Aggressive Cage Biting

[leer]

Recently, I'd say in the past week, one of my chins has become very aggressive in cage biting. The thing is, he only bites the cage door when it is open. When the door is closed, he is perfectly content, but when I open it, he is right there and instantly gnawing on it. He has tons of toys and an exercise wheel, but for some reason is compelled to chew on the door when it's opened! He doesn't try to run out of the cage, he just wants to chew on the bars.
It wouldn't concern me, but he makes it really hard to clean the cage and give them fresh food and hay when he is trying to attack the door. If my hand gets in the way, he will frantically scratch and bite it. And not just love nibbles! I've tried blowing lightly on his face and saying "No!," as I've read on other biting threads here, but this doesn't even slow him down. And it's really hard to just ignore him when he only does it while the door is open.
It's more of an inconvenience than a real problem, but if anyone has any other tips to get him to stop, or even insights as to why he might be doing this all of a sudden, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

I would try wearing leather gloves while you are cleaning the cage. Hopefully he will learn biting you has no effect. You might also consider opening the cage door so it is completely open and touches the side of the cage. Then use a tie wrap to hold it there. That way he won't be able to bite the door.

 

[leer]

The door opens downwards so it touches the floor when it is open. I will try the glove thing though.

 

[alli713]

That's weird.. Does it smell like something maybe and he's attacking it? You could try washing it with water/vinegar and see if that helps any.

Otherwise I have no idea why he would bite on the door when it's open..

 

[leer]

Okay, I'll try that too.

I don't either! I really can't figure it out. Nothing at all has changed.

 

[Laurie]

I have a biter as well so I understand your frustration. Bobo is heck on wheels inside her cage, once out of her cage in your hands she's a really sweet girl. The blowing thing does not work at all, or at least it hasn't with Bobo, she still bites whenever I try to scritch her. She isn't so bad about biting when I feed her, but that's because I feed her and her daughter, GiGi, when they are in their tube or hammock and away from the food dish.
How old is he? Could he be going through puberty perhaps? Maybe he feels unsafe with the door open which is why he attacks it when it's open.
All I know is I just have gotten used to being bitten. I don't flinch or scold her because she just doesn't understand. And I never give a treat if she is showing aggressive behavior. When I do give her a treat she lets me kiss her right on the nose first! Of course I sneak it in because she thinks she's getting the treat instead of a kiss LOL!
I hope in time he'll settle down for you.

 

[leer]

I'm not sure how old he is. He was a rescue chin, and the breeder we bought him from said he was probably about a year or a year and a half old. So I'm pretty sure puberty is not the problem.
Luckily he's never bitten hard enough to draw blood or anything, so maybe I will just have to live with it. And with treats, I always make him sit in my hand before I give him anything, so at that point he's forgotten about the door and is behaving well.
Thanks

 

[Carol~Anne]

I'm not sure what his obsession with the door is but I have one cage where the door opens downward and when it's open I always wrap it in a fleece blanket b/c I don't want my boy to come running down the bars and get a leg caught and have it seriously injured. I have heard too many stories about that kind of thing so I always make sure the door is completely covered. You could try that and see if that works.

 

[Blarklark]

Hmm.. the breeder that I talked to said. She has a chinchilla that knows when another chinchilla was in heat. And when he knew.. he would gnaw on the bars of his cage. It was his sign of saying. "Hey I'm hawt.. she's hawt and wanting.. LET ME AT HER!" Do you have any other chinchilla's other then this one?

 

[leer]

Nope, I just have two boys.. Thankfully he hasn't been biting me as much anymore (still scratching though). Whenever he goes for the door I just give him a new apple stick to distract him, and that works well enough.

 

[gella]

Is he trying to get under the door? One of my chins goes nuts for her door sometimes during playtime trying to move it out of her way...

 

[Robotzik]

that's weird. lately my boy has been doing this weird thing. when he is out of his cage, the cage has two doors that open downward on two of the three levels. he gets under the first door (while it's open and hanging htere) and starts chewing on the closed door. huhu
it's weird but what can you do
as for your chinchin, why dont you put somethign smelly on the bars that he won't like maybe it will make him stop