Sondra asks…
Pikachu is my one and only chin. My husband said that one of the girls at his work has a friend who is moving and can't bring her chinchillas with her. Also, the female is pregnant and so the owner said I could have one of the babies. Well, that fell through, because her brother took in the chinchillas.
I had my heart set on getting another chin, especially a baby, and the fact that it was my hubby's idea! So you can imagine how heartbroken I was when I found out I wasn't getting one. So I've been searching at humane societies and rescues. Eventually I was referred to this person who rescues chinchillas and I was going to adopt this male named Oscar. When she sent me a video of him, it showed him next to his buddy that she said he always snuggles up to. Being the big moosh that I am, how could I possibly adopt him and seperate him from his buddy? Well I can't and told her that, so she offered for me to adopt both of them.
So, here is my dilemma, if I get two more chins, my husband will kick me and them out on the curb, so I can only get one more. So do you think I should just forget it and look elsewhere or go ahead and adopt both? (I know my husband would get over it).
Chinchilla Planet answers…
You definitely don't want to break up the bonded pair which it sounds like you already agree with. From what you described, I would keep looking for a lone chin.
Introducing two chins to your one chin at the same time could turn out to be quite difficult. You might get lucky, but the introductions that I've done have always been a little rough for the first few weeks and they were always individuals.
And I'm sure you thought about this, but if you do decide to go for that pair, make sure you have enough room for them. Is there enough room outside of the cage for all three to run around? Would you want to add another wheel to the cage? And you might need to clean more often with 3 chinchillas which means taking more time out of your day.
Entries (RSS)
September 18th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
HELP!!!!!!
I adoppted 2 chins a week ago. When I woke up today the femail had had 2 kits and it seems that she killed them. She had blood all over mouth, chest, and paws. is this normal for a mother chin to kill her young?
July 17th, 2008 at 12:16 am
I have a male chinchilla. He's probably like a year and a half and I want to get him a friend. However I'm not sure if getting another male around the same age is a good idea. I don't know if maybe im better off trying to find a female friend instead. I don't want an older one but does age matter?
October 29th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Hi Critters15
I used to have a guinea pig (Betty) living in the same cage as my male chincilla (Billy), we decided in the end after a quite a few hot summers that we should separate them due to the mess Betty made and the smell, we trailed them apart for a week and been as they both seemed ok Betty went to live with my niece and nephews in her own hutch. All went well with this and we left it about a year so as not to cause to much confusion to Billy as he did enjoy Betty's company after his brother George died, and we have now successfully put a female chincilla BooBoo in with him after a period of them living next to each other.
July 26th, 2007 at 7:21 am
Ricky,
We don't have first hand experience with spaying or neutering chinchillas, but we've read that it can be done. You'll want to seek out a vet that has specific experience with exotic pets. We've found that most vets aren't prepared/willing to deal with any animals other than cats or dogs.
July 26th, 2007 at 2:29 am
I have male chin , Im interested in getting him a female , is there any way that one of them can be spayed or nuetered so that there woudlnt be any babies ?