Young Chin Biting & Scared?

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Vyxxin

RAF Chins
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
1,183
Location
Cambria County, PA
I have a customer, who has contacted me about the kit she purchased from me. About 1mos ago she purchased a 2mos old male chin from me. So he's a bit over 3mos old now. She says he's always hiding from her and has bitten both her and her husband. I'm told he's always hiding, either in his house or in his toys when she has him out for playtime. That he starts making noises and hiding the moment her hand gets close to him and that he's tried to bite more times than he's succeeded. I have ALWAYS gotten compliments on the chins born here for personality. I do NOT breed mean (towards humans) animals. So this is perplexing for me as I've never had to deal with such a thing! Any advice I can pass on?

Second part of this, she says his whiskers are "torn". Has attempted to send a pic but whiskers are hard to photograph and I couldn't tell much. She DOES have him caged with her other chin though does not think it's him causing the whisker issue. SO, I've said it could be he's chewing his own whiskers...his cagemate could be...the could be rubbing on certain structures of the cage...or fungus could be possible (especially this time of year) Any other advice here?

On a final note I DID (as always) urge her to join here so if she does she may be able to inform further!
 
is this lady's house a calm and quiet environment, or is there always loud noise going on? (loud music, tv, yelling, etc).

did they give the new chin ample time to settle in before trying to handle him?
do they move slowly around him and speak calmly, or are they nervous around him?

a 3 month old kit shouldn't be having play time anyway. did you mention that to them?

if it's feasible for you, i'd suggest going to their home and watching their interaction with the chin, and taking note of the environment for things that could be causing him stress. it might give you some insight as to why he's being this way.

edited to add - so they put the chin from you in with their other chin right away? they didn't do the 30 day quarantine? they didn't do proper slow introductions? that is most likely the biggest cause of this.
 
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Well, as far as playtime, I did advise trying a SMALL enclosed area with him and her...to get acclimated...not so much for actual playtime. And yes, it DOES appear she introduced him to her current (I believe male) chin immediately

In regard to the whiskers
She DOES have him caged with her other chin though does not think it's him causing the whisker issue. SO, I've said it could be he's chewing his own whiskers...his cagemate could be...the could be rubbing on certain structures of the cage...or fungus could be possible (especially this time of year)

I'll ask about the current environment...that may help...she cannot currently join here as she only has internet from her phone
 
I brought up some of the concerns and here's the response:

Ok.
The house has a dog and a child. But neither are loud or obnoxious. The dog barks like a normal dog, but only when someone is at the dog. My son has ADHD, but he isn't normally out with the chinchilla. His playroom is in a different area. The only other commotion I can think of is that We are in the process of moving currently.


I think I did give him ample time to settle. I waited over a week to even introduce him to my other chin.


I think I move calmly around him. I move like a normal human being... I'm not quick or try to grab him up.


As far as playtime, I wasn't giving him a regular playtime with my other chin. I was just trying to get to know him in another way that may has worked for him.


Again, I didn't immediately place my new chin with my other chin. He was very nervous and I looked into chinchillas and educated myself very much before I even considered getting a 2nd chinny.
He was introduced in side by side cages. It however was before the "30 day thing" I never heard of that before. The chins get along fine. They snuggle together and my older chin(Radio) even let's my new guy(Hollywood) show dominance. He never chirps at him or anything. When I originally placed them in the cage together they "fought" for dominance for roughly about 2 hours before Radio just let him do whatever. Radio is very laid back. He even pulls down hay and hands it to Hollywood.


As far as the whiskers goes, I just am not sure. It's very possible. My only question is why haven't I seen it before? I mean I had Hollywood out about 2 days ago and his whiskers were fine. It was just today that the one side was kinda torn. It looked like a frayed string.
 
letting them fight for 2 hours isn't good. if there is any serious fighting during introductions, you should separate the chins immediately. and initial introductions should always be made on neutral supervised territory.

i think they are still sorting out their dominance, and Radio is chewing Hollywood's whiskers to show he's the 'bigger chin'. if there is no further fighting, i'd give them time to settle out. chewed whiskers happens in chins living together, and i'm sure Hollywood needs more than a month to get used to his new home and stop hiding and start playing nice with his humans.
 
I'm sorry, but I don't think "over a week" is anywhere near enough time. I gave Boji and Buddha 1 month near each other and 2 months of playtime in a neutral space before I moved them in together... and they're father and son.

Hollywood was moved from the only home he ever knew into a new home with all new "people". Everything smells strange and now these strange smelling hands just put him in another chin's house, with that other chin's stuff, in a world of sounds that he doesn't know or understand. Trust needs to be earned and the biting, fear and physical signs of distress tell me that he wasn't given enough time to develop that trust... dominance issues or not.

Since he's getting along with Radio now, I'd start with more one on one playtime with his new owners... same duration, same time, every day. If he doesn't start to warm up to them after a few days, or if she notices any other physical signs of stress similar to the whisker, I'd move him back into a separate cage so that he can take the time he needs to adapt to his new surroundings.
 
Because of the behavior and the chewed whiskers I would definitely seperate the 2 chins to play it safe. There could be aggressive behavior happening at night when they are most active. I would not try to handle him for week, maybe cover part of the cage so he feels safe and hidden, then try just putting your hand in the cage and leaving it still. Let him come to you, be patient. Don't try to get him out. Let him decide and don't take him out of the cage unless he crawls out onto your arm himself.
 
I'm passing all responses along...as far as the last response, I too wondered the same thing...but this is a hard question to ask because all people are different with how sensitive they are to bites/nibbles and all chins are different to how hard they test nibble, you know?
 
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