Friend?

[viciouskitten]

Heya,

I just got a beautiful baby chinchilla for my birthday from my boyfriend a few days ago. I had been looking for a baby chinchilla or 2 more degus for a while from a private seller. He bought him (Gizmo) from P@h and i have him in my old degu cage. howver i was wondering whether it's best to have two chinchillas or if it's ok that he's on his own. he seems fine but i sort of need to decide now as it would still be possible to get one of the chinchillas he had been living with in the shop and therefore i'm guessing no need for introductions? Or should i just leave him be?

Hannah

[buzz]

Well, its best that they live in pairs.

[emz]

I agree that your chinchilla would probably enjoy some company and someone to play with.

[susiechinchilla]

Congrats on your new addition, chins are addictive

On the whole chins do prefer company . However as they are territorial then you do need to consider if you have the space for 2 cages side by side for the introduction period that can take weeks or months depending on the personality of the chins and of course there is never any guarantees that they will like one another, though it does work in 99% of intro's

Also I would suggest a chin the same sex as yours as it is not advisable to breed from chins unless you have at least a 3 generation history due to the genetic problems that can arise

[loulousweetie84]

my george has always been on his own and seems fine with it, but they do need alot of attention i must say, as the can get bored very easily, try introducing lots of toys in cage, it works well for george, we move them around each time we clean him and he does not seem to mind at all, and it keeps him busy for ages each time!

[viciouskitten]

So if i get a chinchilla to keep him company i get another male? will they fight? he seems really lonely :< or a female and get him neutered? i need to get another one in the next few days so please reply soon!!

[jackdaniels]

It is possible to introduce two males but this may take weeks/months I have always been advised to introduce a male and female. Female and female but never two males. Yes it can be done but could result in your existing chinchilla being aggressive to any other chinchillas you think about introducing him to if it does fail.

I would get the male castrated and get a female.

susiechinchilla might be able to help you more

[jackdaniels]

;D I was told by a chinchilla breeder to avoid introducing 2 males . But this says different ;D




www.myhomezone.co.uk/chins/factfile.shtml

Compatibility:Chinchillas of the same sex will live together peacefully in a single cage where there is sufficient space. A male can usually be kept with one or more females, although I should stress that same-sex pairs should be encouraged to ensure that the population of captive Chinchillas is controlled. Further to this, if considering keeping opposite sexes together, keep in mind it will lead to reproduction. I would therefore recomment that only experienced breeders should pair opposite sex chinchillas together. If keeping a group of chinchillas, you will also need to be aware that male chinchillas will fight each other for a mate. As a result no more than one male should be kept with a female. Also, two females together needs extra caution as they may fight. Finally, if the living space is too small, the Chinchillas will become territorial.

[viciouskitten]

ah see i thought it made more sense to ge a female too. i jst want him to be happy lol! does anyone know the risks of castration etc??

[jackdaniels]

George has been castrated with no problems. Like all small animals there is a risk but not as high as degus. I think its about 90% successful now adays but just had a quick read still saying 50% chance.

[susiechinchilla]

Lots of people do have male chins living together in pairs very happily and younger chins tend to accept a friend alot easier be they male or female

One thing to note though is if you have 2 males living toether you cannot have a female/s chins in the same room as otherwise the males will fight when they come into season and inflict terrible injuries on one another

However if you do decided on a female then you must have your male castrated and kept apart from the female for a minimum of 8 weeks as they are still fertile for a few weeks afterwards

I have had lots of male chins castrated with no side effects whatsoever , obviously a little tender for a few days but as long as you get a chin competent vet that is used to dealing with chin castrations then he should be fine.

Where abouts are you ? I may be able to find some one who uses a vet in your area that has experience with chins from our list if it helps

Feb 17, 2009 19:44:39 GMT jackdaniels said:

;D I was told by a chinchilla breeder to avoid introducing 2 males . But this says different ;D



www.myhomezone.co.uk/chins/factfile.shtml
, two females together needs extra caution as they may fight. Finally, if the living space is too small, the Chinchillas will become territorial.

