Is he trying to bite me?

[lovemychingary]

Gary likes to sniff my fingers and will stick his nose and mouth thru the wires of his cage. Usually after he sniffs a little bit, he nips my finger and kinda rubs his teeth on my finger. Is he trying to bite me? I have read that they groom as a sign of affection, but i'm so scared that if i let him nibble for more than a second that he'll bite me hard. Usually at the first nip, I pull my finger away.

 

[ChinnyMom]

if the bites aren't hard then yes, he is trying to groom you.

you need to relax and realize that a chin isn't going to take your finger off or anything like that. yes, if they are ticked they can bite hard enough to draw blood (Rhino got me a good one when he first came home, but hasn't done more than groom since), but most likely Gary is just trying to groom you. leave your hand there and let him groom. if it feels like he's biting harder, then take your hand away.

i've been quite successful with saying 'gentle' in a firm voice to Rhino when he gets a little vigorous in his grooming (especially when he's grooming my ears! lol). usually he'll back off and be more gentle once i say the word, and on the odd occasion that he doesn't listen, i just calmly move him away or put my hand in between his mouth and wherever he is grooming too roughly.

 

[lovemychingary]

Thanks for the info! I did also want to ask your opinion on one other thing.. I read today about soaking pieces of wood in apple juice and drying them in the oven. Have you ever heard of anyone else doing that? Do you think it'd be unsafe for any reason?

 

[ChinnyMom]

i have read about it being done. would i do it? no. apple juice contains a lot of natural sugar, and chins should not have sugar at all.

one alternative would be to use kool aid (just the small packet of mix that is just dye/flavour and no sugar). soak the wood in that instead.

are you thinking of something to renew Gary's interest in wood once he's chewed the bark off? good luck, lol. most chins go for the bark and leave the rest, like a kid licking the icing off a cupcake and not wanting any more after that.

 

[lovemychingary]

Thanks for your opinion! I checked the apple juice I have and it was "no sugar added" but like you said, did contain sugar. Right now, since he's my first chin I worry that he will get bored with his toys and chews. I usually buy him new stuff weekly and rotate it to keep him interested. But thank you for your input, I wil try the KoolAid sometime and see what he thinks.

 

[Chin_Parent]

For variety, I'd try some yucca wood. All of my chins seem to like that, and oddly enough, even though it's a very soft wood, it seems to last longer. They love carrying it around their cage and it works great for hanging toys too.

 

[lovemychingary]

Where can I find Yucca? Is it something that'd be at a pet store or a home improvement store like Menard's/ Lowes?

 

[ChinnyMom]

petsmart carries a 'bird kabob' that is made from yucca, and the rope that it is strung on is chin safe sisal as far as i can see. i've bought a few of them for Rhino, he loves them!

here it is:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750670

 

[lovemychingary]

Awesome! I can't wait to pick one up. thanks so much!

 

[Anna]

in my opinion, if it doesn't hurt, he's not trying to harm you. when they want to make it hurt, believe me, it does. a lot. haha chew toys are good things to have. one of my chins nibbles on my fingers a lot more than the others do i think it's just his personality.

 

[Godofgods]

all my chins nibble on me. Or try to eat my finger nails. Its jsut what they do. If they want to hurt you, you wouldnt be asking anyone if it was indended to. Its usaly not an issue tho. In the 5 years iv had my one chin, hes only hurt once time. And even that was an accident. Nibbleing on my nail, while getting scratched, and he jsut got so into it that he used a little bit extra pressure. NOthing intentional about it. So no, i would deff say your chin was not trying to bite you

 

[Chin_Parent]

My two new girls nibble a bit, but even their firm nibbles don't actually hurt. And trust me, if they wanted to hurt you, they could, so I think the nibbles aren't necessarily intended to hurt, but rather "firm" affection or "gentle" warnings.