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[Beth]

 I decided Louie needed to be checked for a hair ring, as he was frequently cleaning his genital areas (twice a day, that I saw).  I was told my chin was a girl by the saleslady and named her Lu Lu.  When I was doing "tough love" last week, I checked again and thought the saleslady was wrong.  After closer inspection just now, it's a girl after all!  Yay!  Lu Lu! 

I had to chase her a little to capture her in her cage, and she was mad.  I caught her by her tail and tucked her underneath my arm, but fought me the whole time.  When I shut her in the bathroom with me, she was soon climbing all over me and sniffing my face!  Good girl! 

I had to pick her up again to get her back in her cage, which she hated, but I'm relieved to know for sure she's a girl and definitely no hair ring there! Also, her feet look a little less pink and the fur may even be growing back.  If she can forgive me for picking her up twice today, we should be good to go for a while.  I'm just going to not try and pick her up, but let her come to me and give her time.  She's so sweet, she's never tried to bite me through all of the distress I've put her through lately.  What an angel.

[ChillinChinchillas]

Congratulations. Chins are very clean animals, so males and females can often be caught cleaning their "special parts". All of mine do it. It is the same thing as dogs so very rudely licking themselves in the presence of company!

[Jenova]

I had the same problem. The pet shop didn't know what sex Cheech was so we just decided she was a boy. She likes to lie on her back a lot on top of her box holding onto the top of the cage with all four feet/paws and I tried to have a look that way but she was apparently shy and moved whenever I tried to peek. When we bought Chong the breeders offered to come over and sex Cheech for us and she is a girl. Now I have seen one of each I should be able to figure out further sexings for myself, but it's pretty hard at first. I still can't tell with rabbits and I've had them since I was 11. I only know my Grim is a boy because the first day i got him he tried to mate with my head!

[Debbie.nl.ca]

  no I doubt you'll find a hair ring on HER
Too funny, but I sure remember learing to tell the sexes. It's one of those things once you've got it figured out you'll never forget how to tell.

[Leslie]

Are you absolutely sure that what you're looking at is a girl?  They look almost the same to someone who's looking for the first time.  Get this:

I bought a chinchilla from a pet store, and they told me he is a boy.  I brought him in to a vet about 6 months later for a regular check-up.  I found a vet in the yellow pages that said she specialized in "exotic animals"....this was the best I could do in my city!  I brought Ninja in, she looked at his genitals, and asked me if I was sure he was a boy.  She went and got a book (!!!) and looked again and advised me that my chin is a GIRL.  I was pretty surprised but I figured she knows best.  I went home and it just kept bugging me, cause I felt like I know my little guy, and I know he's a boy.  I called her up and asked her to look again.  I brought him in again, went through the stress of traveling with Ninja again, and she looks at him and asks me if it's the same chinchilla!  Like, I paid this lady $80 for a general check up, and she's asking me something like that???  She said he definitely is a boy.

Now I've had Ninja for over 5 years and I still question if he's a boy or girl.  I have never, ever seen him clean himself.  My other guy pulls it right out and has a hay day cleaning HIMSELF,  , but not Ninja. Well, he licks himself but no deep cleaning.  Also, Ninja is temperamental and often sprays urine.  Pretty much every day when I go to put him back in his cage, he lets out a puff or two of pee (usually I can just smell it, it's not a lot).  I think males do this, but isn't it more of a female thing?

I guess I'll never know for sure!  Crazy hey.

And just a quick continuation of the vet story:  my chin fur bites, and she had never even heard of this in chinchillas.   She was trying to tell me that he/she was fur biting as a nesting thing like rabbits do.  I had to educate HER!

I question why I even paid any money at the end of that visit.

 

[Beth]

Yeah, I would have been angry at that vet, too.  You should request a free visit if you have to go in again!  Yeah, I'm sure it's a girl.  I did a direct picture (from the net http://www.huggablepets.com/huggablepets/sexing.shtml) The weird "urethral cone" is what's confusing.  But (not to be crass) there's definitely another hole between that thing and the poo-hole!  Plus, I've never seen her hump anything, isn't that a common male behavior? 

I'm excited she's a girl.  I had gotten used to the idea, and love her name Lulu!  It's fabulous, just like she is! 

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Now that's a good point about seeing them cleaning IT.
A sure way to tell is pull back the foreskin, you can't an a female, but those males.......... well they are pretty long

[Sillychinchilly]

Pixel was Ares when my cousin first brought her to me from the pound.
Jo Ann helped me with that one.
I think mis-sexing a chin is pretty common. As long as you don't have two dif. sexes in the same cage, I guess its not a big deal, but I still like to know.

[Jenova]

Cheech was a 'boy' for ages, over a year in fact. It was so weird getting used to calling her a her.

[Leslie]

Now that's a good point about seeing them cleaning IT.
A sure way to tell is pull back the foreskin, you can't an a female, but those males.......... well they are pretty long

My chin is too nervous for me to do anything like that.  He already fur-bites - I don't want to make it worse.  I've also spent 5 year building up trust with him (it's been a slow and painful process), and I know for sure if I tried to check him, he would remember it forever and we'd be back to square one.

I've decided to just leave it alone, he can be a boy or a girl, he's still the same chinchilla to me 

[Debbie.nl.ca]

I've decided to just leave it alone, he can be a boy or a girl, he's still the same chinchilla to me