in the slightest bit frightened of us. She quite happily sits on your hand if you put it near her. We sweep her cage around her, and she follows all the way, playing with the brush. She likes her tummy tickled with it, too. She's so confident that she'll come and stand on things as you move them around, just for the fun of it.
Last night, she had her first out-of-the-cage playtime, in the hall. She loved it. She wasn't too keen on being carried, but didn't sulk about it once she was out. She quite liked jumping on us and tugging our clothes. Steph was sitting cross-legged on the floor, which Pippin liked because it meant she could jump on her lap and tunnel down and out by her feet.
Here she is trying to take my mobile from me.
Steph and I started stroking Pippin as soon as she got home. We also pick her up, play with her, let her run around in the hall, have her running over our hands and legs and generally having lots of fun.
According to most of the material on-line, we should have started slower. Chinchillas are timid and won't want to play or be petted and will run off until you've gone through the weeks-long process of getting to know them.
I'm glad we didn't read that until after we've had so much fun.
Pippin isn't in the slightest bit frightened of us. She quite happily sits on your hand if you put it near her. We sweep her cage around her, and she follows all the way, playing with the brush. She likes her tummy tickled with it, too. She's so confident that she'll come and stand on things as you move them around, just for the fun of it.
Last night, she had her first out-of-the-cage playtime, in the hall. She loved it. She wasn't too keen on being carried, but didn't sulk about it once she was out. She quite liked jumping on us and tugging our clothes. Steph was sitting cross-legged on the floor, which Pippin liked because it meant she could jump on her lap and tunnel down and out by her feet.
Here she is trying to take my mobile from me.
# posted by Digehode @ 8:15 am 
