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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September 30th, 2007 at 7:47 am
I have two chinchillas, a standard who is a year, and a tovwhitemosaic who is 7 months. I introduced them successfully in June. They were getting along fine, snuggling together but never really acknowledging each other during playtime etc. It is September and tonight when I let them out they were fighting! making grunting noises, defense sounds and standing on their hind legs. no fur was lost but they did chase down each other. it was 4 am, do you think their tired of each other or just tired and cranky? Its weird…theyve been doing really really good. Now they seem to hate each other again.
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:41 pm
this is about intoducing 2 chinchillas but i didnt know what category to put it under.soo.Do chinchillas smell bad? If they do is there anyway to get rid of their smell?
August 16th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Thats what my fiancee is possibly wanting to do. Though most likely. Shes getting this silver one from the pet store and wants me to get the black one. So I was just asking about the cage situation since we werent all to sure and I was iffy about putting them together right when we got home.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Ryan,
Young chinchillas should get along fine, but are you looking to breed them by keeping them in the same cage?
August 16th, 2007 at 11:02 am
My fiancee and I are getting a 6mo old male chinchilla this weekend. Thing is, she wants to get a 6mo old female too. So my question is, is it possible for the two of them to be in the same cage, or would it be best to just get a second spare cage just to be safe?