Chin chewing other chin

[Noj222]

Okay so I had to separate my chins due to health issues. I finally was able to get them back together and one of the chins is chewing the other ones tail, the other chin doesn't even seem to mind the chewing, and they both seem a lot happier being with each other. Is there any possible way to stop furbiting? I do give them lots of chew toys and hay but he still seems to like the other ones tail.

 

[ticklechin]

I had two that did that, the one would chew the others tail like it was corn on the cob. Was not able to stop, chin stopped on its own.

 

[IFireflyl]

I found this article that starts off saying:

Nibbling is not anti-social; rather it occurs when the chinchilla lightly chews on the skin. They will do this while grooming each other, and may even nibble on you while giving it scratches under the chin; it is a sign of affection and acceptance.

Further down under "Fur Biting" it says:

This is not an antisocial behaviour per se, but may arise readily in animals that show anti-social behaviours, as these tend to be the more intelligent or high-strung individuals. The reason being that these animals do not have enough mental stimulation in their environment and develop boredom, or perhaps they are having conflicts with a cagemate. Look at fur biting as a ‘bad addiction’ much like smoking in people. Comparing two people that smoke cigarettes, a person who is stressed may smoke a cigarette more often that one who is relaxed. However, the people who do not smoke at all will not be at risk for responding to stress by increasing their cigarette consumption. Likewise, some chinchillas will never resort to fur-biting, while others use this as a coping mechanism to certain stressors. This behaviour can become habitual or chronic over time, and occurs when a chinchilla bites at its fur, causing its coat to develop a choppy look. Although stressors are a trigger for fur-biting, medical issues such as ill health can also be a cause. In any case, it is important to try and resolve the self-mutilation as promptly as possible. It is usually not a behaviour that will just ‘go away.’ The stressor must be identified and completely removed from the chinchilla’s environment; the end result will be a much more relaxed and satisfied chinchilla.

I'm not sure if either of those are what your chinchilla is truly doing, but from what I have read if the skin is punctured you will need to separate them. Otherwise you may need to provide more toys (and/or different types of toys) to mentally stimulate your chinchilla so that he/she doesn't resort to fur biting.

 

[ticklechin]

Chins fur chew for unknown reasons, they start and stop. Its not known for sure if its a habit, behavior issue or a medical condition but I do know that no amount of toys or attention will make them stop.

 

[Dreamlite]

Fur chewing can be for several reasons (genetics, behavior, stress, health, boredom...), but once they start it's rare for them to stop. They may stop for a time but they always restart again at some point. It's not harmful to the chin. They just have special hair cuts