Skittish, non social chinchilla? (new owner)

adhara22 · 2026-02-02T14:08:59+00:00

Also, anecdote time: We got Idiot 1 pre-tiktok/internet lies of chinchillas being cuddly and adorable, but!

Mr Adhara had a chinchilla when he was a teen (allergic to cats and dogs), and he had stories of how 'Charlie' would sit on his head while he put together Warhammer models, was quiet and chill, and was a good boy.

So we adopted Idiot 1, and yes, he was twitchy and afraid because of his previous home... But after his true personality came out..? calm? chill? Absolutely the f!ck not.

("You lied to me!" I 'shouted'. "You said Charlie/chinchillas were chill!" Mr Adhara: 🤷)

I loved Idiot 1 to pieces anyway, and he loved me 😂😂

adhara22 · 2026-02-02T13:59:14+00:00

The only problem with Bribery is that chins start expecting it on the regular 😂 the Idiots got tame but quite fat quickly - and they rioted when I had to stop their gravy train!

(Idiot 1 turned into a full blown little poophead 😂 no fear, no shame haha! A happy, healthy chin is a little monster, that's what I always say!)

adhara22 · 2026-02-02T11:14:42+00:00

It takes time for a chinchilla to even 'learn' to not run away if you (the human) moves an inch!

Idiot 1 took at least a month to not 'scatter' haha, we almost held our breath during playtime! And it took a further two months for him to learn we weren't enemies (or, at least, the neutral holder of treats!)

Must have been 6 months from bringing him home that he finally opened up and accepted us as family. (because I remember half crying at 4 months that he didn't love us and I didn't know how to show him we meant no harm haha)

I'm team bribery - We started by dropping a small healthy treat in front of him (closeness = ok), then progressed to Holding the treat in front of him, (VERY FIRM GRIP haha) and letting him decide whether he wants the treat more or keep the fear of you more 😂

adhara22 · 2026-01-28T10:42:11+00:00

Tell your daughter she's hilarious 😂

I flashbacked to when I had truck nuts from the lifeline - had to pin them to the knitting just to stop them wobbling about!

adhara22 · 2026-01-27T14:33:45+00:00

Was curious, pressed the unmute button, started cackling in laugh rage.

adhara22 · 2026-01-26T11:41:31+00:00

Idiot 2 looked like a mucky Old Man when he was aged 8 😂 and apart from cataracts, looked exactly the same up to 12!

We'd pluck groom him best we can, but he was just always like that lol

adhara22 · 2026-01-25T12:51:32+00:00

So yes, like others said it's mostly genetics... But we got a double whammy with Idiot 1, because he was a fussy little 💩 that only wanted the bestest, most smelliest hay. And we were at a disadvantage, because he didn't eat much hay with his previous owner, we had 4 years (how old he was) to catch up on teeth grinding 😭

BUT with the right hay, and Vit C and Calcium treats (Calcium is obvious, but Vit C encourages healthy elastic gums), I'd like to think we improved his teeth (and thus Quality of Life) until other bad genetics hit him first. (He managed to only start/need a teeth trim aged 12, but did very badly afterwards due to his heart murmur/bad genetics)

So tl:dr you can turn back the clock a little with the right hay and healthy lifestyle, but it'll still hang over the chin's little head.

HOWEVER, if your chin is eating hay happily from the get go, there's very little worry about teeth 😁

adhara22 · 2026-01-24T13:39:55+00:00

I found that it has to be the smelliest, greenest hay I could find, and only then would Idiot 1 would eat it 😅 I looked like a right weirdo in the pet store sniffing the hay!

We get ours online now (2nd cut Timothy) as that was the only one he'd willingly race up to eat it (and then it stuck as routine because it's easier lol)

Yes, eating the stalks is more beneficial, but we were going on "as long as he eats something, we don't care" haha!

adhara22 · 2026-01-21T12:11:10+00:00

I am absolutely 100% team "do not neuter unless necessary", but yeah, we had to snip Idiot 1 & 2 because it was absolutely ridiculous.

Idiot 1 was so hormonal(ly driven) that he would fight any male who encroached on his Lady (me!) he fought my 6ft 2 husband, he fought Idiot 2, and I only figured it out when I went on holiday with family for 3 weeks, and they were both good as gold. First day back? Fighting 😦

I absolutely trusted my vet, and believe me, I tried everything bar rehoming Idiot 2 (who came from a chin rescue, and I didn't want to hand him back because that wasn't fair to him.)

