Once a (fur)chewer, always a chewer

[meiying]

Our adopted chin has been with us for almost 6 months, he came from a neglected home and when he first got here half of his fur was chewed almost to the skin.
He has been a good chinchilla and we were glad that he had stopped fur chewing and been growing the fur back almost 100%. However, I have found a few chewed spots the last few days. I have read alot of threads here saying that fur chewing is genetics and there is pretty much nothing more I can do except from providing him plenty of toys and exercise, and I know very well that it will not affect his health. We do not have dogs or cats that would stress him out , but we do have 2 very quiet guinea pigs. So, we have pretty much given him the food/toys/exercise that he needs. I know we have done everything right, and I know I cannot change his habit.

Well....I still feel bad that he is going back to fur chewing again after 6 months. Sometimes I feel like maybe there is more that I can do to drain his energy/boredom/frustration.
:cry3:

Maybe I am just not used to having a fur-chewer.

 

[tunes]

Fur chewing starts as genetics then becomes habit and sometimes environmental. If he's chewed as bad as you say he was, then I would consider myself lucky if he only chews a few spots rather than his entire body. I would say you've made pretty great strides at this point if he is chewing so little.

I know how you feel though, I hate seeing a fur chewer. It makes me feel like I've failed somehow.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I agree totally with Tunes. Sometimes there is nothing one can do. You obviously have make him feel comfortable since he is only chewing a little

 

[jags]

I have had a very small percentage stop chewing totally, but it is not the norm. Some will make you think they have stopped but then months later they start again with some repeating this cycle many times over and over again. They still can live to ripe old ages as chewing does not seem to harm them health wise. They just do not have the nice look of a nice smooth coat.

 

[ChinnyMom]

didn't your location recently say Alberta instead of BC? if so, a move can stress a chin, and that could be why he's gone back to chewing.

 

[meiying]

didn't your location recently say Alberta instead of BC? if so, a move can stress a chin, and that could be why he's gone back to chewing.

Yes, Chinny Mom you are very observant :thumbsup: We just moved from Alberta back to our homwtown BC a little over a month ago. :hmm:I did not think about that would stress him out! Thank you for pointing that out to me and I am hoping that this is the main reason for his fur-chewing again. He might be very stressed out still because yesterday while I was cleaning the cage, he charged forward and bit my finger, did not draw blood but hurt...
When we were in Alberta we also let the chins out exercise every single night too, but we are still finguring out the way to chin-proof our living room for safety reason. Even they can't come out for playtime just yet, we are waiting for the delivery of the ChinSpin, hopefully that would stimulate him and drains his energy a bit. The chins live in a 5 foot tall, 4 foot wide, 3 levels cage with tons of toys, so I hope that would be okay for them for a short period of time before we could let them out to have playtime.

 

[ChinnyMom]

chins are fine without coming out to play all the time. my boys only get out a couple times a week lately, and they fare just fine.

hope he settles in soon and doesn't chew his fur any more )

 

[Encantadora]

There are so many factors going into chewing. All you can do is try to reduce any stress, but it's not always a reason for chewing. Don't be hard on yourself.