How to stop biting?

[grubyq]

Hi! I'm the owner of Carlos, who's about a year and a half now. He's super friendly when he's outside of the cage, never made any sort of aggressive move at all, and seems generally like a very happy and friendly chin. However, when he is inside the cage, he will try and bite me and others who stick their fingers through the wires. If I open the door he's fine, comes over for pets and stuff, it's only when I or somebody else puts their fingers through the bars. So far, I haven't minded, I figured maybe he though it was an invasion of his "territory" or something, so I've tried to respect that.
However, most of my friends have little to no experience with Chins, so the first question they ask is "does he bite?" and it's REALLY hard to convince them that he is in fact quite friendly and sociable when the first thing he does is take a nip at them!
The last thing is that it doesn't seem to be a full on BITE, so far he's never caught anybody, but it definitely doesn't seem like he's attempting to put much force or effort into it. Any insight on why he does this, and how to stop it?
Thanks!

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

Chinchillas often use their teeth and little nibbles to gather information about their surroundings (like what's edible!). It is a definite nip (as in it is a bit painful but doesn't break the skin), or is it a light gentle testing? My guys will test my fingers and if I don't move them around (like to pet them under the chin or something) they follow up with a harder nip sometimes.

 

[becky12883]

Do you feed him treats through the bars? If so, he might think the fingers coming through the bars are treats too.

 

[mknoblich1]

My chins nibble too but only to test. It never hurts. I don't feed them through the bars because I've read they will nip at fingers because they think its food.

 

[grubyq]

No, I rarely feed him through the bars, and it definitely isn't one of the exploratory nips - it feels like it has some malice in it, but not a lot of energy behind it. More like a warning than an actual bite attempt. As I said though, he's super friendly otherwise, lets me hold him and play with him, and usually if he feels I'm giving him too much attention, he'll just push my hand away with his super cute dainty little paws.

 

[Zoaea]

My one chin that nips when he is being territorial makes a small breathy coughing sound when he lunges. If they get treats through the bars they can bite thinking its an offering, but there will be no aggression in their posture or voice, maybe just some sniffing around for the 'treat' that got away.

Either way I'd tell your friend not to poke their fingers in the bars. =x

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

Could be that whoever bred him fed him through the bars and the habit might just take time to disappear if ever. Just tell friends he things their food if they stick their fingers through and instead let them see him run around or cuddle with you or something.

 

[Tagna]

Chins can also be grooming you which is mistaken for biting sometimes.

 

[grubyq]

Thanks for all the feeback - he definitely doesn't seem aggressive, even when he is "biting" me. I do feed him through the bars sometimes, but not often, and I suppose his previous owner could have done it a lot. I appreciate it!

 

[jbcstratton]

I would almost definetly say he thinks he is getting something threw the bars. Most chins, if aggressive, will bite when you intrude their space inside their cage.

 

[Jazicat]

Edgar will nip at me if I do something he doesn't like. The nip is never painful and I haven't been able to cure him of it. I usually tell him I don't like it and ignore him for a while. Nips have become rarer because he wants attention.