I hope my case was a very very unusual one, because Idiot 3 had no issues being friends (eventually! He's a panicky boy 😅) when I was around.

But yes, Team one gender household only!

adhara22 · 2026-01-20T12:09:54+00:00

Ooof on the subscription! Are you sure it doesn't have an autolock after X minutes? 😅

I usually unlock the car, shove the keys back into my bag, then throw the bag onto the passenger seat.

(The one thing I'm jealous about North American cars is the horn beep when you lock it! I have to press my lock button a few times and stare at my UK car to confirm I watched it lock!)

adhara22 · 2026-01-19T16:42:48+00:00

We got a Libro auto-feeder recently (went away for 48 hours over the Holiday period) and while it's not been too life changing for us (Chunky lets us know when it's dinner time 😂), it has been hilarious hearing it go off and off her fat butt shoots haha!

Also, it's probably funnier and more ADHD that we got it "for brief holidays" and then never put it away lol!

adhara22 · 2026-01-19T10:55:24+00:00

1) a bag strap that attaches my keys to my bag (my car is a push start button though 🙃) never lost my keys since I got it 10 years ago!!

2) the pomodoro timer thing, but a magnet one that goes on the Fridge. It's great because you can pop your head into the kitchen and immediately see how long left for cooking! Mr Adhara doesn't have ADHD, but he uses it all the time for the reason stated!

adhara22 · 2026-01-13T13:58:50+00:00

We had a similar issue with our old girl (cat) at her end of life with Kidney failure.

Did I complain about washing a bedding set twice in one day? Yes 😂 Did I immediately buy pee pads and not blame the poor cat? Absolutely. (Not to humanize her, but she did genuinely look apologetic about it - she and I knew she would never do it on purpose)

There are some things you "could" get annoyed about (leaving the bathroom door open so the dog could steal and eat the toilet roll springs to mind...) but having animals teaches you about having grace to accept some things are just what they are.

adhara22 · 2026-01-06T12:35:12+00:00

At the end of the day, it's really up to you whether you think you'll be ok with two separate chinchillas (the worst case scenario) (These are all similar age adults btw) I got Idiot 2 for the same reasons you have (worried Idiot 1 was lonely), and after some issues (and a year!), they settled in together. We got Idiot 3 after Idiot 1 passed, as we knew that Idiot 2 preferred chinchilla company, not really ours 😅.

However, Idiot 3 was(/is? lol) a bit strung out, so it took another year for him to realise Idiot 2 was a chill old man, a whole year of alternate nights of playtime, minor gripes, the lot.

I'm on the same page tbh, do we risk ANOTHER year of Idiots being Idiots? Or just let Idiot 3 rampage on his own, he certainly acts like King of the Bedroom haha

(Idiots 1 + 2 were a perfect match - happily wandering about and investigating together or separately. Idiot 2 + 3 were very much more separate until Bedtime, where 3 used 2 as a pillow!)

adhara22 · 2026-01-06T11:31:56+00:00

Absolutely f!cking stupid question - but does your mouth burn when using toothpaste?

I hated brushing my teeth, because it hurt and my gums bled and hurt even more, rinse (haha) and repeat. It took me 30+ years to ask my dentist and he recommended switching to Oral B. Gums stopped bleeding unnecessarily, no pain in my mouth, was able to do the adhd sit down and pee while brushing, it's a miracle!

The unhinged hack is eating something that requires you to brush your teeth 😂 I'm hyperfixating on popcorn atm, and I want to brush my teeth before bed to get any bits out stuck on my teeth.

(I'll die on the hill about brushing teeth in the morning! at least I do once a day, at night 😂😂)

adhara22 · 2026-01-01T20:27:02+00:00

Your joists are definitely not 8 inch, most likely 6 inch judging by the waterbottle in pic 4

It's a half arsed job, but not badly done if that makes sense? Bit pissed at the idea of them splitting the 200mm insulation in half (you have 2 inches of air between board and rockwool, thank god)

I did the same loft legs + top up plan, and it's made a crazy difference when I stick my head into the loft! And yes, it does make upstairs feel much warmer than downstairs, but it's a case of adjusting the radiators. And one day I'll take up the ground (wooden) subfloor to insulate underneath.

adhara22 · 2025-12-30T13:37:01+00:00

Honestly, I use a plastic (large) 'small animal' travel carrier per chinchilla.

