Our new chinchilla is acting up!

[gstocke19]

Me and my girlfriend just adopted a chinchilla named Chrome, he is 7 months old and already so so special! Recently though he has begin nipping at us, not very hard though, mostly just a little pressure and also he will almost "hump" or climb up your hand when you tell him not to bite. He then chewed his wheel apart and the next night he tore up his cage! Any thoughts on why he would be acting up??

 

[ticklechin]

He is a "teenager" and chins become little monsters during this time, he will grow out of it you hope!

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

Teenagers, sigh. lol. I agree with ticklechin. In the mean time, if you want to get him another wheel I would get him a chin-safe wheel (not plastic!). The flying saucer and chin-spin are two examples of suitable wheels that are resistant to a chins destructive urges

 

[Jazicat]

Edgar was a brat as a teenager and still is our only chinchilla to nip but he never does it hard. We tell him not to gently and don't give him is way since he's trying to train us to let him do whatever he wants. Now that he's four he's settling a little but he's always going to be our guy who pushes all the limits. We love him just the way he is.

 

[Essentia]

Yup, definitely sounds like a typical teenager. Most grow out of it.

 

[ashleynicol3]

Do they all get like this or is it different for every chin? Buddha is about three months old. When does the teenage period start?