Run Of The House

[maaaaaaarrrio]

How long should i wait till i cn let theodore have the run of the lounge, i have had him for a week now.

[Nate]

I think the general consensus is about a month. People do this to train the chipmunk that it's aviary is it's home and so it should return to it to sleep. Pet owners have often described how difficult it can be to get them back in the aviary when they've needed to.


When I got my first chipmunk he was out the next day, I couldn't wait. He spent most of his time out on free range in the end, and because he could jump on me anytime he got very tame. I have found that a chipmunk which is used to being out on free range can really kick up a fuss when put back in to an aviary. Bitting and pulling at the mesh, even sulking. But you just have to be firm and ignore all their playing up, they will eventually occupy themselves or have a short sleep.

[maaaaaaarrrio]

thanks nate i just wantd to no because the other day theodore hid whilst i was cleaning his cage, and as soon as he got the chance he ran out luckly i had the door shut but it took me ages to get him back in,  he just went straight to bed after must of tired him out running around, i managed to video him, ive put it on youtube if anyone wants to have a look the link is:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/DEiEWJGSkKs&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/DEiEWJGSkKs&rel=0</a>

the end of the video is a bit blurry because he went under my cabinet and i couldnt find im lol

[sarah-J]

Hi Mario,

Was great to see Theodore, having a good look around. You did well to keep up with him! lol
Have you found what his favourite treat is yet?
I tried popcorn on some yogurt today, but I think the ants liked it more!   

Sarah.

[Gilly]

Hi Mario, looks like Theodore is happy to nosey about the room.
What did he do with the mirror? Did it confuse him, or did he just check his look 

Good to see videos we need to see more I think. As Sarah said it's hard to get them on film sometimes.........nice one Gilly 

[maaaaaaarrrio]

I no it was hard to follow him, haha he ran into the mirror, he was well confused, i dunno im just tryin him with different stuff now n then he seems to lyk apples more than anything but dunno yet.

[Nate]

Hi Mario,

Great video, they can be hard to film, and I liked the way the film went a bit crazy at the end, that's chipnks for you. 

Even now mine will nearly always go in to their nest boxes when it's aviary cleaning time. It has to be done, but it always seem to un-nerve them a little. About twice a year I will clean out their nest boxes, it's a shame when you know all the effort they have put in to building up a store of food. You may even see yours turfing out all his nesting material one day. They suddenly decide it's time to spring clean so all the nesting material is pulled out and they replace with new bedding.