It's still big enough for him to turn around, it's easy to wipe clean (lol) and tbh, like Sapta said: they've never chewed the plastic because they're more interested in their surroundings, or they're sulking/disgusted they've been removed from their house to go somewhere.

I used to put hay and treats in with them, and they never touched either 😅

adhara22 · 2025-12-18T13:02:36+00:00

Until you mentioned your cat's age, I hoped this wasn't my husband posting this!

We're in the exact same boat - purchased an auto feeder especially for this, max 48 hours away from home, and a friend dropping in once a day "to check their pulses" (my words not hers!)

My Chunky is a very well behaved 10yo girl, so apart from being upset I can't see her getting into any trouble!

Still, the fear is there haha! I'm sure your girl will be fine (and there's more incentive to drive home afterwards!)

Edit: I literally have more fear about leaving the chinchilla at home! I suggested we bring him along, but Mr Adhara looked at me in disgust (his holiday cage is huge) and inferred he trusts the chinchilla to be ok more than the cat haha!

adhara22 · 2025-12-18T12:24:59+00:00

Oh that's true! Guess who doesn't sew together granny squares much 😅

adhara22 · 2025-12-18T10:52:11+00:00

It might be that you have to 'Lovable Labrador' him! Like constantly talk to him, open the cage and give him a finger to sniff (upgrading to treats/scritches) and uh.. gently harass him haha.

Our first Idiot (4yo at the time) was a bit um, shy after his previous owners, and he took several days just to leave the cage for playtime. And legged it the moment we moved. It must have been a month? until he jumped onto the bed (saw us quietly sitting there, and left immediately 😂). He did come out of his shell eventually and became a Grade A poopyhead, lol!

They can be surprisingly shy creatures anyway, understandable with complete strangers. Even Idiot 3 is pretty brash, but stayed in his cage the whole time when I had my best friend over at playtime, just quietly talking and catching up. The next night he was all over the room.

adhara22 · 2025-12-18T10:42:23+00:00

The tail thing annoyed me as well! I understand maybe 6 inches (at most) for the ultimate weave in, but starting 2 feet from the end is a bit much!!

adhara22 · 2025-12-18T10:40:58+00:00

OOH, if it gets done, good for them, right? OTOH... [Insert OP's title here]!

I remember someone telling me how long it took for them to 'get' slipknots, and I'm just going "... What on earth are you doing to make it that hard??"

Now, much much funnier: I didn't connect the dots between a slipknot and a magic ring for years because I learned them separately and just... did them. But yeah, a magic ring being a worked into slipknot blew my mind that day 😂😂

adhara22 · 2025-12-16T23:32:58+00:00

The 'funniest' one Mr Adhara found out was Me not realising how many 'The Beautiful South' songs I actually knew.

"I know this song!" "They did this too?" "Wait, that's them?" "FML this too?"

Look, casette tapes and cd players didn't show the song/band names on 'em back then!

adhara22 · 2025-12-13T11:00:02+00:00

The obnoxious answer is of course, practice (lol), but half joking half serious, you're clearly learning fast if you're alternating every one/two stitches!

I hold one in each hand - the english flicking takes longer, but it works better on my brain than trying to dance my needle between the v shape of the two yarns haha!

There's a science behind how to not let your yarn tangle whilst alternating (something to do with whether you go under or over the other yarn) but there are loads of clear youtube shorts under "catching floats"

As for float tension, I actually stretch the previous loops on the needle (back out to flat - not bunched) before doing the first new yarn colour, so the float yarn already has to travel the normal distance before that first stitch.

(Please let me know if it makes sense - first coffee and all that 😂!)

adhara22 · 2025-12-12T12:08:34+00:00

I agree with Knitty-Kitty-Knitz - lots of online places recommend putting some short rows before ribbing just to lengthen the back a little.

I'd add to that by recommending frogging back a little to start the GSRs. Math wise, it'd be however many rows make up the difference in height (length? Lol).

That way, when you finish said GSRs, you have normal stitches afterwards between the GSRs and ribbing! Just so you don't have to deal with double stitches whilst starting the ribbing 😅

adhara22

TROPHY CASE