Biting fingers?

[Rimbaum]

Not quite what it seems - I was reaching in to Freya's cage, letting her get to know me a little bit, and she was sniffing my fingers. After a moment, I had to switch from my off-hand because of the angle (I need to get her a cage stand, or preferably a new cage as the one that came with her is well-loved and thoroughly chewed on), and she went back to sniffing my fingers.

Now, when she got to my pointer finger on my right hand, she took one sniff, and bit at it. Not like she was angry, but like she thought it was food. None of my other fingers got this reaction from her, and she didn't kek at me or try to push away. But she tried to gnaw on my finger!

The only thing I can think of that I've even handled this morning prior to getting in the shower is the rubbing alcohol I used to clean my earrings before putting them back in. And a bunch got on that finger and my thumb. I hadn't handled any of her food yet, either, and I know she usually test-nibbles at my hands after I've done that. This was just... different. She wanted to eat my finger!

 

[Isabella Whateva]

I'm not sure why she nibbled that particular one, but both of my chins LOVE nibbling my fingers. I think of it as the chin equivalent to dog kisses. If I put my fingers close to the cage, they'll actually reach out and grab it to pull it closer.

 

[Maia]

My chin love-nibbles on my hands like he's trying to groom me. It can be uncomfortable, but not very painful. On the other hand, he bites my boyfriend very hard and has broken skin a few times. I have come to the conclusion that some humans taste better than others!

 

[Rimbaum]

It wasn't a nibble, that's just it. She's nibbled at my fingers before, and to me it actually kind of tickles. What she did actually left a bruise on my fingernail! It's kind of confusing. I wonder if the alcohol, which was a high enough percentage to really dry out my hands, made my finger smell like a chew block?

 

[spotter27]

I have a baby chin thats 3 weeks old and has been hand fed from day 1 and he is just starting to nibble/bite a little. I dont like it .What can we do to stop this.he was hungry but I feed him every am the same way

 

[Chub_Chub]

Not my pic, but I thought it was relevant to share! LOL I think you have yourself a zombie chin!

 

[jp8278]

My chin nibbled for a while after I got her, mostly just test nibbles that didn't hurt, but every now and then she'd get carried away and chomp too hard. It's difficult not to reflexively say "owww" in a raised tone, cuz that's what people do when something hurts us, but chins don't know what that means & it often confuses and scares them. Silly as it sounds, I've found that making a quiet, but high-pitched squeek noise as if to say "ouch" gets the point across without any negative consequences. Also, try not to pull your hand away when nipped, my chin Ruby started to figure out that nipping got my hand out of the way so she could escape lol!! So I had to endure a few nips and squeek at her a few times before she stopped trying that angle. Now she hasn't nibbled in months, and is sweet as can be, so it seems to have worked.

 

[rutherford]

I have had the same experience. In the beginning, Rutherford nibbled at all my fingers and parts of my hands... but he really liked my pinky. After nibbling at my pinky for a while, he went for a full-on bite. It really hurts, and unfortunately, I scolded Rutherford for being a bad boy. He sulked in the corner for a while, but he got over it after I gave him some chew toys to play with. He hasn't nibbled my fingers since; he just sniffs it to kind of let me know that he knows I'm there. Daddy can be quite the stalker and paparazzi ahahaha :hilarious: