passing on bad habits?

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Rara814

Active member
Joined
Sep 21, 2012
Messages
28
Location
Thomasville, pa
So I got a new chin a while ago, I already had 4, none of which sprayed, however, the one I had gotten then (Bella) did. I now have 7 chins, and since I've gotten Bella, and the other have been around her, they ALL spray, including my males. One of them (Chin chin) is 9 years old and has never some this before Bella. So, is it really possible for her to be teaching them this bad habit? I don't have them all house together I have 4 cages for them so they are only seeing from a distance, but like I said she was the only who had done this. I'm not sure what to do now, or if/how I can break this habit.Any advice or reason would be appreciated.
 
They learn things from each other all the time.
The key is to figure out what you're doing when they are spraying at you.
One of mine used to spray because she was scared, now that she is settled in she stopped.
Another one would spray because I'm in her way lol. So I just make sure I'm never in her way.
Good luck, its one habit that's hard to train them to stop.
 
When they spray each other, its telling you they are irritated with each other. Split them up and see if thehabit continues.
 
I know what it means when the spray. There is no need for me to separate any of them from their cage mates. None of them sprayed until I got one who did. It's not all the time and I do intervene if needed, my question is if there is anything other than splitting them up (again they are in pairs in the cages and are cage mates because they've gotten along better with the ones that are paired) anyway, and also if my other chins picked up the habit from Bella. My males are even doing it. Now its rare that any of them do it at all now, but still I don't like it.
 
In a way, they were doing it because she does it. They know she sprays and recognize her smell. When they smell her on you, they feel the need to spray. As long as the spraying does not escalate into anything else, there is no reason to separate them, but I would keep a close eye on them and be ready to separate if any other signs of fighting occur.
 
Again, none of them are spraying me. They aren't doing it for any reason really. Just doing it. Lol. I just wanted to know if there were any tricks to breaking the habit.
 
Just continue doing what ever it is that you are doing when they spray. After a while they will figure out that it does not get them anywhere and should stop.
 
Back
Top