whats this all about??

[harbingerofdoom]

I tried looking this kind of behavior up online, but didnt find much.

The two of them have finally taken to their new little hut that i put in their cage and yesterday Eva was inside while Herb was poking his nose in there. when I looked closer, Eva was pulling the fur out of his head.

they weren't fighting, they weren't chasing each other at all... in fact Herb was actually just sitting there letting her do it and could have moved at any time. And, just in case you are wondering, you can't really even tell by looking at him that it happened.

is that just normal mutual grooming behavior or is that something a bit odd?

the only things i could find about that kind of behavior was more about fights and such, but this sure was not any kind of fight... it was...kinda odd really...

thoughts?

 

[aznmexaggie]

I have a male that does this when he is being introduced to new females. He will pull out fur and then actually eat it. I always thought he had a strange method of grooming and getting to know his ladies... lol. Once the female has accepted him and will allow him into her cage, then he'll just go in there and groom her around her face. I think the pulling the fur out is a cautious way of grooming and looking for approval as to whether he is welcome to proceed.

 

[firestar]

my female does this to her neutered male cage-mate sometimes... he typically goes & takes a bath after. i think it's just her way of telling him his hygiene is lacking

 

[harbingerofdoom]

i did find a site that covered this behavior today (unfortunately, i forgot to save the site) and basically they say that its a normal grooming/acceptance type behavior so no worries now.

 

[Carol~Anne]

You do realize that having a male and female together that they most likely will produce babies right, or maybe the male is neutered?

 

[harbingerofdoom]

male is neutered...

...... i dont need to be breedin no chinchillettes...lol

 

[Carol~Anne]

Okay, sorry if I came across as nosy but I saw that you just joined the forum very recently so I thought maybe you weren't aware that it's not a good idea to keep a male and female together. You'd probably be really surprised at how many new ones actually don't think their male/female will mate with each other. :wacko:

 

[harbingerofdoom]

no worries
new yes, but i do realize that at the end of the day, they are still rodents. and like any rodent, they are going to breed like crazy given even half a chance....lol

 

[AZChins]

Or in the case of male chinchillas... Well... They'll breed with a sock you leave on the floor....or their little cuddle buddies (PBs)....or a little piece of fleece that I thought would make a good bed for Butters to sleep on....

 

[ticklechin]

Herb is neutered, he and Sage are CAchins rescues.