Vibrating or Quivvering?

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Sugarised

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Messages
143
Location
Liverpool
I never asked about this before, because i thought its meaning was obvious before, but now i'm not so sure.
When I pick up Starrkey he physically shakes, i always thought it was fear (no chin really likes being picked up) and part of his method of shedding fur on to me as a defense mechanism (don't worry i wasn't pawing the poor chin, its just to get him from my bedroom to the chin-proofed hallway)

BUT!

last night whilst he was on his run in the hall, he was very close to me, more than ever before (yay), jumping all over me, sitting on my shoulder, and at one point deciding my head was the perfect place to just sit and chill. But after leaving my head and moving to my shoulder (cuddling my face for a but too) he wandered down to my arm, and sat between my forearm and elbow, like how you would hold a chinchilla if they weren't the wriggly kind. Thats when he started to shake/vibrate again. I hadn't moved, he was able to get away whenever he liked- any ideas?

my mum swears she heard him ''purr'' whilst running too. i never heard it, do chins purr? i've heard squeaks, moans, sexy calls, barking, whining and that funny "omg what the ****" noise they make like a chipmunk...but no purr...
 
Maybe he was trying to find his balance? Sometimes my chins will shake if all they have to stand on are my hands, arms, or shoulders. I'm nearly positive that they're just trying to keep their balance, and not shaking from fear.
 
My Bambi does that, too. She has never been mistreated by anyone, and did not do it when she was younger. She loves attention, too. So I have no idea why she does it.
 
lol @ love shake! I'm going with that one considering just how much lovin' my chin likes to give me! he was a late bloomer, but those hormones have deffo kicked in haha!
Aww they are weird lil things aren't they- sooo cute
 
I just brought home a new little guy on Saturday. He is my second chin and outside of being nervous in his new surrounding, he seems fine health wise.

Just now though, I went to check on him and he was vibrating, like he was shivering really fast. It did kinda sound like he was purring.

I have no idea what this means, but apparently it isn't bad? He's still nervous, but outside the vibrating, he's actually doing much better today. Allowing me to pet him and stuff. Before today, he was doing a lot of barking and hiding.
 
my oldest male will start to shake realy bad if i try to pick him up. He realy does noot like it. However he was passed around a lot before i was able to take him in, so i dont no his history.
 
my willow does that too. she's a very calm chin, she will just sit on my bed with me and get as close to my body as she can, and i always feel her "vibrating." she's very used to me and loves to cuddle, so perhaps it is some kind of purr, or some sort of sign of content?
 
My Tribble does this "virbrating" too. He only does it at times when I touch him or pick him up. He doesn't do it too often. I always thought he didn't want me touching him and that is why he did it.
 
My Ziggy does the shakes too. I usually see him do it when he's really excited to get out for playtime. Maybe it is something to do with contentment or happiness.
 
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