biting or saying hello?

[laineybell]

hi, my 2 11 week old degus, chewy louie and mr nibbles like to bite my hand when i put it in their cage. i wouldnt say biting, its more of a repetitive nibbling,but then gets harder and shocks me. im trying to hand tame them, so when they do it, i try not to pull my hand away as it will scare them, but i cant help it. does anyone else have this? someone said they do it as a way of saying hi or grooming me??

[ra]

You've figured it out just right. He is saying hi and testing things. Mocha would do the same and yes, I too endured a couple of bites that were hard enough to draw a little blood - but only at first to not frighten her. I didn't want it to become a bad habit so when she'd bite just a little too hard I would squeek and withdraw my hand. If she bit hard again in that session I would squeek louder, withdraw and leave the room for awhile. She got the message and learned what was acceptable. I think they really don't know how sharp their teeth are nor how easy it is to hurt a smooth skinned human vs a hairy little Degu!

[ra]

p.s. they do "co-groom" too. Once again you just have to let him know the limits of how much or how hard he can nibble.

[critterrx]

My Simon tends to nibble more than Theodore does since he has cataracts in both eyes. He can't see well, so he tastes everything to see what's what!