That time of year again :/

[natnat899]

Apologies for the long post!

To give you a bit of a background, Peanut and Pickle have been fighting during the winter months for 3 years now, the first time was in nov/dec 2016.

Peanut chases Pickle around the cage, Pickle goes into a safe spot and then aggressively grunts every time Peanut comes near, regardless of what he is doing. Peanut goes up to Pickle making chirping communication noises, it almost seems he is seeing if Pickle is ok; Pickle makes grunting and teeth chattering noises at him and eventually Peanut gets fed up and lashes out - and I’m pretty sure that’s how Pickle gets the cuts on his ears.

Pickle is small, very shy, and very agile. Peanut is big, noisy and boisterous. Pickle can be antisocial towards Peanut and seems to get on better with us than Peanut.

When it first happened it took a few months to escalate, I thought it was dominance so I left them together to see if they could work it out. When I saw Pickle had cuts on his ears I separated them and wrote a post on chinformative, where I was told they should be perminantly separated.

When I watched them together in joint play times, the fact they would always sleep as close as possible and they would have loving grooming sessions, I believed it to be possible to get them back together. In June 2017 after very slow re-introductions they were back to normal; then the next year it only took a few months.

For the past 2 years I’ve been watching them very closely and testing different ideas out. I found that I moved the wheel for the past 2 years during winter so I left it where it was this year. I also reduced the cage size because it looked like to me, that pickle was trying to take one section of the cage (it’s 3 tiers and taller than me, I have to stand on a stool to clean the top so 2 tiers is still enough).

However, they have still fought this year - and I am now wondering if it might be to do with the fireworks. The night they first went off the chinchillas had a scuff and I separated them for half a day, then they were fine; the second day they were absolutely fine, I checked on them throughout the day. Then between a period of 2/3 hours when the fireworks were going off, they had another fight - no cuts on his ears just fur slip, Pickle won’t jump on me at the moment so I can’t check him thoroughly. They are currently separated.

I have no idea what is causing the fights, and I’m just trying to figure it out so I can solve the problem.


Has anyone heard of chinchillas falling out the same time each year?

What could be causing it?

Is there anything I can do to prevent the fights?

What are your thoughts?

It has also crossed my mind about finding Peanut a home with another chinchilla (he hates being separated), and then keeping Pickle on his own with us - but then I worry if Pickle will be lonely after a while.

[deguconvert]

If the falling out has always been during fireworks each year, then it kind of makes sense that they are the catalyst. There are other events with lots of fireworks, yes? Do things get worse then?

Pardon me for asking the above ... you have some different events than we do in Canada.

[savvy]

The main events for fireworks in the uk are bonfire night, also known as Guy Fawkes night (5th November) and new year.

You get the odd party occasionally, but nothing like these two events.

[natnat899]

I am not sure of the exact date the previous years - just that it was during December and January that I had to separate them.

I will definitely pay more attention to the date next year to see if it is the fireworks. Though they did get a little funny with one another during September this year as well, but there was no fur slip so I didn’t separate and they worked it out.

[moletteuk]

Do chins have a breeding season or high hormone season during the winter half of the year, like degus do?

[ntg]

I think I saw somebody mention November-May for a breeding season but I could be wrong. My brain is a little mushy right now

[natnat899]

The thought did cross mind, but surely then they would be aggressive to each other until May? Last year they were back together by March and they’ve also had a disagreement in September this year.

Though Pickle was doing this weird thing, where he would hump Peanut and then run off and hide.

[randomname]

I can't really add much as my 2 haven't ever fallen out, but I've noticed our degus & g.pigs always get fractious this time of year. I'm honestly putting it down to the day light hours. Soon as the days are noticeably shorter (like getting dark around 3-4pm) it seems like at least one of the group gets grumpy as heck & it's every blimming year. I never thought about the fireworks being the cause, but it's around Nov. 5th so maybe it is that?

Is there any way you could set the cage up so there's a gate of sorts, just big enough for Pickle to get through, but too small for Peanut to follow? That way Pickle can choose to escape if he wants, but it's not a separation. Maybe make it out of mesh or something? I have no idea about DIY so can't be more helpful I'm thinking of those breeders who use those collars to stop certain animals moving between cages, but allow those without to do so. Same principal but maybe not the same method? I don't really know.

