biting to get what she wants?

[danilinn]

This morning, i was sitting in front of Jonesy's cage, petting her at the door when she decided she wanted to get out and go exploring. Her usual tactic is to stretch forward toward the floor, and give my hand a shove with her paws to get it out of her way. I guess she figured out that wasn't working, because this time she bit my finger instead. Not very hard, but definitely not a little love-nuzzle.
I wasn't sure what to do, so I yelled "ow" and shut her cage door and walked away. She hasn't run away from me or barked or hidden, so I'm pretty sure she wasn't scared, but maybe testing me/boundaries.
Five minutes later, we were both back at her cage door, petting and nuzzling. I'm not expecting her to learn "no" or "bad chinchilla" or anything, but I'm hoping she won't make a habit of biting to get her way. Does anyone have any experience with something like this?

 

[ChinnyMom]

Rhino will be like that sometimes if he isn't being let out when i open the cage door. he'll actually grab onto my finger with his teeth and hold my hand with his paws and move me over if i let him. which of course i try not to, but the lil bugger can be pretty quick sometimes. i give him a firm 'no no' and resume scritching or whatever it was i was doing in the cage. he caught on to 'no no' and is pretty good about it.

 

[Airyn]

They're actually brilliant little animals and can absolutely learn verbal commands. Keep in mind, however, that they're incredibly stubborn and won't obey you all the time, though you'll definitely get a good dose of the stink eye as proof of understanding. Teaching her "no" is a good way to start, but you may want to try "gentle" to differentiate, as you don't want to discourage the grooming behavior entirely.

My guys each have a knowledgebase of 15-20 words and respond to half of them immediately. I'm fairly happy with that... for now. *lol*

 

[Cuddlebug]

The main thing to keep i n mind is that you do not let her have her way when she bites. It will encourage the behavior if you do and it will beome harder to teach her not to do it.

 

[liewwan]

My boys respond to "no" pretty good. Girls, well we're working on that.
Just like kids they will test you, but be firm yet gentle and they'll learn.