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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October 14th, 2007 at 2:17 am
Im 14 yrs old and i got my first chin about 2 months ago. He (Puffin) is about 6 months old. Since Im a teen, lol, i spend alot of time with my friends and stuff so I let puffin out of his cage, its in our guest room with just some boxs and a bookcase puffin likes to wedge himself in between. We i let him out at 4 to like 11. He can go back into his cage whenever he likes. The thing is I dont spend alot of time with him, its hard to make time, but I love him and dont want to give him away. Also it would be too hard to buy another chin and cage and stuff since im using all my own money. Im afraid he might be lonely and not likeing his home with me, what do I do? Please help! Any advise or stuff is needed!
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:14 am
Andra,
We've read similar things about separating males and females after the female has given birth. However, we've never gone down the path of breeding chinchillas so we don't have much as much experience there as we do in other areas.
October 1st, 2007 at 9:30 pm
i have a question regarding two of my chinchillas. The oldest boy and girl seem to always be in heat and have had 4 babies in the past 5 months. i have read on a diffrent website that after giving birth chins have to be separated for at least 3 days so the girl doesnt reimpregnate. i was just wondering if that is true. and my chin just had 2 babies about 2 weeks ago.. is it possible that shes pregnant again?
September 30th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Kelsey,
We're sorry to hear that your chinchillas aren't getting along. We haven't had that problem and so we don't have a solution for you. We'd be inclined to give it more time. It could be that your 7 month old is at the age where it becomes necessary to determine a place in the "herd".
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.