I would be loathe to split them up or rehome them if they get on the majority of the time, but I know Darth says there are some chins that just do better alone & are fine. I hate the idea of a lone chin though - our Maggie is alone & it drives me crazy. She's right next to the boys & she loves them & seems really happy though. Maybe 2 set ups right next to each other is the compromise?

I'm having similar issues with the degus & guinea pigs at the mo, it's really stressing me they're not getting along as well as usual. I'm sorry you're going through it too. It's like when you have kids & they squabble & fight, you just want to bang their heads together lol (as my mother would say!)

[darthchinchi]

As for breedingseason, that would be a no.
They do have in the wild, but the domesticated ones breed equally well all year round. The females have a cycle of approximately 28 days (or is it 21, it's more or less like the woman cycle).

I think deguconvert is on to something, and you too. It sounds like something in the environment affecting them. It could be a season thing too... A drop in pressure outside has a tendency to make chinchillas act out. This is not something I can document but a lot of farms report this as an issue. I don't know if that might have something to do with it.
Their hearing is about as good/bad as a humans, so maybe sound is setting them off. On the other hand, I would expect thunder to set them off in the same way.

You can do an experiment with the noice though. If you have a radio you can have it on throughout the night. This often helps if the chinchillas are a tad bit sensitive to noice, as the background noice drowns out the chock effect of for example fireworks.

[natnat899]

‘Is there any way you could set the cage up so there's a gate of sorts, just big enough for Pickle to get through, but too small for Peanut to follow? That way Pickle can choose to escape if he wants, but it's not a separation.’

I did attempt this by positioning a branch at an awkward angle hoping Peanut couldent climb up, but alas - he did - plus pickle went for his normal cube hideaway anyway! Pickle does have safe places to go so he can hide, so I left the idea alone I suppose I could ask my step-dad to build something to block half a section off, it would require a lot of tweaking especially if Pickle needs to get through it at a quick pace.


darthchinchi that is interesting, September was when it started getting cooler, I shut the window and they started getting on again, I just thought it was coincidence. Pickle is very sensitive - when I moved the cage away from the window he became really glum, wouldent interact or come out for playtimes.

And that is a point, they never have any issues when we have thunder, albeit it is rarely and never 2/3 nights in a row, so that might be why. I will try a radio next year and if that still doesn’t work (and it is the fireworks) I could always separate them for the noisiest 3 days

[darthchinchi]

Yeah... They are very sensitiv to where they are placed, and it varies so much from chinchilla to chinchilla how they are affected. Some need small cages where they feel secure. Other need bigger cages. Some need to have a very closed cage where they can't see too much others need to be able to see everything that goes on or they will get stressed out form every noice. And so on and so forth

[natnat899]

Very true, that’s why I was wondering if reducing the cage size might prevent the fighting. Once I get them back together I will use all 3 sections because it made no difference

I think it is too complicated to be just 1 issue, so it’s trying to find out what works which will just take time. And I don’t think separating them perminantly is an option - especially not for Peanut, Pickle would probably be ok.

Ugh, it’s complicated :Facepalm

[natnat899]

I was thinking the breeding season possibility again. We have our 2 female degus in the same room as the chins - when is the degus breeding season and could that effect the chinchillas?

[moletteuk]

Degu breeding/hormonal season is Sept/Oct to March/April. It's quite a loose thing though, they can still get pregnant outside that time, maybe it is possible that Chins have a similar but even less well defined thing. It's an interesting idea that degu hormones/pheromones/whatever could trigger the chins, I have no idea if it would be possible.

[natnat899]

Little update, I decided to leave them together today to see how it goes, they are both snuggled up on the top shelf

Hopefully it will continue

[klbishop]

the boys (degus) do this every year november to february like clockwork .....

[natnat899]

klbishop - do you have to separate them?

[claire]

Kinda related note. My big boy knows he's top degu. Still has the odd temper tantrum this time if year but he's alot calmer than last year. However he has decided that as he is top degu he should be above us hoomans too.
Last night my partner opened their enclosure to do something as he has done 100 times before Ratty decided this was way out of line!! Ran at him on his back legs with his teeth out!! Partner shut the door and ran away hahahaha!! Know your place hooman!!

[winic1]

Whoa! Attack Goo!

[deguconvert]

LOL! I would have been tempted to run as well! However . . . now he's had a taste of power and it could get more difficult.