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Author Topic: chinchilla thinks my fingers are food?  (Read 954 times)

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Decimus

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chinchilla thinks my fingers are food?
« on: August 28, 2013, 03:34:08 PM »

My chinchilla always tries to bite my fingers hard when I when I hold my hands out for him to smell or give him a treat. How do I get to not wanna eat my hands?
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GrayRodent

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Re: chinchilla thinks my fingers are food?
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2013, 06:28:09 AM »

This sounds like part of a complex problem. How tame is your pet and how he he around people?
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Decimus

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Re: chinchilla thinks my fingers are food?
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2013, 09:46:38 AM »

I haven't had him around any other people yet.  I only got him about 3 weeks ago.  However, he is fairly tame.  He is perfectly comfortable running up to me and sitting on my lap before bouncing off and he has never bit me out of anger I believe.  I think this trait only started after the first time I gave him a treat.
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GrayRodent

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Re: chinchilla thinks my fingers are food?
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2013, 11:30:07 AM »

What you want to do is try teach him that it is not okay to bite. Typically a chinchilla that bites out of aggression will try to get away from you. If your chinchilla comes to you try petting him on the head and away from his mouth and see if he'll tolerate that. When he bites you can tell him "no" push him away, or try to startle him by blowing in his face or tapping his nose. You'll have to do it in a way where he knows it's okay to be around you and okay to be by your hand. He must make the differentiation between getting scolded and not getting scolded. Otherwise he will become hand shy. It might take some experimentation on your part.

I recommend you start just by making sure your hands are well washed and don't smell like food, and put the treat in the flat palm of your hand and see what happens. He might just think your fingers are food. Make sure he is used to you before you start correcting him.
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