What things can i do to make my chinchilla's playtime more fun and stimulating for him?

I let him out every night for about a half an hour, in my room. And he usually just runs around and hides under the furniture and explores. Is that good enough for him, or do you think he gets bored? If so, what should i do to make his playtime more fun? He doesn't like me going near him when he's playing, so i can't really interact WITH him to make it more fun...Also, can chinchilla's be potty trained?

Let the cat out.

Chinchillas love raisins! They should only eat about 2 or three a days, so you should hide a few of those around your room. They also like tunnels, and chewing on leather. but you probably don't want your best belt ruined.

I have 3 guinea pigs. And guinea pigs are some what like chinchillas, so I think I can help. Most rodents like to go in closed spaces because they like to feel protected. Just try spending time with your chinchilla. Try to make it known that you will not hurt the chinchilla. And I use corn bedding for my guinea pigs and what I did was put the corn bedding only in 1 spot and the rest was newspaper. They only went on the corn bedding. And when I have it out it doesn't go on me, unless I hold it for a long time. Good Luck!

I have a chinchilla.. And she was that way too for the first 3 months or so. It is common for them to explore and run around when you let them out and its very common for them to ignore you and not want to interact with you during this time. You can put out things like special treats and toys they can chew, and you can make those toys/chews special by only letting him have it when he gets let out! What I did to get my chinchilla to interact with me was I would give her treats and place them near me... so she would have to come close to me to get them. Eventually when she got comfortable with that I would hold them out and she would take them from my hand. Now when she's out of her cage she follows me around my room and when I sit down she climbs all over me and lets me hold her and pet her for short periods of time!Yes Chinchilla's can be potty trained but it takes time and effort to do so... your best bet is to find a book on chinchilla's it should tell you some tricks to help you out there. Although I have heard that its easier to potty train a younger Chin then one thats a few years old.

i think u should get him a play mate i have two chinchillas but i dont let them out 1 bc they chew on wires 2 bc they poop everywhere some chinchillas can be potty trained for ex my tan one always goes in the corner of the cage but my other one goes any where and i mean any where even in the food

Chinchillas need alot of exercise so he is probably just glad to be out and running and really doesn't need any kind of interaction. As far as potty training him, yes it is possible but not typical for it to work. Like my chinchilla will urinate in one area of the cage, yet had poo all over the place. For more info on chinchillas go to www.thechinbin.org

First of all, to get him to come to you more, try this - Offer him a raisin (or whatever treat he seems to prefer the most) in your open palm. Every day, move the raisin further and further up your arm so that he has to climb on you to get to the raisin. This will help him learn to trust you and realize that you're not something to fear.For potty training - Chinchillas can be trained to urinate in the same place, however it might not be 100%. I've never trained mine to use a litter box, but I have noticed that they tend to pee in the same spot. To potty train your chinchilla, watch for a few days to see where his/her "spot" is. Once you find their spot, place some of the soiled bedding in something that you plan on using as their litter box (the book I have suggests using a ceramic crock) and place the litter box in the spot they've been using. Your chin should catch on and start using the dish to urinate in. Once he/she is reliably using the dish, you can switch over to cat litter (without odor control additives) or another kind of organic litter. You can also try moving the litter box/dish to an area of the cage that suits you. However, if they stop using it, you'll have to move it back to the chin's preferred spot. Remember, they aren't like cats, so they might not use the litter box/dish 100% of the time and they most likely will not use it to poop in (they like to poop when and where they feel like it, so don't expect them to do that in the box).Outside cage time - If you can, try to give him at least an hour of time out of his cage. They really need a whole hour at the very least, more is even better. If you absolutely cannot get him out of his cage more, then at least buy a chinchilla safe exercise wheel for in his cage so he has something to do when he's bored in the cage. As for making playtime more enjoyable, a chinchilla's idea of fun is climbing and jumping. My dad made a simple "climbing tree" for my chins using some pine wood. It's basically just a post with a base a shelves coming out of the post. Mine love jumping from ledge to ledge on it. I also have some heavy cardboard tubes they like to run through. I'm not sure where exactly you can find them (my dad got them from his work), but try Staples, OfficeMax, or another store like that. Basically anything you can think of that they could climb or jump on would be good. But don't get/make anything to tall, you don't want them to fall from the top and hurt themselves. I also have this rope ladder-like thing - it's a rope ladder that runs horizontal between two bricks. They jump on the brick, go across the ladder, and then jump off the other brick. Use your imagination - look online for more ideas. There's a lot of things you can make for them that they'd enjoy, just remember - they love to climb and jump. Make the things out of pine wood and all of their "toys" will double as chew things, too. If you can afford it, I also recommend another chin - mine spend a lot of time chasing after and playing with each other and they're quite comical when they're together!