[/quote]

Not sure who has written that webpage but I am intrigued by the comment that 2 females together will fight . I have groups of females as do many of my friends and I have never had any problems , nor heard of others who have ever experienced that

[jackdaniels]

TBH everything I have read online at some point contradicts its self. So I have always gone with what the Essex breeders have told me.



I have a pair of female chinchilla's living together and yes the do have a fight time to time nothing serious though. But they always make up 2 minutes later.

[jacky]

You said he had been with other chinchillas in the shop so if they were in the same cage then I would have thought there would not have been a problem. Years ago I had two rescued males which were in different cages I left them side by side for a few weeks then put them into a new cage together and had no problems when one died from old age I brought another one in and again after a few weeks moved them both into another cage with no problems. So I guess it depends on the chinchilla, but if he has already been in with another one I would think it would be ok.

[viciouskitten]

Cool, i reckon he should be ok, he's not aggressive in any way and doesnt bite. however im still not sure whether to get male or female. im thinking female tho

[viciouskitten]

Hey everyone... so i took gizmo to the vet 30 mins away from me to get neutered this morning... turns out.. gizmo may not be a male!! is there a way to tell? 3 different vets looked at him and none of them were sure! they had a book in front of them and that didnt help. they think he's a she though.

they told me to come back in a month

[susiechinchilla]

Hmmm to be honest if they cannot sex a chin I would never let them castrate one

The pictures on this link are clear .www.huggablepets.com/huggablepets/sexing.shtml I always hold the chin in the palm of my hand , head away from me and lift the tail . As it says on the site if there is a gap them male , if no gap then female

[jackdaniels]

Sexing degus and chinchillas. I find it's really easy to sex a chinchilla due to them having similar bits. But TBH i would rather sex a chinchilla than a degu they are so fast lol

[viciouskitten]

To update!!

I bought a new baby chinchilla who i am nicknaming piggy for the moment until i can think of a good name. she is sooooooo cute and she reminds me of a little piggy. the lady i bought baby off of said cos she was so young (only 12 weeks) i could basically just put her in with gizmo. i checked gizmo over and i was about 95% sure he is a she. the pets at home people told me he was male but when i tried to get him neutered the vet wouldnt cos they couldnt tell what he/she was. but there is no space where males have spaces, both piggy/baby and gizmo have no space. but 2 hours in suddenly gizmo was being weird and trying to hump piggy constantly. they have met everyday since i got her on monday but gizmo is disliking her more each day. he pushes her off the box and away from him and constantly tries to hump her. almost immediately after theyre put in together. so i dont really know what to do other than take it a little slower. its weird though, cos im so sure gizmo is female but gizmo is displaying weird behaviour. here is a video of them on the first meeting having a bath together: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zUT3lzU_-k

does anyone have any advice?? it was soo nice to see them getting along the other day and grooming each other etc, its so sad that gizmo is now being so mean as piggy is always going towards him wanting attention and starts crying when gizmo is horrible

[viciouskitten]

they are in separate cages now by the way

[susiechinchilla]

I am sorry but I find it very irresponsible of the person who you bought the new chin from to state that he/she(?) could go straight in with your existing chin, you should always quarantine any new chin well away from your existing one for a minimum of 8 weeks

The humping is more than likely a dominance issue , the chins sorting out who is going to be 'boss'

However as chins are territorial it is always advisable to introduce chins with 2 cages side by side ( with an inch gap so no toes or noses can be bitten) . You can give them the same sand bath , swop them into one anothers cages and once they seem happy enough side by side then try supervised playtimes .

Please please do make sure they are sexed correctly though as I would hate to hear that one has become pregnant when so young and as I said in a previous post it really is not advisable to breed from cins with no known genetic history

You have in my opinion done the right thing by separating them and if you take things slowly at their pace then hopefully you will have 2 chins living happily together soon.