Chinchilla bonding

[cwornham]

Hi All!


We recently got our chin a new friend- and so far so good. Or so we think.

The new chin has settled in brilliantly and we introduced them to each other the other night, it went well except every now and then our chin that we've had the longest will all of a sudden attack the other, even after playing nicely together.

Is this normal?

They both run around after each other and squeak like mad so I don't think it's a case of them not liking each other...

Any help, info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[Emziedee]

Hiya! Great news that you got Big Ron a pal! what's his name?

I'm not too sure about chin behaviour but I'm sure someone will be along soon with some advice!

How exciting, what's the new chin character like? I remember you saying Big Ron was really coming out of his shell, he sounds like a confident chap!

[cwornham]

I'm not embarrassed to say that we have stuck with the silly names! (Our two degus are called Doris and Ethel!) and we've called our new addition Malcolm!

He is so incredibly sweet and seems so happy. We think the person who had him before us never actually let him out of the cage so he gets very excited when he knows he can come out.

Big Ron is absolutely hilarious. He is such a character and very naughty! He knows exactly what he's not allowed to do and he goes out of his way to do it!

[moletteuk]

Congrats on the new addition

Hopefully somebody with chinchilla experience will be along to help you shortly.

In the meantime, if it were degus, we would advise you keep them side by side without being able to get to each other for a while and let them settle and get used to each other, before you then do fairly short, controlled meets until you are sure they are going to get along. You can swap used substrate and have them share sand for a while to get them used to each others scents.

Also, have you checked for yourself they are both boys?

[darthchinchi]

Are they in the same cage or is this only when they are out?

They need to establish dominance. As long as it's not fighting where one chases after the other all the time and you see fur flying everywhere, I wouldn't worry too much.
It's okay if you see a bit of fur flying around.
As long as they do not stand on their hind legs chattering their teeth at each other.

[cwornham]

They both have their own cage, side by side to each other. They've been like that for about 2 weeks now. We let them out together for the first time the other day and it seemed to go well.

Big Ron tends to chase Malcolm around a bit, and I must admit there has been a bit of fur here and there but I'm convinced Ron just wants to be friends!

Thanks everyone, it's just nice to be able to confirm we're doing everything right. It just takes time!

[Emziedee]

Give yourself more credit cwornham, you're doing great!

It just takes time and a lot of patience but hopefully it'll be worth it! In my heart of hearts I feel like if they don't immediately show such a strong disdain for each other, that there is great promise that they'll get along X

[darthchinchi]

Sounds like they need to establish whos the boss. If they keep at it the same way you described you could move on to same cage very soon I think.

[cwornham]

Thanks everyone, such a relief to know we're on the right tracks. I love my chins, but obviously still very new to it all so any advice/ideas etc is always greatly appreciated.

As awful as it sounds I read somewhere that when they have a little scuff to let them 'fight it out' to establish who's boss. I hate the idea of this but not sure what others think?

[darthchinchi]

They are not really a pack/herd animal but live in more of a colony. Bit of different theories on this subject.
The theories I've come across in literature on the wild ones say that females have are often the most aggressive and have their own territory. The other states females kick out the males when they mature but stay in smaller family groups with the females. No mentioning of how long though. But still guards a territory against other females. No mentioning of males. My own theory on males is that they have a larger territory, as the literature does describe males firing to get to mate, overlapping a lot of females territories. So basically a polygam system.

Because of this, they are not as social as degus or other animals that live in social groups. But trough breeding we do see more sociable animals, and keep them in pairs or small groups (personally as I'm not that into group dynamics, as it can go so bad with every animal hating each other, if something flips the dynamic).

Sometimes introductions go very smooth. If you introduce a youngster that's not jet sexually mature you'll most often find it's a lot easier as it's still very much seen as a kit. But when it matures there is a small risk it won't work anymore (I have experienced this personally. It's not a common problem, but it happens).
And its as if, the more chinchillas you have, like the big breeders with loads of animals, it's easier to introduce animals to each other.

