Need some advice on chinchilla's agressive behavior

[pookie126]

I am the proud owner of a sweet chinchilla, Cheech. Cheech is very well trained - sweet, cuddly... a chinchilla owner's dream. So much so, that my sister wanted one of her own and decided to run out and buy one. Let me explain that my sister has never owned any exotic pet and know nothing about chinchillas. I explained in the beginning the importance of spending a lot of time with him so that he would adjust. Months have passed, and now Chong is on day 2 at my house for "Chinchilla Rehab". The moment you approach his cage, he stands on his hind legs and begins chattering his teeth. Open the cage, and he attacks. every person in her house has been bitten, so they have stopped messing with him. My husband generously offered my help. So here I am trying to get Chong over his aggression towards people. Any thoughts or ideas on how I can help him. He doesn't get shaky or trembling at all, he doesn't bark, he doesn't even fur slip.... just chatter, hiss and bite. I am refusing for her to get rid of him!

 

[starleomach]

Most chinchillas lacking attention are scared, The only chinchilla I have seen like that came from a house where she was terrorized, honestly. wear bug gloves and don't back down. small steps it can take such a long tome to make even small gains with aggressive chinchillas

 

[CJR]

Yeah, like Starleomach said, wear gloves and don't give up on him. Some chins need a lot of love before they come around.

 

[pookie126]

I'm glad to hear I'm starting off right! I've been using gloves. I have advised my sister that her having three bulldogs and a cat living in the house isn't helping the situation, especially since they are constantly sticking their noses right up to the cage.

My husband is convinced that I will make him as sweet as my Cheech, and eventually he will become a member of our family because he will never be comfortable at her home. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Laurie]

This could be a very long haul for you. When I got my first chin, Bobo, we did everything wrong! We opened the cage and dragged her out right away from day one. We would let her out to hop around and then chase her to get her back in the cage. I've since learned we did everything wrong with her. She still hasn't gotten over that. She kacks and sometimes sprays whenever we go near her cage. Once you are brave enough to reach in and get her out she is very sweet and docile. But inside her cage she is very sassy and will bite. Sometimes she charges at me and bites me while I'm trying to give her a treat! She's like "I hate you! I hate you! --oooh yummmy treat--I hate you!"

It will take time and alot of patience.

I'm glad you're not willing to give up on Chong

 

[addictedtochins]

He will get better, my Sammy was rescued like that and he's alot better and he is a happy little grump which is better than the scared mad boy I first met

 

[Carol~Anne]

Buster is my bad boy here. I picked him and his cage mate up several months ago and as soon as I moved them into the chin room with the other boys he went psycho. I leaned close to his cage one morning and he lunged at me, scared me and made me spill my coffee and his behaviour just got worse. He'd make all kinds of grumbling/growling noises, bit me constantly and generally was just an angry and no doubt scared chin. There were times when he was out for playtime in my chin room that he'd run around, circle the room and then jump on me and bite my arm. After that I just stood up while he was out and kept my distance from him.

Neither of these guys had ever been around other chinchillas before and I really do think that was/is part of his problem. He even started picking on his cage mate of two years and I ended up separating them b/c I found little bite marks on Rupert's ears and his fur was really scruffy.

I think I've had them about three months or so and things are so much better with Buster. He seems to like not having to share a cage with Rupert anymore and he thrives on a daily routine of me tending to the chins, cleaning up and letting each one out for a runabout and a dust bath and then back into the cage with a little pinch of oat supplement as a reward for going in for the night.

Before I had him 'trained' so to speak, to go back into his cage by himself, I'd put on leather gloves and scoop him up b/c I didn't want to get bitten. I actually haven't used the gloves in weeks now so that's good. When it's his turn to come out, all I have to do now is go up to his cage (no more lunging) and ask him if he wants out, he gets all excited and hops onto my shoulder, I give him a smooch and he runs down my back and onto the couch.

I can also sit comfortably on the couch and have him bounce around the room without him lunging and biting me which is huge progress but now he's actually having fun instead of stalking me.

I'd say time, patience, perseverance and a good routine is what you have to do to tame these wild ones and a pair of gloves helps too.

This is my not so bad boy now Buster and notice the gloves on top of his cage. The little guy on top of his roof is his ex-cage mate Rupert who on occasion does find his way up there but I quickly take him down b/c I don't want his toes or nose to get nipped.

