Chinchilla: Avid Biter

[Sal n' Mr.Tibbs]

My chinchilla is an avid biter and It's getting to the point where I'm afraid of petting him. I let him bite me today thinking that maybe he just wanted to nibble and then he would stop after seeing I was not food ( I was wrong, he just kept biting). Does anyone know a remedy to this or are some chinchillas just like this? Thanks

 

[jbcstratton]

If he is just grooming you to hard you can make a "epp" sound like their mothers do to let them know it is too hard and wiggle you finger a bit. If they are biting to draw blood I would suggest a pair of leather gloves and try the same thing. Don't pull back or leave them be because that may be what they want and it will only reinforce the biting because they got what they wanted.

 

[tcraighenry]

We had similar problems with both of ours. After a couple months of "ouch!" they both figured out the right way to groom.

 

[ticklechin]

I had one that was going to be euthanized by the pet store because he bit and attacked and drew blood, took a couple of months or so of bloody hands to break him of it by not reacting to the bites, I chose not to wear gloves since I wanted him to get used to my naked hands.

 

[Cuddlebug]

I have a little rescue girl here who reacts to everything with biting. At first she bite hard and drew blood every time. I just took the bites, remained calm and used soothing voice while I held her. Now, after at least 50 bites, she has progressed to just little "leave me alone" nips or just acting like she is going to bite and then not doing anything. She will take some time and I have plenty to give to her. I will take the time she needs to realize that no one here is going to hurt her. She is also very vocal and a sprayer. Poor thing spent 5 years in an empty bedroom and was only visited when they decided to feed and water her.