New Chinchilla Fan - holding a chinchilla?

finally figured out how to log on to this website, so thought I would say hi! I, and my 15 yo daughter, am the proud owner of a 3 month old standard male, named Chiclet, which we purchased from Christi. He is the most adorable little creature, and we are so entertained by his antics. We have had him for about 3 or 4 weeks, and he is very hand tame...likes to eat from our hands, likes to be scratched, and will jump on our palms. My question is..when will he let me pick him up (and like it)? I have tried a couple times to pick him up but he seems quite upset about it. So I back off, not wanting to stress him. Maybe I am not doing it right. Any suggestions from you pros?

[Christi]

As a rule most chins don't like to be held - especially not tightly. Let him crawl into your hands and then move your hands to your chest and let him crawl on your shoulders. But they're not like rabbits or dogs, they don't really like to be held and "loved on."

Yes I guess I knew they don't like to be encircled by your hands. I was afraid he would jump off and get hurt if I just lifted my open hands up to my chest. My book says to hold on to the tail when you pick them up. Does anyone really do this? What if he tries to jump while you're holding the tail?

[Christi]

What book? DO NOT EVER HOLD A CHINCHILLA BY THE TAIL!! EVER!! LOL You could easily break it and that's the fastest way to lose ALL the trust you've worked so hard establish. Grrr, stupid book...

I didn't think that sounded right!! I guess they meant to hold him in your palm, and keep the tail secure in case he jumps. It's a Barrons Chinchillas book. It does emphasize to not pick him up by the tail, but to hold him in your palm, while holding the tail in case he jumps. Well, I'll keep winning Chiclet's trust, and try lifting him to my chest as soon as I can.

[Jade]

The book probably wasn't clear. A lot of the large breeders don't socialize their chins to earn their trust, and so pull them out of their cages by the BASE of their tails, close to their bodies. This can easily frighten your chinchilla, although it isn't likely to harm them as long as their body weight is immediately supported. The harm can come from picking a chin up solely by the tip of the tail and letting it dangle without supporting its body.

I don't recommend doing this, because as Christi said, you can lose whatever trust you've earned from your chin and can injure it if you don't do it properly.

I have never help my chinnies tail. I have people tell me to hold their tails, but I just can't. I'm to afraid of it coming off. I don't want to hurt them. I let them jump on my hands and then I hold them close to me. I had one jump once, but he never got hurt as I was sitting on the floor, but I was told they can jump pretty high. My one chin Rocky can jump over the playpen I bought them with no problems. They also can jump on my table. Funny little tikes.
Cheryl