How to hold and avoid a bite?

[SmokeyandChilla]

Hello everyone!
Okay so this is my first question on this forum. I have two chinchillas. And my male chinchilla, Sir Smokey Freckleson, has been cleaning himself quite a bit lately. And I heard that they groom themselves more down "there" if they have a hair ring. And I really want to check if he has a hair ring. He's a friendly chinchilla if you don't pick him up. But the second you go to pick him up he feels threatened and will bite...and HARD!. He has bitten through my finger nail!! :tantrum: that hurts, let me tell you!! But I don't want a hair ring to remain if he does in fact have one. Someone please give me some ideas that I could do to at check and be sure he is hair ring free!!

Oh, and feeding him a treat to keep him still so I can check doesn't work either. All he does is MOVE around. He's a rambunctious little fella!

 

[jbcstratton]

I would get a pair of leather gloves and get him out and have a towel handy so you can roll him up (burrito him) in it and then do the hair ring check. Two people may make it a little easier, one to hold and one to do hair ring check. Good luck.

 

[liewwan]

Gloves and don't put your hand in his face. I go under their chin

 

[SmokeyandChilla]

Thank you both, I will have to locate some leather gloves.

Liewwan, even if I don't put my hands in his face he's flexible for such a fat little guy. He bends around and takes a nice healthy chomp out of my little fingers

 

[Zoaea]

Erm sounds like he has a bad biting habit. =s I have never had a chin bite at me seriously but maybe getting him by the tail and one hand under him with a finger to either side of his neck so he cant turn.

uh, gloves sound good to me tho, and you can use them to break his biting habit too.