I am thinking about introducing a chinchilla to a chinchilla I already have. I have many questions!!!?

Question

MY CHINCHILLA: About a yeah and a half old, no older than two years old. Male. Tame with me, but does not like family members (mom, dad, & lil bro), but loves my friends and Gramma. Very playful and curious. He is neutered.

QUESTIONS:

1>I spend a little time with my chin every night before bed and take him out of his cage to play every few days for up to forty minutes. Though I can't help but feel maybe I do not spend enough time with him. Should I seriously look into getting him a cage mate?

2>I don't plan on breeding the pair and would prefer the new chin to be spayed//neutered as well, but would it be best to bring another young male or female into the picture?

3>About how old should the new chin be (please include ages for both male & female)?

4>What are the chances of success and failure? While I would love to have another chin living with Titus (my chinchilla), I don't think I have the space for two permanent cages.

5>How big does the new chin's cage have to be?

Answer 1

i say you get hima play mat the cage would have to be larger

Answer 2

1. Chinchillas are very social naimals by nature. In the wild, they live in enormous groups or up to 50. It is unatural for any social aniaml to live alone, and since it is part of their requirements, they are living with only substantial conditions. Since you are noticing that he seems unhappy, I assure you he will be, because let's face it, you can't spend 24 hours a day with him.

2. If they are both neutered/spayed, it will make absolutely not the slightest difference. Once neutered, all those territorial instincts are gone, or at least most. If you want to play it relly safe, a female should give no trouble, but honestly, neither would another male.

3. I have never heard of any prefered ages for introducing them. Again, since they are neutered already, that should be fine regardless of age. I suppose they should be old enough to have been neutered and healed from that. And there is a chance that your chin might pick on smaller chins, so an adult might be best. But if yours is easy going, then no problems.

4. You will not need two cages permanantly, although you absolutely do need a second one at first. I really don't think there is a point to just give up. If they don't like eachother, fine. You'll just have to spend a bit moretime with the introductions on neutral grounds. And yet agian, the neutering will deminish any difficult problems.

5. I think for two, something more or less 2' tall, 2' wide and 1-2' deep should be fine, although that is a very general estimation. I always say the bigger the better.

6. That cage is just fine. Since it is a temporary home, and at most the chin will live there for a couple of weeks, I would not worry. Just be sure it has a wheel, and the chinny gets time out of the cage daily.

7. Not really. I have experience with introducing, rats in particular (but there isn't much difference when it comes to introducing them), introducing older males that were said to never be able to live with any other rats. You just need a positive atitude, patience, and time for the introductions. I have found that getting them together very briefly, a few minutes tops, but several tiems a day, maybe even 10 times, gets them used to eachother quicker without allowing tension to set in. So it's really your method.

8. As I've already mentioned, there is no point in which to give up. Keep your head up, and encourage them as much as you can.

9. I'm not sure what your asking. When you keep them in seperate cages at first, they should recognize eachother as chins, and interact in whatever way they do. Once their aggressive/threatening behaviour settles down, then start taking them out together.

10. Once they calm down, and live in their own cages normally without too much concern of the other one. As I said in 7, once they can be together, make brief meetings often. At first, it ight be a good idea to have someone else hold one of them, while you the other. Remember that fighting is necessary for all introductions, but it should not be horribley violent, just enough for them to establish dominance. Only you will know when they are ready to go onto the next step.

You can email me if you like, but I have never introduced chins. Still, I'll help you as much as I can.

Answer 3

I had a female and decided i wanted to get her a cage mate. she was about the same age 1 1/2 and i got her a young male about 1 year. he was smaller than she was. they were very playful together and laid together when they slept. but one day the female got a little rough and hurt him badly and he didnt make it =[ so both of the chinchilla should be about the same size and age for them to be safe.

if you chose a MALE he should be the same age

if you get a FEMALE the same size because females grow larger than males

I hope i helped =]

Answer 4

My suggestion to you would be yes, get another chinchilla. To introduce him to another, get a cage divider (or another cage and lace them next to eachoher) and allow them a few days to get used to eachothers smells. Swap their dust baths with eachother the day before you put them in the same cage or remove the divider.

I would suggest a young female, as it is a lot easier to introduce than another male!!! And i would suggest about 6 - 8 months old  - it isnt too hard to introduce a younger chin to an older one. And as long as they have enough space, then cage size doesnt matter much  -  as big a cage as you can realisticly have is always my suggestion!

That cage would be fine, just check that the chin cant get through the bars as they can squeeze themselves VERY small!

To tell if they are not going to get along just use common sense - It will be very obvious if they are not getting along.

And yes, letting them out together would be a very good plan especially as the first introduction - Neutral territory!

Answer 5

Yes, I would say get another chin as a companion. It is MUCH easier to introduce a female to a male, as males tend to fight and can fight to the death. Age does not matter if your chin is neutered because your female won't be able to get pregnant. Place the 2 cages side-by-side so the chins can smell each other, chat, and touch through the wires (the picture of the cage you showed is perfect). Wait 2-3 days and place the female in the males cage (NEVER place a male in a females cage). The picture of the cage you showed, if bought brand new, you can place the male in that cage and then the female, since neither chins scent is in it, and they will most likely get along because neither one has territorial rights. That cage is a good cage for 2 chins to live in happily. You may email me with any further questions at [e-mail]. Best of luck!