Tubby Sprayed Me!

19th October 2008

Tubby escaped out of his cage tonight when it wasn’t his playtime yet. So, when I managed to corner him under the TV, he stood on his hind legs and did this foghorn sound. As I was reaching to grab him, he peed on my hand!!!!!!!

Euw! After washing my hand, I tried to catch him again. Every time my hand got closer to him, Tubby did that ‘attack’ mode (standing on his hind legs & making foghorn noises) again. That seriously deterred me from grabbing him, for fear that he might pee on me again haha! For awhile he got his way, but I finally caught him & now he’s being punished in his cage.

Chinchillas are prey animals and one of their defence mechanisms is this spraying tactic. The females are more known for spraying and apparently they’re pretty good at aiming, too :-) This was the first time Tubby every sprayed me & I was really surprised! I hope that he won’t do it again. Looking back at it, I think it was a funny experience :-D

Posted in Chinchilla adventure | Comments (6)

6 Responses to “Tubby Sprayed Me!”

  1. wiffy Says:
    October 19th, 2008 at 11:54 pm

    oh dear! =P It does sound funny but I hope it won’t happen to you again too =D

  2. furrybutts Says:
    October 20th, 2008 at 1:31 am

    LOL!!! Naughty Tubby!! And poor you!!

    Male bunnies spray to mark territory, and to mark their women too hee hee Yohji used to spray Buttons before he was neutered. And he’d spray again just as I’m cleaning up his pee, so I’ve had warm animal pee on me, too! So NOT fun!

  3. kisetsu Says:
    October 20th, 2008 at 8:36 pm

    (O.O) Lucky it is only on your hand. What if he aims correctly on the face! I am now contented to see Tubby behind the PC monitor. :) Din know Chins can be such a sprayer. Poor you.

  4. furrybutts Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 12:11 am

    Generally, bunnies have improved litter habits after they’ve been fixed. Mine have been great with their pee. As for poop, there are a few stray ones here and there when they jump out from their litter box before they’re done with pooping, LOL!

    Fixed males won’t pee to scent their partners anymore. Yohji stopped spraying immediately after neuter. But it also depends on the bunny.. some which are neutered when they are much older have acquired the habit of spraying. So even after neuter, they still retain this habit.. basically they spray ‘cos they’re used to doing that, not so much to mark territory or to scent their partner.

    But even with fixed bunnies, there will be territorial peeing when a new bunny is in the house (sometimes I find pee next to Hans’ play pen) and when they move to a new place (there was quite a bit of territorial peeing when I brought them back to my hometown, Penang, over the last Chinese New Year). Apart from that.. no other pee incidents, phew! :D

    Do most chins practice defensive spraying? Is there a way to stop the spraying? Or will it be the case that if a chin never learns to accept/like being carried, then it will continue to spray each time someone tries to carry it?

  5. admin Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    From what I’ve read, it’s mostly females who practice defensive spraying.
    I think in Tubby’s case, he just felt threatened because I cornered him to catch him.
    Chins haven’t been domesticated for too long, so it’s only natural that they don’t like to be held like cats, dogs, or bunnies.
    They love scratches though, just like your bunny .. they just don’t like to be squeezed & cuddled.

  6. furrybutts Says:
    October 23rd, 2008 at 3:03 am

    Bunnies are prey animals, so most of them don’t like being carried.. being lifted off the ground means ‘the end’ for rabbits in the wild. Domesticated rabbits retain this instinct. Some tolerate it.. mine don’t enjoy it hee hee I get the bunny butt and foot flicks whenever I carry them!

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