Weird biting problem!

[rawrrr]

My chinchilla Crouton has just recently become a biter. He'll be 2 years old in January, and my boyfriend and I have had him for about a year and a half now. At first, he wasn't a biter at all. When he reached puberty, he started to nip/nibble people, but never hard. Over the last couple weeks, his nips turned more into bites. I would feel his mouth open wide enough to really hurt me if he bit down, but I would pull away before he did. Now, over the last couple days, he's bitten my boyfriend hard enough to draw blood, and bitten hard without drawing blood a few times.

One of the weird things about this is that he doesn't seem upset when he bites. In fact, most of the time he'll bite and then he'll popcorn! And, instead of getting more aggressive if we don't leave him alone, he'll calm down and be better behaved if he's being pet.

We did move to a new apartment about three weeks ago, and for the last couple days I've been out of town, so just my boyfriend is home. Could this by why he's biting? I know change is stressful, but I'm confused because he doesn't seem upset when he bites. Is he just bored? Does he need more attention? Or does he need some space to adjust to the new place?

I'd really like to understand why he's biting, and how I can get him to stop, so if anyone has some advice, please help!

 

[Vyxxin]

Even if he doesn't seem upset, he very well could be. When I started reading your post, my first thought (which was confirmed later in your post) is that the amount of attention he was getting had changed. Chinchillas need constant attention, or consistent attention to maintain their relationship with their owners. I would say that the stress of moving and not having you around as much as normal is probably the cause of the issues. Spend more time with him, hopefully that turns him back into his loveable self.

 

[breevass]

My Athena was adopted from an abusive home. She bit me very hard the first few months, once to the bone (still have a scar). But if I stuck my finger in her mouth when she bit me, she didn't like it and eventually quit. Now, I can stick my finger out (like a NO) and she will stop trying to bite someone else or spray at them. You just have to find a simple, NOT physically harmful way to teach them that it isn't okay. Nip it in the bud!