My point is that a bit of fighting is what you would expect from an animal that's not really that social. Even in highly social animals you would expect some sort of dominant display. This is just how the chinnies do it. But as they do have the mechanism to furslip it often looks worse than it is.

[randomname]

I haven't ever bonded chinchillas, but I do have rabbit, guinea pig & a little degu bonding experience. I'd agree with darthchinchi's last comment - there is always a hierarchy that needs to be negotiated, even in the most social animals. Even with humans! I always know when introductions have succeeded when the dominant one is able to mount the other (s) & the others accept it. Also the dominant one will demand grooming from the subordinates & they will do as they are bid - that's when you can say they have passed the point of danger pretty much in my opinion. With rabbits/guinea pigs, when they stop chasing & move on to grooming/mounting, you're nearly there. With degus it can go on longer as it often flares up again (usually as the 2nd in command objects to being mounted) but there will be longer & longer periods of peace.
Sounds like you are very nearly there, & your methods are working well. There is no right or wrong way to do it, just be guided by them. With rabbits there is also a lot of fur flying around, but unless they go full on furry ball of death (& rabbits are MENTAL when they fight, they can gut each other with a kick!) or blood is drawn, it's still ok to go ahead. It's the same for guinea pigs & degus, so probably so for chins.
It's really hard as the responsible human to see even a little fighting, it's often hard to see the dominant one seem to hump, harrass & even bully the other (s) but, to a certain degree, you have to step back. Try Youtube to see if there's any videos that can show you how chins usually behave in this situation, it can help you gain a perspective on when to step in & what's normal. It helped me a lot when rabbit bonding, made me less squeamish!
Sounds like you're 100% on the right track, good luck with it.
Oh & POST PICTURES - there are not enough chin pics on this forum for my liking

[darthchinchi]

If you see the furball of death with chinchillas, you also need to stop them. They do not gut each other, but they can more or less skin each other alive. It's quite nasty to look at a chinchilla that has been attacked by an other chinchilla. It doesn't in any way sound like your animals are doing this though

[cwornham]

Thanks so much everyone!!

By what you're all saying I think another week playing together and they'll be in the same cage.

Will keep you all updated!

Thanks again xxxxx

[cwornham]

UPDATE

Big Ron and Malcolm are officially friends!

This morning my partner and I bit the bullet and decided to try them in the same cage while they were sleepy. It couldn't have gone better. There was a bit of fur here and there, as expected but other than that they have been fine all day.

They are both currently running around the room like lunatics, occasionally sniffing each other and then going about their business as before.

I even got a picture of them asleep next to each other this afternoon!

Once I go onto the computer I will upload pics of the boys for you all to see.

Thanks again for all of your help

[Emziedee]

Great news !!!!!! Can not wait to see the photos

[deguconvert]

Woohoo! That sounds wonderful! Just a tiny heads up. If chins are anything like degus, there can still be some rough moments after they are first in the cage together, so do monitor them fairly closely.

[randomname]

YAY! great news,well done. I agree with DC, there may still be adjustments to go through, keep a close eye on them, but sounds like you will any way - you've proved yourself an awesome chin friend. Getting a friend will totally transform both their lives, you've done a magnificent thing. I'd love to know what (if any) new behaviours you see now they're together. Looking forward to the 'photo

[moletteuk]

Great

I also think it would be interesting to hear what differences you notice with a pair compared to a single.

[randomname]

I've had a single chin & a pair, & the single chin was much more into strokes & cuddles from me than the pair. I found the same with the one single degu I had compared to the groups. I guess the groups/pairs had their needs met better from the others. I'd love to know if singles keep the same bond with their owners after getting a same species friend. Guessing it varies due to personality, but I'd love to hear some first hand accounts of the journey.

[Deleted]

Well Poppy my degu is very fuss loving and when I gave her Pickle as a friend to live with, she still loved me and fuss just as much!