We have a pair of chinchillas who are desperately in need of socialization. I spent the whole evening sitting in front of their open cage talking to them and feeding them veggies. I even read Facebook posts to them.
The darker colored chinchilla is Dora. She seems a bit more tame.
The lighter colored one is Trixie. I got her to eat some lettuce, but she wasn't going to let me touch her.
Chinchillas should be handled from a young age in order to socialize them well. I don't know the story behind these girls, but I doubt they got the attention they needed when they were babies. That's where we volunteers come in! We are spending time with them, going slowly, and letting them learn that humans can be trusted. I hope that with time and attention from several different people, we can get them to the point where they don't hide from us and will let us pick them up.
I enjoyed my time with Dora and Trixie and I look forward to hanging out with them a lot more!
I'm a little surprised you didn't bring them home with you :)
ReplyDeleteYou know I thought about it. :)
DeleteHow very cool! It's great that socialization isn't just limited to the dogs and cats.
ReplyDeleteMy human thinks chinchillas are adorable... but the one time she actually met and held one, it peed! Maybe the love wasn't returned, MOL.
ReplyDeleteDora and Trixie are really cute. We hope they get more used to humans.
ReplyDeleteThey sure do need people like you! It's so sad they weren't properly cared for as babies.
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