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[Jasonred79]

OK, I've heard others supporting that it does work... now I'd like to discuss WHY it works. BTW, I have no idea.

What I'm talking about is the chinchillas' instinct to eat food off the tip of my finger. This has been very useful when administering critical care to my chinchilla, and I'm sure that it would be useful for many other chin owners too. (Having said that, I suspect this doesn't work on ALL chins, and there will be cases that still need to be forcefed via syringe).

To contrast, I often get tired of placing food on my fingertip over and over again and try to simplify the process by offering the bowl of critical care paste directly to Popsicle, but he will usually take a nibble or two at most before losing interest. The fingerfood technique makes a HUGE difference, to him.

My question though is... how in the world does this sort of instinct develop in an animal? Does Popsicle think my hand is another chinchilla, and he is being offered food mouth to mouth? Does he think he's grooming me? What makes food off the tip of my finger so much more attractive than food I place in a bowl in front of him? Does he think that eating off my finger is a game? A mating ritual? Parent and child feeding?

[GrayRodent]

My best guess is that it starts with nursing. Chinchillas got their food from a nipple. That extends to getting their water from a spigot. I suppose it even extends to chewing on wooden sticks and items. I think it is more comfortable for the animal to have something to press against and that may trigger that reflex. Perhaps you can experiment with attaching a spoon to the bar and see if it will feed from that. Many chinchillas will eat from spoons. For my chinchillas they'll take the food off the end of the syringe if you put it through the bars in most cases.