Female Chinchilla bullying my Friendly Male Chin

[jessjamesx]

Hello!

I own two chinchillas now. One female (crystal) who is around 3/4 years old. She was bought alone as she was bullied as a baby by older male chins, they bit her ears etc really mean to her. She has always been skittish, disliked being handled and really not interested in human interaction, even when I let her out she would hide in a suitcase and not come out. Then she seemed to become bored, lonely and seemed to be craving attention. So I got a male Chinchilla same age called Jack.

Jack came alone as his previous buddy suddenly took a dislike to him. Jack is a character, he has a lot to say but has never bitten and once he's in my lap having fuss he loves life even if he kicks up a fuss whilst I hold him lol. I didn't want chin babies as I just wanted them to be cage mates so jack went in for neutering. We had a few problems afterwards but he is right as rain now.

Anyway, I knew introducing them would not be easy due to crystals history, I knew she would probably be somewhat cautious and have her guard up. So I left them in seperate cages next to each other and they took to each other, no aggression and would wait for each other by the side of the cages. It was all very positive. In fact at this point crystal was much more out of her shell and seemed a lot happier.

I let them out to play together and they ignored each other at first, no fights. When they crossed paths they would just go in opposite directions. I left both cages open so they could explore each other's and know that we are all friends here, but then when crystal was in her cage jack decided to explore it... crystal freaked out a little bit but jack remained calm and was always friendly towards crystal at no point has jack shown aggression towards her. It's as if he knows she is delicate he is that gentle and nice towards her. They both came out of the cage and went back to their natural homes.

Ever since this point when allowed out to play together crystal looks for Jack, she chases and jumps on him. When she is in his cage and he's our, if he approaches the cage for kisses/sniffs she tries to bite him through the cage. Again, he does not.

Jack really longs for crystal and when they aren't out they are very amicable if not friendly when in their own cages.

I feel for jack cause of what he's been through for this to be rejected by her, I knew it wasn't a definite nor a simple process however, I don't have two chins disliking each other, I have one who seems to be in love and the other who is being plain mean. Crystal has nothing to fear from jack and he's never shown her he does.

I was terrified of jack to begin with because he was so vocal but he's a big softie really and shows crystal this in any way he can!!

I just don't know what to do at this point. I still let them out together but if crystal is mean towards jack I break it up and she goes back in her cage. Jack continues to play then when he's in his cage she can come back out.

Is it worth continuing to try and make this work? Jack is becoming more and more afraid of crystal so I don't want this to affect him.

Crystal is also a sweet chinchilla just not as friendly as jack. They are sensitive animals so know she has just been through a lot. I still believe she wants to be friends with jack but is struggling to relax in case what happened before happens again.

Any input is appreciated but only positivity.

Many thanks!

[Deleted]

Hi! I don't know too much about chins. I wasn't going to comment but I noticed you hadn't had a reply yet and I get it can be frustrating.

It sounds like you are doing the best you can. Have you tried giving Crystal some of Jacks used bedding? That way she's used to a very strong smell of him and perhaps will get more comfortable around him.
I'm in the same boat with degus. I have 2 separate groups. My one Degu Poppy doesn't understand Degu language, she's like Jack, she just wants to show love and affection to my other two who are separate from her and her little pal, and they just want to kill her! Been trying to get them together for months.

I think you are definitely doing the best you can and you need to think that at least they both have lovely homes now and they still have each others company because they can see and smell and hear each other.

I don't want to give wrong advice, but I don't see the harm in still trying to make it work.

How nasty does Crystal get? As long as she's not inflicting wounds I think you should perhaps let the nastiness continue as long as it's not actually hurting Jack. She may just want to assert her dominance. (Going off Degu knowledge here so I may be wrong).

I wish you the best and I'll be watching this thread to see what happens! I'm sure the knowledgeable chin people will be along soon x ☺️

[jessjamesx]

Hi Emdalliance

I appreciate your reply, any advice is appreciated. I used to own degus myself, a little too mischievous for me though and too small haha.

I've put jacks toys in her cage and vice versa. Even switched nest boxes and it didn't bother either of them. Weirdly I have even tried putting each other's poop in the others cage...just so the scent is there lol.

Crystal does get quite nasty, i think it's just sheer luck she hasn't bitten his skin at this point as she has pulled fur out before. Like I say though I genuinely believe she thinks she has to defend herself against all chinchillas. I don't want to shine a bad light on her.

I think I'm going to take it back to basics for a while and let them out at seperate times but keep their cages close so they aren't separated. Like you say they know each other are there and are both happy. If I knew it was going to work I'd look into a third chinchilla just for jack but at this point it's not something I'd be happy to do as two are enough of a handful and there is still no guarantee.

Crystal is gentle as anything with me and has never bitten aggressively, just testing in case my finger is a piece of coconut lol.

At this point I just want jack to find a friend in me so he isn't solely focused on crystal. We're getting there and he has started coming to me and sitting for a short whilst as I fuss his belly which he loves. They are amazing little animals.

Again thank you for your advice and I will keep this thread updated on how their relationship goes, or doesn't as the case may be! X

[natnat899]

From the sounds of it you are doing a really good job! Have you tried switching their sand baths or cages? Going back to basics is probably a good idea for now, let Crystal settle down, she is probably just freaked out.

I am having the same issue with my chinchillas (who have been together for 4 years!) so I can understand what you are going through. The introductions are much like degu introductions, so it's worth reading through the forum the link below also has some good tips.

chinchillaexpert.com/care-articles/behavior/chinchilla-introductions/

[moletteuk]

I just want to make it clear I've never had chinchillas, my advice is just coming from a standpoint of reading years worth of degu introductions.

Could there be a territory element to this? The problems seem to stem from them wandering into each others cages? How big are the cages?

I think rewinding a bit sounds like a good idea and letting them have contact through bars and letting them settle. Maybe you could try shorter playtimes with the cages closed off, with the idea that nobody owns the space, there is no sense of invasion. You could offer some kind of box or safe space so they still have somewhere to hide.

Does Crystal love playtime? If she acts out could you put her back in her cage and let Jack stay out, so she eventually learns the consequence of isolation after bad behaviour?

For degus we normally exchange substrate to mix the smells, so handfulls of kitchen paper (or whatever nest material) from the nest and handfuls of carefresh, aubiose, cardboard chip, whatever you use and preferably with a little poo and wee mixed in.

[darthchinchi]

I would say chances are they are never going to bond.
Had a male once I tried to bond with a female. He thought she was the greatest thing on earth, but she couldn't stand him, and then there's not really that much you can do about it. It's like if they ever get a grudge they never forget.

If none are neutered, you can get lucky when she is in heat though...

I'de personally go put looking for a baby female for your girl, just ready to be sold. They are still very baby like, so introductions often work better this way. Although problems can occur when they reach secure maturity.

You didn't do anything wrong here, it's just not all chins that click. Some don't click with anybody.

[bouncy]

If crystal has had some bullying in the past, my instinct is that she views her home territory as precious to her (gollum gollum ). Having an uninvited visitor could have really unsettled her. As natnat899 says, go back a step. Let her settle again, then go to meeting outside the cages. Swapping handfuls of substrate is likely to be a better bet than allowing access to each other's home for now.