Would you adopt a biter?

[3CsMommy]

Originally Posted by chin_gal

This is terribly irresponsible and NOT a reason to get a biter! This is the reason the homes need to be so carefully screened...

Apparently I need to apologize for this reply. My problems with the child I live with were pretty well documented in another thread, so this was an attempt at a joke on my part, thinking more people realized the situation. I'm sorry it fell so flat that you think I'm a bad chin owner.

And yes, I have a "lock" on the door (I was allowed to install a hook and eye, not a locking hasp like I wanted). The child has no problem getting a chair to pop it open himself while his father's asleep downstairs and I'm out of the house. (I'm working on moving out soon.)

[Geistkatze]

My first and only chin is a biter. The first few months I had him he would literally bite chunks off my hands and arms. It's taken almost a year for him to be comfortable with me. The person I got him from was doing many things wrong... tiny cage, no toys or wheel, no hay (at least not often), dirty cage (the plastic on the bottom had partially melted because of urine buildup). Anyways, it's taken work. I only had my big breakthrough yesterday after almost a year of having him.

I think you need to respect the boundaries they lay out and not to push them too much... like my chinchilla doesn't like having his back touched or his belly touched. So I don't touch him there. They're a long commitment anyways and you'll have the chin for what- 15 years? You're bound to make progress sometime.

[Carol~Anne]

Just an update on my bitey boy, since I've taken a step back and have let him adjust to all the sights, sounds and smells of the chin room as well as not attempting to pet him or his buddy he has definitely settled down.

I can now easily put my hand in the cage and fill up their pellets and hay and he doesn't nip at me. I can pet them both when I am hand feeding them supplement though and Buster (nippy guy) even hops up onto my hands and let's me pick him up and smooch him. I am optimistic his nippiness will stop eventually. I am still really careful around him though b/c I don't want to upset him and have him chow down on my hand/arm again. It hurts!

Strange thing was that it was supposed to be the other boy Rupert who was nippy. Just goes to show you never can tell how they will react in a new environment.

[Whimsy]

I have to admit, I'm rather surprised by all the seemingly one sided remarks about luvin the bite out of the chin. We have had many, many surrenders come through our doors from a wide variety of situations. I have found that not all biters come from "abused" backgrounds. Some chins are just plain mean. Others have learned that biting means freedom...at least for a while.

We have another curious case here. One kit from a litter of three is particularly "snarky". She kacks, she threatens to spray, she's even been known to nip. Her little sister is sweet as can be. Both have been raised in the same environment, both have been lovingly attended to. Each of them have totally different personalities.

What I'd like to know is, where are the folks who are serious about culling the aggressive tendencies from their herds? Anyone willing to speak up on that side of the issue? *shrug*

At any rate, who is willing to actually follow through with those ambitious, flowery words and soft heart? Any takers on the biters I have? I would LOVE to see a success story come out of a couple of the ones I have here.

[Parkerspetchins]

Originally Posted by Whimsy

One kit from a litter of three is particularly "snarky". She kacks, she threatens to spray, she's even been known to nip. Her little sister is sweet as can be. Both have been raised in the same environment, both have been lovingly attended to. Each of them have totally different personalities.

What I'd like to know is, where are the folks who are serious about culling the aggressive tendencies from their herds? Anyone willing to speak up on that side of the issue? *shrug*

So I assume that you will not be breeding the pair that produced the biter again, since it sounds like you feel it is a genetic issue?

[Whimsy]

Originally Posted by Parkerspetchins

So I assume that you will not be breeding the pair that produced the biter again, since it sounds like you feel it is a genetic issue?

That pair was never intended to be bred. They are surrenders. They were given up because of their aggressive tendencies. One of them has had a full year of "tender luvin care" and is STILL a fluffy demon.

Uh, and as stated earlier, chins that bite do so for different reasons. I don't claim that all biters are genetically inclined.

