Chinchillas that didn't grow up together may not get along upon first being introduced. This might surprise some people since chinchillas are sociable in the wild.
However, all is not lost. It is possible to get two chinchillas used to each other's company. When we were introducing two chinchillas from different breeders we used a tried and proven technique. We put the newer chinchilla in a spare cage we had. We kept our older chinchilla in her original cage. We kept the two cages side-by-side so that chinchillas could see and smell each other at all times.
Then, every night we would let each chinchilla out of her cage for a period of time, but never both at the same time. We left it up to each chinchilla to approach the other. Of course, with the cage bars in between them, there was no fear that they would hurt each other.
After a week or two, we allowed both chinchillas to leave their cages at the same time. The first few times we did this, the chinchillas would chase each other which we stopped as quickly as possible.
Again, a week or so after releasing both from their cages we noticed that there was less chasing and less fighting. The number of "incidents" continued to decrease over time. About 3 to 4 weeks into the process, we moved the newer chinchilla into the older chinchilla's cage. They slept in the same box, shared the same water bottle, and ate from the same dishes.
And as further proof that this system works, we repeated everything again with a third chinchilla with same results.
We believe in providing as complete information as possible, so we want to also make you aware of the neutral zone technique. Those that use the neutral zone technique actually disagree with the approach we described. We leave it up to you decide which approach to take.
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i just got a new chinchilla and i want to no how to ease them together theyve been in seperate cages for about 4 weeeks.
Hello,
My name is TJ. My Girlfriend and I have had a male chinchilla for 2 years now. We recently decided to get him a fellow chinchilla. So we bought another male as well as another larger environment. When we introduced the two together they began sniffing each other and the new younger male went about his business checking out the new environment with no problem at all with the older male. The older male seemed excited and accepting of the younger male and was interested in the new environment also. However, he began sniffing and following the younger male around and then it happened....He started trying to mate with the younger male rapidly. Everytime I would seperate him he would began sniffing again and hop on him again. We really want them to live together and we have no idea how to prevent this. Can anyone please help us? We really want them to enjoy each others company in this big environment we have for them.
Hi!
I've had chinchillas for a few years now. I started off with only one, and she gave birth a few months after we got her. We had no idea she was pregnant at her time of purchase, so it came as a great surprise to us. When we found out the baby was a boy, we considered buying a new chinchilla to mate with him. We did so, buying what we think was a young female chinchilla. We tried introducing the two, however it never worked out.
In 2006, both my mother and son chinchilla passed away. Now I'm wondering if perhaps the chinchilla I have left is lonely. We also have 4 cats, which she seems to get along with (though she isn't ever outside of her cage when they're around), and she seems generally content, but I noticed that the last time I let her out to hop she became fascinated with a cat toy which she must have thought was a chinchilla. She hopped around it and made noise, and it just touched my heart.
My question is; would my older chinchilla get along with a newer chinchilla if I were to buy one? Or do you think she's happy by herself? She's always been a quirky, sweet, little girl, but sometimes I do sense that she is a bit lonely having nothing but cats around.
Help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you for all the replies - much appreciated. I will continue to try these different methods and hope that one of them works!
Thanks again All.
Dear Laura,
i try to help people as much as posible.
you're welcome
Dear Laura,
There are more ways, after hearing your distress I desided to serch the web. I found three more ways to help. You have three more couses you can force two chinchillas into getting along by placing them in a small confined area, in the small area, the chinchillas will not have enough room to fight and will become used to each other. Many pet owners have found this way to be ineffective and result in stressed chinchillas.
Pushing two cages together has worked in many cases, There are some negatives to this method though, one chinchilla can still display dominance over the other, regardless if they are in the same cage. A chinchilla may see its neighbor as a threat and attack when they are in a shared play area.
The cage within a cage method is somewhat self-explanatory, a small cage is placed inside a larger cage, there are a few precautions when setting up this method, most importantly, if the chinchilla does not trust or is not comfortable with the owner, it will have a hard time bonding with another chin. Also, the cages must be cleaned thoroughly to remove any scents. this is the most effective way to introduce two chinchillas.
Hello - I have two male chinchilla's, Albert (coming up 2 years) and Sidney (11 months) who I envisaged would be some company for Albert. I have tried introducing them many times since I got Sidney from a breeder 6 months ago. It has been near-on impossible to make them get along for longer than a couple of hours.
I kept them in separate cages to begin with, then moved them to one cage that is split into two. It used to be Albert who chased Sidney, but now it seems Sidney goes for the older one - although, there are never any injuries, just seems to be chasing and fur biting. They do still get let out for a run together sometimes and it can be fine, but it never lasts long. I was hoping that they could live in one cage together at some point - is there any hope? Has anyone got any other suggestions??
Dear Laura,
There is a nother way.Try this, put them in different cages. Then put the cages close to each other, but not so close that they can fight through the bars. Then do this for a week or two, don't let them out at the same time. Then after the time is up you take them out and swich cage. Leave them in the other cage for one hour. Ifthis dosen't woke then try agin with different floor stuff.