 

[Riven]

Carol Anne, is that one on top a dwarf?

I usually go with the you'll like it whether you like it or not approach... I tail them and lay them on my arm ( holding the tail with the same hand they're on the arm of, nose by the elbow, and balancing them with the other hand, this takes practice with a squirmer... lol ) and "torment them" aka pet and scratch behind the ears. It usually starts in squealing and trying to get away, then when that doesn't work they usually try to bite or give up. Wear heavy clothes in case they go for the bite. Otherwise they eventually realize you're not hurting them and it actually feels kind of good.

 

[Carol~Anne]

I don't think he's a dwarf Riven, he is a very small chin though and he has lost a lot of fur from being chased by Buster and it's taking a really long time to grow back in and that makes him look even smaller. Photobucket isn't working for me at the moment but I'm going to dig up a couple of other pics of him before he dropped his fur. The first two are of the day I brought them home and the others are what his fur looked like at its worst. The pic I posted in my first post was taken last night and his fur is looking a little better but still very patchy. Does he look like a dwarf chin to you?

Edit: I should add a pic of my good boy Buster that I took last night. Even his face doesn't look as crabby as it did.

 

[Chins To Love]

I know it sounds weird, but it works. Trim his wiskers back to almost nothing. Even my biggest bullies became docile when we did it. I thought it was a crazy idea when we first heard of it, but we tried it on one chin, wala... calm and docile. We have done it with two other chinnies with the same result. I guess their whiskers are kinda like Samsons hair.

 

[CJR]

I know it sounds weird, but it works. Trim his wiskers back to almost nothing. Even my biggest bullies became docile when we did it. I thought it was a crazy idea when we first heard of it, but we tried it on one chin, wala... calm and docile. We have done it with two other chinnies with the same result. I guess their whiskers are kinda like Samsons hair.

I completely forgot about that! Try that, there are some AWESOME stories about it working wonders here on the forum!

 

[pookie126]

We are on day 3 of "Chinchilla Rehab" and are noticing some difference! When I go to take him out of his cage, he is still making noises, but the teeth chattering has stopped for the moment. He has only tried to bite 4 times today while I was holding him - which is a tremendous decrease from before!!!! He is still trying to bite while I am getting him out of the cage though, but I am glad to see any progress.

We are going to try trimming back his whiskers as suggested. For those of you that have tried this, how quickly have you noticed a difference in behavior? And do you have to keep them trimmed in order to keep the aggressive behavior at bay?

 

[Carol~Anne]

Is there any way he can come out of his cage by himself? Or maybe you have to take him out to put him in a carrier to take him to another room? I find with Buster that he is very territorial of his cage and doesn't like it when I put my hands in for anything. My chins come out in the same room their cages are in so I just open the door and they hop out. In Buster's case, I make him hop on my shoulder before I let him out b/c I'm trying to socialize him more.

As far as the whisker trimming goes, a lot of people have had success with it but I think they trimmed whiskers on the more aggressive chin during introductions. I haven't heard of trimming whiskers for an only chin who is having issues with their caregiver.

I did trim Buster's whiskers pretty short (to about an inch) when he was picking on his cage mate and it did settle him down for a day or so but then he was right back at it, chasing Rupert all around his cage and nipping at him so I decided to separate them.

While all this chaos in my chin room was going on, I noticed my other pair: Pip & Zeke were acting up. Pip was constantly chirping at Zeke and trying to get away from him and Zeke just kept pestering him so I trimmed Zeke's whiskers and that changed nothing at all. I was thinking I might have to separate those two but Pip is older and quite mellow and he just avoided Zeke so I let them be and watched them closely. After a few weeks everyone settled down finally and it all became peaceful again, thank goodness.

 

[pookie126]

Need more advice on chinchilla's agressive behavior

Actually, we have found that Chong becomes more aggressive when he is allowed out of his cage on his own. He will actually come running towards you with his teeth chattering. I am finding this more and more difficult.

My sister came by today to check on his progress. She walked by his cage and he started chattering his teeth. After she left, I took him out and he was a little feisty top begin with, but realized he was getting nowhere so eventually calmed down. He is still biting - although the quantity of bites has decreased, the amount of pressure he using has increased. He is a very mad chinchilla!

Does anyone have any other ideas?