[chin_gal]

I strongly believe that a lot of a chinchilla's personality is genetics. I have had 3 chinchillas from ranches. Out of those three, Marlow (RIP), who came from a ranch with more than 1,000 chinchillas, was the sweetest chin there could be. He was sweet from the moment I brought him home. He couldn't have possibly been handled much, if at all, in a ranch with that many chinchillas. I got my chinchilla Charlie from a ranch with only 150 or so chins. He is a little monster. Sure, he's improved from the first few months when he cowered in the corner and only wanted to go after me, but he's still skittish and doesn't really enjoy any sort of affection/attention. Sure, it could be because he wasn't handled from the ranch he came from, but then, how do you explain Marlow that came from a ranch 10x it's size? And Spader came from the same ranch as Charlie, and while he's not aggressive, he still doesn't like to be messed with a whole lot. I finally got to the point where I can pet behind his ears, but he'll go from enjoying it to arching up at me in a matter of seconds. Now, I do realize none of these behaviors are necessarily aggressive and I never claimed they were biters. I simply brought up these cases to show the difference in temperments in chins that were never handled from day 1.

When I do finally move out and get into breeding myself, if I ever had a pair that produced aggressive kits, then yes, I personally would seperate them. Then again, I do strongly believe that a chinchillas' temperment has a whole lot to do with genetics.

[Carol~Anne]

I don't breed chinchillas so I really don't know that much about whether their nippiness is genetic or not but I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case b/c human personalities can be observed in newborns.

I'm thinking in my particular case of having a nippy chin is definitely related to his environment though and not b/c of genetics. Apparently he was super sweet with the lady who used to have these boys and only became nippy when he came here. Actually, he wasn't nippy when I had them in my bedroom but I cut quarantine short b/c I'm a very light sleeper and they were keeping me awake at night and I could barley function at work the next day. It wasn't until I moved them to the chin room he started to really bite me. I'm assuming he bit me b/c he felt threatened by the other chins in the room.

I've been keeping in contact with their previous owner and I send her pics and updates of the boys and I received another email from her today and this is what she said.

They have never seen another chin before so maybe the scent of the other chins is confusing him. Aww I feel bad that he is nippy he is usually really affectionate. Maybe let him out of the cage in a room where he can run around and sit on the floor and call him. It may take a few moments but he usually comes running up and sits on your lap and then bounces off the walls again.

Last night went really well with the boys and Buster is starting to trust me I think and is realizing I'm not going to hurt or eat him so for the most part he seems to have stopped biting me and my arm/hand is healing nicely, lol.

I am optimistic his biting will totally stop but as for the other chins out there who have been exposed to a good environment and they are still continuing to bite, then I'd tend to believe their issues are not environmentally related. Whether it is genetic though, I really don't know enough about that to say for sure but I'd guess that their meanness 'could' be genetic.

[jessica]

I would take in a biter and try to teach it not to bite but since I have a loud three year old right now wouldn't be the best because my son would probably make things worse for the poor chinnie. Marble grew up here listening to Gabriel yell and run around and he's not at all phased by it. I have caught Gabriel a few times with his fingers in the cage trying to pet Marble so far all Marble has done is moved to a place when he's unreachable and I always tell Gabriel to leave the chinnie alone when I catch him.

[tknoir]

I really think 'biters' are a combination of both. Environments and genetics. Certainly not in all cases, but in MOST, bitty chins can rehabilitated. But there will always be a few chins who are just meanies, it's just nature. You can't explain it.

I've had 2 rescues that were both mean little furballs. But after several months of careful attention they came around. Most of the time when they were let out to play I just sat on the floor and let them come up to me and hop all over me. I would hide little bits of rose hips, or just hold them in my palms and let them come when they pleased. Now they hop into your arms. And I found a great home for them, after explaining about the former biting habits and what to avoid doing so that they wouldn't start again.

If a breeding pair throws more aggressive kits than you've normally had then the best then to do would be to separate them. It doesn't mean that the kits are going to be little hellions, but breeding is supposed to be about bettering the species as a whole. Breeding aggressive habits back into the lines is irresponsible and asinine.

And Whimsy you seem rather pessimistic. I understand that case after case of pissy chins would drag you down, but if you look at it from the view that everything everyone here has said it just flowery words with no real intent behind them why post?