Temporary Chinch Pair Sepration

[gracipet]

Hi, I have 2 Chinch sisters (Poco and Jasmine), Poco has recently had to have an abcess squeezed and drained and has just healed.I had to separate her in a different cage from her sister as I was worried there would be too much over-grooming going on. Both chinches were distraught at being separated (I beleive they have been kept together since birth and are only a year old now). Both were cage-banging and showing signs of distress and not eating their usual amount of food from their dishes.
I know its important to separate them but hate too as it causes them so much distress- any tips regarding pair bonds and ways to reduce sterotypical cage-banging? Thanks, Gracipet x

[swiffermuis]

I don't have a lot of experience with chinchillas but maybe you can let them both out of their cages and keep an eye on them? That way they'll be together at least

[moletteuk]

I don't have experience of chinchillas, but if this were a degu situation I would only seperate them if there was definitely a problem of overgrooming the wound. This type of stress can affect the animal so much it can slow down the rate of healing. Get them back together as soon as you can and let them have supervised visits if there is overgrooming and the seperation really is necessary.

[gracipet]

Thanks guys! I did let them have controlled run-around times together- and that did reduce the banging noises by quite a bit! I also separated the cages completely in different rooms so they couldnt see/ smell each other and that worked too. Happy to annouce Poco has made a full recovery with the antibiotics and is happily snuggled back in her nest box with her sister x

[swiffermuis]

Happy to help. Great that they can be Poco is recovered and that they're back together!

[Lrak]

Glad poco turned out ok.