How and how much chinchillas sleep, sleep patterns

Chinchillas, like other ornamental rodents, are predominantly nocturnal. Therefore, the owners can not always catch their pet at the peak of activity. But they have the opportunity to constantly observe funny poses in which the animal sleeps. Sleep, no less than behavioral characteristics, reflects the state of health and mentality of the pet, so it is important to track how chinchillas sleep.

Sleep mode features

It is difficult to calculate how much a chinchilla sleeps per day. The duration of sleep is significantly affected by the nature and age of the animal. Young animals are much more active, so they can wake up during the day to eat and run. But if your pet sleeps most of the day, waking up only at sunset, his behavior is also the norm, close to the natural regimen of rodents. This upsets most owners, who really cannot watch the animal, play with it. Fortunately, at home, chinchillas often adjust to their owner’s routine. Therefore, after a while, the pet will wake up when you come home in the evening, and at night it will take several hours to sleep.

How does a chinchilla sleep

The first time after moving to a new home, the animal experiences stress, so it will only sleep while sitting, choosing a protected corner of the cage. He sits on his hind legs, and presses his front legs to his stomach or rests them on an object of suitable height. Some chinchillas sleep standing on their hind legs, holding onto the bars of the cage with their front legs. Such an unusual posture provides a quick transition to activity after waking up – the animal is always ready to defend itself or run.

Over time, the animal begins to trust its owners, gets used to a new place of residence and relaxes. Therefore, a sleeping chinchilla curls up into a ball, or stretches to its full height, demonstrates a wide variety of other poses. You can often see a fluffy animal hanging from the top shelf, falling asleep in a bowl or in a toilet.

IMPORTANT: The choice of a sleeping tray is unlikely to please the owners – but usually the chinchilla simply looks for where it is most convenient. In nature, animals sleep in a pile, providing themselves with warmth and comfort. Therefore, in order to wean your pet from the habit of sleeping in the toilet, you need to equip more comfortable places to sleep – a hanging hammock, a comfortable bed, a house with soft bedding.

Why does a chinchilla sleep on its side

New pet owners pay particular attention to their pet’s sleep patterns, and changes in behavior are often mistaken for signs of illness. Sometimes this can be justified – when the animal sleeps too anxiously, waking up all the time, or too much – this can be a symptom of the onset of the disease. But if the chinchilla sleeps on its side, although it has always slept sitting up, this is completely normal, and only means that your pet has got used to its new home and feels safe.

For the same reason, owners are often worried that the animal sleeps with its eyes open. This seems too unusual behavior and causes anxiety. Sometimes the animal falls asleep sitting on its hands in such a way that it looks quite strange. But this is also a variant of the norm – many chinchillas sleep with their eyes closed most of the time, and during the day or on their hands they doze literally “half-eye”. It is also necessary to remember the meteorological dependence of animals – they react to the weather, become lethargic in the heat, sleep a lot, and on windy, rainy days they will be nervous and snooze in fits and starts. Usually, when the weather returns to normal, the animals calm down.

If you notice that the animal’s sleep has changed, strange signs have appeared, observe its behavior while awake. If the appetite is good, the pet is active, walks in the arms, does not show other strange symptoms – there is no reason for concern.

How to train a chinchilla to sleep at night

It happens that the animal does not change its mode in any way, continuing to sleep in the daytime, and at night it makes noise, disturbing the owners. Even if the mode has been successfully shifted, the sleep of these rodents is very sensitive – any noise, snoring, steps along the corridor will wake the animal, often after that it continues to be awake until the morning. If the pet does not sleep at night, the best solution is to place the cage in another room. You can also find cages with soundproofing, but they are quite expensive. If it is not possible to move the pet’s home, the question inevitably arises – how to wean him from a nocturnal lifestyle, to make his sleep more sound?

Teaching a chinchilla to sleep at night is quite difficult. The most effective method is to ensure that the pet is sufficiently active in the evening. Chinchillas love to walk around the apartment, explore the premises, as well as play and communicate with the owner. Turn off or dim the lights, open the door, then gently wake the animal, offer a treat. When he starts jumping around the cage, take him for a walk around the room. Usually animals, having worked up, played enough in the evening, get tired and behave quietly at night.

An early rise will also help to calm the chinchilla at night – as soon as your alarm rings in the morning, let the animal out of the cage (it will still be awake at six or seven in the morning). While you are busy preparing for school or work, the pet that has not slept at night will run up and get completely tired. During the day he will sleep soundly for six or eight hours, and wake up early in the evening. This mode, combined with intense activity, will help adjust your sleep time over time. With age, most animals reduce the number of noisy games, and at night they prefer to take a nap.