Chin rubbing?

[king]

So when I first acquired my A Tigrinum he was quite irritable and nipped at everything that moved. I don't know for certain, however I attribute this to the fact that he was kept in overly dry and somewhat neglectful conditions. I've had him for a month or so now and I haven't been bitten since, but when I take him out of his cage, he slowly rubs his chin against my finger/hand as if investigating (be it pulse, temperature, scent, etc). Is this a predatory instinct as in 'don't move or I'll bite you'? Or do they have sensory organs in their chin? Or is it something completely different? He's never nipped me following the rubbing. My cat does the same sort of thing but in cats it's a sign of affection (unless the ears are back, then it's predatory) so I'm wondering if the behaviour of my A Tigrinum and cat are at all related? Thanks for any information!

 

[Wolferic]

Well mine does the same.. he seems to rub his chin though on his food.. (Dew worms) then he attacks and eats... I thought he was doing this to clear off the debris on the warm he would let the worm slide by while holding it down to clean the worm then he would attack the end.. and bang lol.. Now Im not certain anymore.. Lets hope someone answers u so we both can find out:> DO you have any pics of yours up? YOu are also in Canada it says? male or Female tiger?

 

[CherryBlossom]

Bit of a longshot but its the only thing I can think of.... could it be a courtship thing? Are they in mating season? I have read about certain salamanders rubbing chins on things when they are in courtship? All to do with the release of pheramones (sp?) from their chin gland? Sorry if this is not any help

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[shmifty5]

my tiger does this to all of his food (crickets, worms, my fingers...), i attribute ti to predatory interactions, like i know sals don't have the best vision or hearing so maybe they rely on the food item moving to know if it's still alive or not.

like a blind dog has great hearing and sound, a blind fish has neither and kind of bumps into things to tell where they are, maybe a sal rubs his food to get a reaction from it so he knows it's food and not food smelling ground.

for my hand however he just squirms around and acts like im going to go ozzy on his head, so i have no idea why your tiger would be doing it to your hands, maybe it's an acquired act of affection, like he relates the rubbing to you feeding him so if he rubs you you will feed him, just a guess tho.

 

[king]

Hmm thanks for the input. I don't think it's a mating thing (at least in this case) because he's still fairly young; roughly 6 inches in length. I'll keep observing and see if I notice anything new. He doesn't usually 'chin rub' his food since I hand feed him for the most part (though he often snaps at the food and has trouble getting it in his mouth lol)..

 

[mytimemic]

It is kind of late because this post has been here a while but I just noticed it. My salamander likes to be touched. I keep my hands wet & she likes her head stroked. She will actually walk toward me as I do it. She likes her sides stroked as well. Yesterday she was lounging in her pool with her front arms & head on the side (like a person hanging on the side of a pool). As I would rub one side she would lean into it & then would do the same when I rubbed her other side. I am very careful not to handle her too much however. I wash my hands & keep them wet.

As for the nipping. I have never had any indication from Rex that her "nipping" was hostile. It is a feeding response. I was told the fastest way to a salamanders heart is thru it's stomach.

There are some videos on Youtube that are very helpful on the care of salamanders that I have found very helpful. Here is a link to one of them:

YouTube - How to Care for a Pet Tiger Salamander : Benefits of Pet Salamanders

By:
Expert: Brian Kleinman
Contact: Home Page
Bio: Brian Kleinman, is the owner and operator of Riverside
Reptiles, an educational company. He have been working with amphibians and reptiles animals for over twenty years.

 

[king]

Thanks for the input everyone. I know it's a late post, but he still does this, and I read http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7143.html that it is male courtship behaviour; pushing the side of the female with their noses, so here's sharing my findings.
"After a brief courtship which consists of the male pushing his nose against the female's body..."