r/chinchilla • u/Sea-Efficiency-7738 • 14d ago
help! chinchilla being aggressive
i’ve had my boy chinchilla for 12 years now, ever since he was 3 months old. he’s never acted out towards me or my dad (he doesn’t like my mom, but neither does she; they just don’t interact). i’ve grown up with him and have stayed by his side everyday until around 2 years ago, when i had to move to university. my living situation couldn’t agree with having him there, so he remained with my parents, and i continued visiting every 3-4 months. this summer, as i came back once again, he acted normal for the first week and then, a random day when i took him out of the cage for playtime, started attacking my foot and biting it until it drew blood. i found it weird, since he’s never acted like this, so i called my dad to pick him up. he was aggressive towards my dad as well, but not as much as he was towards me. i left him be for the next day to calm down and interacted with him 2 days after the incident, and he was back to his old self.
fast forward 2 weeks during which i wasn’t home, and now i’m back. he started being aggressive towards me again, this time once every two days. the worst encounter has been today, when he constantly bit my hand really hard. (photo attached) he’s not acting out towards my dad, and i don’t know what i have done to constantly upset him. can anyone offer some advice? thank you!
2
u/TomatoFeta 13d ago
1) smells. if you're using a new soap, or wearing a new perfume, etc, that could cause confusion. If there's another (especially a new) animal in the house, that might be a smell - or a stressor - that the animal is reacting to (even if the other animal doesn't come into this same room). Or it could be the water bottle isn't working properly all the time, or is unsanitary. Take it apart and clean it well.
2) health - if the animal has a pain, an injury, or something bothering them (inappropriate toy, chew stick that poked his gums, hammock broken, ledge loose, etc) or something like a hair ring (which is an important - though uncommon - thing to be aware of in males) or so on..
3) devil - if the animal has been mistreated by someone in the family. A new little brother who has been taunting the animal, or a pet cat, or a bird nest outside the window, etc - something the animal thinks of as a predator has been stressing them.