My 2 boys are chewing each other?

[Louisechurchill]

I have 2 male Chinchillas, Father and son. They seem to love each other and have been caged together for 10 months. I noticed that the little guy was chewing his dads whiskers the other night. The dad, didn't seem to mind. I moved them away from each other and they went about their normal play. Well I took the little guy out for play time this morning and noticed about 2 inches of his tail fur was missing. Looks as if it was chewed off. I checked out the dad, and his fur is chewed off on his tail aswell. I have owned Chins for about 5 years and have never had this problem. It is just odd to me. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to why this is happening. They are not fighting, and I hate to separate them because they do love each other. Please Help!!!

 

[rbarile92]

Oh no...
I just got two chins that are both male and happen to be father and son. My little one chews on the father's whiskers as well but they are never missing fur so far. Maybe you should just separate them for a little while and after about a week or two move them back together?
So I would definitely just move them into separate cages when you are not able to watch them. Then in a week or so bring them back together and see what happens.

 

[abednara]

I don't know that they need to be separated as they are not fighting, though you need to check and make sure that there are no wounds first. Fur chewing is sometimes a habit out of boredom, I had a fur chewer and as soon as I gave her lots of ledges and toys, chew things and what not, she stopped. Maybe try to find more enrichment items for your boys that may help.

Chewing on whiskers can be dominance, as the one with shortest whiskers is the low man on the totem pole.

Though all this could just be boredom, keep an eye on them and make sure there are no wounds as they could still be fighting you never know what they are doing when you are not there.

 

[AZChins]

Is it right at the base of the tail that the fur is missing on your boys?

I agree with the whisker thing. It's a show of dominance and usually nothing more. That's not anything to really worry about, but the chewing on the tails could be...or it could be the same dominance thing. It's hard to say. Keep an eye on them.