Do Chinchillas Make Noise? What Sound Do They Make?
By If you’re getting a chinchilla, or if you’ve just gotten one, it’s important to know basic things about them. For example, do they make noise, and if they do, what sort of noise do they make?
In this article, I’m going to give clear answers to these questions, and will even address additional issues.
So, do chinchillas make noise? Yeah, chinchillas make noise. In fact, they make a lot of different noises, and these noises help them communicate their feelings.
Summary of today’s article:
- Why do chinchillas make noise?
- What sound do chinchilla most often make?
- Why does my chinchilla sound like a squeaky toy?
- How do mother chinchillas and their babies communicate?
- Conclusion
Why Do Chinchillas Make Noise?
Like most animals, chinchillas make noise. There are very few animals in the animal kingdom that do not make any noise at all, so this shouldn’t be surprising.
If you have a chinchilla, don’t be surprised by them making sounds. It’s just their way of communicating.
If it’s their way of communicating, that means that they must mean something when they make noise. Before we understand what chinchilla’s mean when they make sounds, we must first understand what sounds they make in the first place.
That way, we’ll be able to separate them (if possible) and try to figure out their needs through the sounds they make.
Why You Should Learn Chinchilla Sounds And Meanings
As human beings, chinchillas are social animals. This means that they’ve evolved to communicate with others with specialised sounds that convey meaning— just like humans.
However, the communication pattern of chinchillas is still quite primitive. Very primitive, in fact, so don’t go about expecting your chinchilla to make a complex speech.
What Sound Do Chinchilla Most Often Make?
Anyone who’s ever had a chinchilla will tell you that their most common noise is the bark. This is probably because they bark whenever they feel an existential threat.
This is not limited to predators alone. It could also refer to unknown faces trying to pick them up.
Chinchillas have several sounds used to communicate. Some of these sounds are positive and indicate good things, while other sounds could be negative and they may indicate bad emotions.
Others are used to communicate within specific situation e.g between a mother and her baby chinchilla
If you learn the meaning of the sounds that your chinchilla makes, you’ll be able to better help them when they are hurt or unhappy. Of course, it’s easy to learn about the way your chinchilla communicates through trial and error, but that would take time and may be harmful to your furry little pet.
If you want to easily learn the meaning of what your chinchilla says all you need to do is continue reading.
Sounds That Chinchillas Make
Chinchilla handlers have noticed four distinct kinds of vocalisation with chinchillas. The first is cooing, the second is barking, the third is crying and the fourth is teeth chattering.
All four sounds have their meaning.
What Do Chinchillas Mean When They Coo
When chinchillas coo, they do so because they are happy or communicating with each other. If you have two chinchillas living together, they will most likely coo a lot of the time.
They will use this noise to communicate, and it may indicate that they are happy. Chinchillas mostly use cooing to tell other chinchillas where they are and to also inform them that they aren’t in pain and are not being tortured. Read more here on how to tell if your chinchilla is happy.
Since the purpose of cooing is for chinchillas to communicate when they aren’t in close proximity, you’ll probably hear it more when they are outside their cages. This is because they are in unfamiliar territory, and thus there’s a higher risk of a predator coming upon them.
You may also hear a lone chinchilla cooing. This doesn’t mean it’s trying to communicate with another chinchilla.
This just happens because cooing is such a fundamental aspect of chinchillas that they still do it while on their own.
So if you want to measure the level of happiness your chinchilla is, you can do that by listening for how much they coo.
What Do Chinchillas Mean When They Bark
Chinchillas also tend to bark. They do this when they are upset or scared, and you’ll usually hear this sound when they are picked up by someone unfamiliar.
That person may even be you. If your chinchilla barks at you, that just means it isn’t yet familiar with you. Once it gets familiar, the rate of barking will reduce.
Chinchillas also bark as a sort of alarm clock. This is used to warn other chinchillas nearby. So if your chinchilla spots a predator, sees something strange or hears a loud noise, it will definitely start barking.
They could also start barking when they see shadows looming over them. Since looming shadows remind Chinchillas of birds of prey, this is pretty logical.
They also start barking when they are taken to somewhere they are unfamiliar with. Asides this, they could also bark when they are threatened by another chinchilla or another human being even.
You should also know that the barking of chinchillas isn’t the same as regular barking. In fact, the term barking actually describes what the sound is meant to do, rather than what it sounds like.
Barking is basically a way for chinchillas to show that they are angry and can cause real harm— this is done in a bid to frighten whatever threatens them.
The bark is also louder than any other sound that the chinchilla makes. Since the bark works as an early detection system for other chinchillas, it makes sense that chinchillas bark as loudly as possible.
Unlike the barks of other animals, the chinchilla’s bark sounds like a squeaky chew toy. In fact, you could even compare it to a duck’s quack.
If you hear this sound for the first time, you’ll probably think there’s something wrong with your chinchilla. You may even believe that it’s suffering from some disease because the sound is quite loud and repetitive. But do not fear.
Your chinchilla is just trying to tell you something.
If you hear your chinchilla barking, that means there’s definitely something bothering it, and you should check that out quickly.
What Do Chinchillas Mean When They Cry
Chinchillas cry when they are in pain. If you hear crying sounds from your chinchilla, that’s your signal that it is feeling deep pain.
You should either stop whatever you’re doing to it or check exactly why it is crying.
What Do chinchillas Mean When Their Teeth Chatter
If you hear your chinchilla’s teeth chattering, this could mean different things. For example, it could mean that your chinchilla is content.
It could also mean that it feels threatened or is in pain. The smart thing to do would be to note instances where your chinchilla’s teeth chatter in order to learn more about its behavior.
Asides these, chinchillas also spit when they are annoyed and scream when they feel distressed.
With a little attention, you’ll soon be able to interpret the different sounds that your chinchilla makes quite effectively.
Why Does My Chinchilla Sound Like A Squeaky Toy?
You may have heard your chinchilla make a squeaky sound like it’s chewing or playing on a toy. And if you have, you probably thought it was playing with a squeaky toy or something. Of course, if you did.
That’s exactly what it sounds like.
Like most rodents, Chinchillas make a lot of squeaking sounds. When they make this sound, they sound like they are squeezing a squeaky toy.
You may hear some gentle squeak sounds from your chinchilla, or it may even be urgent and loud. There are other squeaks that may even be meaningless, like sneezing.
However, others could indicate happiness or sadness. In any case, you’ll have to learn the kinds of sounds that your chinchilla makes in different situations and understand how best to react to it.
How Do Mother Chinchillas And Their Babies Communicate?
If you have a chinchilla that has just given birth, you may notice your chinchilla making some new noises. If you notice this, don’t be too alarmed. It’s just the sounds the mother chinchilla uses to communicate with her kids.
The mother makes low and gentle sounds that let the baby know she’s there, and then the baby makes a small high pitched sound in response. When feeding, babies will make a specific sound as they gulp their mother’s milk.
It’s a low but high pitched sound, and it may sound like a bird’s chirping to you.
These noises just mean that baby and mother are doing fine and are okay. If they make these sounds often, it means that you are doing a pretty good job keeping them safe.
Conclusion
To conclude, yes, chinchillas make noise. In fact, they make a lot of it.
They bark, they coo, they squeak and they grind their teeth. These sounds are the ways that chinchillas communicate with us, and it’s important that their owners understand what they mean when they make these sounds.
If they do, they will be able to easily meet whatever needs their little furry friends may have.
