nipping through cage

[DaphnesandFreddysmom]

Freddy loves to do this. He'll pretend to be cute and innocent and want a scratch than he'll do a little sniff as you put your finger in than nip. It doesn't draw blood and it's not painful but how do we react to this? Someone told me to blow in his face.

He's my first baby so I'm not sure what to expect with babies yet. Our other girl only comes up for a scratch and never nips.

 

[Brandon]

Blow gently in his face.

 

[SunshineChins]

Do your hands smell like food? You might want to try washing your hands before and see if he nips. Also,, I don't feed treats through cage bars or with my fingers so they don't associate my fingers with food.

 

[oxchincerelyxo]

He probably thinks it's a treat. You can blow gently in his face, or just stop putting your fingers through the bar. When I go to give skritches I always go through the door. I don't want to confuse mommy fingers with treat time...

 

[InkedupTara]

Are you sure he isnt trying to groom you and missing the mark? Fuzzy likes to groom our hands when we skritch him

 

[alli713]

Is he biting your nail? My girls like to chew on my nails.

Otherwise if not, he probably is seeing if he can eat it. Either don't feed treats or anything through the bars or don't stick your fingers in any more. If he does bite you can blow in his face gently

 

[DaphnesandFreddysmom]

i'm not sure what he's trying to do. i've never been groomed before by a chin. i know he'll nip too when we're carrying him to the bathroom to play. not enough to hurt but just a little peck to let us know he wants down. i don't put him down though i always hold him an extra bit so he doesn't think he's getting put down because he nipped.

we've blown in his face a few times but it's hard to catch him in or immediately following the act. he does it so fast. i've never been nipped by our other chinchilla so didn't know if this was just a baby phase like he's trying to get his own way and testing to see what he can and can't get away with.

 

[starleomach]

If it doesn't hurt, he is just grooming you. chinchillas when truly biting you really hurt

 

[TillyChinchilla]

Don't put your fingers near the bars for a while, the blowing technique is what I've used.

And NO treats through the bars!! This is a no-no for rats, as fingers will be confused for treats very quickly.

 

[DaphnesandFreddysmom]

Don't put your fingers near the bars for a while, the blowing technique is what I've used.

And NO treats through the bars!! This is a no-no for rats, as fingers will be confused for treats very quickly.

He's never got a real treat before. I give him supplement on the palm of my hand but I put my hand through the door to give it.

Yeah I had rats when I was younger and I still remember when I left for a sleep over at my grandparents and I warned my dad to NOT stick his fingers through the bars on their cage. Well next afternoon I came home went to check on the rats and noticed a trail of blood from the cage to the upstairs so asked my mom what happened and sure enough my dad had stuck his finger through the bars on the cage and my rattie girls bit him.