The impact of temperament type on the occurrence of stereotypic behaviour in chinchillas

Abstract

The aim of the study was to define the extent of occurrence of stereotypic compulsive behaviour in chinchillas (biting the cage, licking the paws, fur chewing, aimless running around the cage) depending on the displayed character type (temperament). Thirty chinchillas were assigned to three character type (temperament) groups on the basis of a behavioural test. The conclusion of the analysis was that the chinchillas not displaying any signs of fear or hyper-excitability spent the least time on stereotypic compulsive behaviour. More timid individuals most frequently displayed oral compulsion such as paw licking or fur chewing, whereas hyperactive ones most frequently were observed to aimlessly run around the cage. It was concluded that the animal's disposition significantly influenced the amount of time spent on repetitive stereotypic behaviour (P ≤ 0.01), and also that the time of day significantly influenced the frequency of chinchillas biting cage bars (P ≤ 0.05). It was observed that chinchillas in group III manifested the analysed behaviour mainly during the night time, in the remaining two groups the intensity of studied traits was more diversified during both day and night. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between most analysed behaviours.