Introducing:Not sure if this is the right area to post this but....

xBrianx619 · Feb 26, 2013

Well, I KNOW there are multiple topics on this, but I have a specific question that I couldn't find the answer to on this forum. So I'm introducing my males together, Gizmo and Todo (my wife named him not me

) and I know they establish dominance by humping one another, but is it normal for nibbling on the top of the head/ears? The one being humped doesn't make any kind of kacking noises, and there is no fur being pulled, so I'm assuming it's just nature being nature...so I guess the question is,"Is nibbling of the ears/top of head normal?"

Thanks again!

Newt · Feb 26, 2013

Are they actually biting, or are they just grooming each other? Teeny tiny gentle nibbles can be part of grooming....

here's my old chin Poppy (whom I miss every day), being gently groomed on the ear, by my Rosey...

So long as there's no bite marks, and no fur or whisker chewing, then it's probably just grooming. They do this to establish bond, and dominance too.

xBrianx619 · Feb 26, 2013

Well he's doing it while he's mounted, haha...but there is no fur pulling/whisker chewing. He actually mounts him a lot less now. it used to be a whole bunch but now they don't really seem to be too intimidated by one another, the smaller chin is probably just getting used to the interaction though.

Newt said:
Are they actually biting, or are they just grooming each other? Teeny tiny gentle nibbles can be part of grooming....

here's my old chin Poppy (whom I miss every day), being gently groomed on the ear, by my Rosey...

So long as there's no bite marks, and no fur or whisker chewing, then it's probably just grooming. They do this to establish bond, and dominance too.

becky12883 · Feb 26, 2013

My boys will groom and mount at the same time. Rufus will start grooming Dale and then slowly make his way around back. It reminds me of an awkward teen boy trying to cop a feel, like putting his arm around and then slowly sliding his hand down. lol

xBrianx619 · Mar 3, 2013

So I just wanted to update you guys on the introduction process! It's going very well actually! Gizmo and Todo played in the bathroom for a little bit, I left the dustbath out along with some chew toys. Did that for about a week. Now today I felt daring. I washed all the fleece, wiped the cage down with mild vinegar-water, and put both of them in there to see what would happen. and to my surprise! There was a bit of humping going on, some grooming, when gizmo was going too hard on Todo, Todo let him know and he stopped. TINY bit of whisker chewing, but I read that's a whole part of the dominance thing they do. and other than that, they're really getting along fine! They share haycubes and water. Todo even ate a couple of gizmos pellets. I realize I'm far away from permanently letting them cage together, but this was a large step today! I'm happy

This was all done with 24/7 supervision of course, haha.

Lynn & The Chins · Mar 3, 2013

Keep up the good work!!!

GinChin · Mar 3, 2013

Nice, and if you don't mind another piece of advice, before you put them in a cage together, put just a little bit of vanilla on the tips of their nose. It'll be all that they smell when they're with each other, and by the time it wears off they'll have rubbed all over each other and have the same scent.