Melinda writes:
Hi there - I have a four-month old female grey and I am looking for a female companion for her. I have a potential chin that I am looking into adopting and she is about 8 weeks old (there is another one I could adopt that is about 3 months). The breeder said because they are both so young, it is ok to put them in the cage together after having changed the bedding - is this ok or do I absolutely need to buy another cage first?
And we suggest:
Melinda,
Because they are young you should have it easy when it comes to introducing them. However, there's no way to tell until you try. You'll know within minutes if they're going to get along right away or will need to be introduced slowly.
Not sure what you can do to avoid buying a second cage. Can you get a loaner from the breeder? Or put some kind of wire divider in your current cage?
Melinda stops by again with a follow-up:
Thanks for your advice! I got a loaner cage from the breeder and I've been working on the two girls. I tried letting them out together at the same time, but they started fighting and chasing, so I stopped it and have been letting them out individually. It's been a couple of days and I let them out again together and I've noticed a significant decrease in chasing and fighting.
My slightly older chin Rosie keeps trying to jump on Isabella, which I know is a dominance thing. They touch teeth when they first meet with no problems, but do I have to worry about Rosie jumping on Bella if Bella doesn't make any distressed sounds?
Our follow-up answer to Melinda:
Melinda,
Glad to hear that the breeder was willing to help you out. Maybe the breeder will make note now that age doesn't guarantee chinchillas will get along. You should see a decrease in fighting as time goes on. If you're not already doing so, keep the cages as close together as possible.
If there are no distress sounds, no loss of fur, or biting, I wouldn't worry about one chin jumping on the other. It too should slowly stop.
Finally, our chinchillas have been together for many years and get along fine. However, we sometimes hear some odd sounds as if they're squabbling. This usually happens for us in the morning as they're settling in to sleep. Almost as if one chinchilla is hogging too much of the house 
Just wanted to let you know in case you experience the same thing.
Entries (RSS)
October 10th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Hello there
I have a chinchilla that is a year now
and i just got a new chinchilla that is about 3months. My older one has tryed fighting with the baby one. and everytime i bring him near hes cage (the new one,. near the older ones cage) he like flips out. will they become friend in time? Or will it they never get along ?
November 15th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Randi,
Sorry to hear that one of your chinchillas got hurt. It does complicate the introducing process as you suspected. It would seem to us that if your two chinchillas weren't getting along before the accident that they won't afterwards and so you'll have to take it slowly. However, in the long run there shouldn't be any issue with an injured chinchilla coexisting with a non-injured one.
Although it's impossible to be 100% safe, the most common injuries are due to wire cage bottoms and wire wheels. Such surfaces that allow a chinchilla's foot to slip through will inevitably lead to injury at some point.
November 14th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Hi i was in the process of introducing my 2 male chinchillas. we were about 3 weeks into it when the newest one had an accident. (he got his foot caught in his ramp to go to the 4th story) well we are having to keep him confined in a 1 story cage until he heals. his splint comes off in a week, but there will still be a bit of recovery time before i can let him out on daily runs again. well anyways after such a long break from the introductory process is it safe to just start over? even if the 3 weeks we were introducing they were still not getting along? also for the rest of the newest ones life his leg will be straighter than other. and that will make running and jumping more difficult. should i maybe just keep them seperate? so no injuries can occur?
October 9th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
i have a male chinchilla and he is almost one year old but he doesnt like people he doesnt like to be held or played with at all, i feel bad because he is always in his cage alone because he doesnt like to be played with. he has a very large cage it is about 5 feet tall 3 feet wide and 2 1/2 feet deep with 4 different levels. i want to get him another male so he isnt alone all the time but it dont know if hes to old or how to do it?
August 28th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
We don't think your chinchilla is to old for a friend. The new chinchilla can go in to a smaller cage since it is temporary. That's what we did. The age of the second chinchilla shouldn't matter too much as long as he is fully grown i.e. not a baby.