Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jessla]

Thank you so much for accepting me to your forum!  I am in desperate need of advice, and have been waiting all day to post!

I have 3 chinchillas.  Chinny was my first, but she seemed lonely, so I got her a friend named Bella.  They've been living together a bit less than a year, very happily.  My fiance and I recently purchased a ferret nation cage for them, which has allowed them to have a lot of space.  We would comment that maybe we could get a third chinchilla to add to the family.  Well, I saw a very adorable 9 month old ebony chinchilla at my local shelter, so we decided to take her in, and add her as a final member to the family, and named her Bebe.  We put them all in the bathroom for play time to see how they'd get along, and things seemed to be going very well.  They were all smelling each other and playing nicely.

So, we decided to put Bebe into the cage, since they seemed to get along.  Things were okay at first.  Bella and Chinny were resting together in their house, and Bebe was upstairs by herself.  She finally decided to come downstairs and perch herself on one of the downstairs perches.  Well, Chinny did not like that, and started bothering her, and then started chasing her around the cage.  So when Chinny went back downstairs, we put in a separator so that Chinny and Bella could not get to Bebe.  We put a towel to cover the cage separator, so that they wouldn't be able to see each other.

They seemed a bit frustrated that the top portion of the cage was closed off, but after a while seemed to be doing okay.  Bebe moved the towel over so that she could see them, and they looked at each other for a little bit, but didn't seem to be hissing at each other or anything.  Then we decided to bring them into the bathroom for some more play time, and this time Chinny kept attacking Bebe .  So we put them back in the cage separated.  I guess this was a bad idea, because after a while, Chinny became very grumpy.  She went into her house and wouldn't come out.  Then Bella would go over to Chinny, and she would make grumpy noises, like, "Go away!  Don't bother me!"

We finally decided to move Bebe into her own cage, because we obviously did not like Chinny being upset.  So I had to get a cage, that used to be used for a guinea pig a long time ago, to put Bebe into.  That's how they were for the whole night, and the whole night, Chinny just stayed in her house and would make grumpy noises whenever Bella would come near her.  Then, in the morning, when we woke up, Bella wanted to go to sleep as usual, with Chinny.  And Chinny would continue being grumpy and telling her to go away.

My boyfriend and I had to go to work... and now we came home, and Chinny and Bella seem to be even more angry at each other.  Chinny makes angry noises whenever Bella gets near her, and Bella attacks Chinny whenever she tries to leave her house now.  We're thinking about taking Chinny and Bella into the bathroom for play together to see what happens, and if that helps.  Then, tomorrow, once the pet stores open, we're thinking about buying another water bottle and food bowl, so that we can separate Chinny and Bella... but we have to wait until then, because we don't want to deny either of them either of those things (even though, right now, Chinny can't even leave her house ).

Please help!  I feel like such a horrible chinchilla mom!!!  I didn't want my chinchillas to all become so moody and angry and frightened .  And I don't want to return Bebe to the shelter, obviously, since she deserves a loving home.  But I don't want my other two chinchillas to be completely frustrated either!

I was really hoping they could all live together happily in a pack.  But I should have gotten so ahead of myself!  What have I done???

[Jo Ann]

   This sometimes happens when a new chinchilla is introduced.  Not all chinchillas will get along with all other chinchillas.  Each chinchilla has it's own special personality.  As it is with humans, when two personalities clash, it causes problems.
Also, you may now have two chinchillas with dominate personalities ... this can be trouble, unless one gives in to the other fairly soon and peacefully.

The bathroom was neutral territory, so they got along + you were right there to make sure they behaved.

The cage, on the other hand, was already claimed and Bebe was an intruder, rather than a guest, as far as Chinny was concerned.
 Also, there could be a jealousy thing going on between Bebe and Chinny ... maybe Chinny wants Bella all to herself.  This sounds like rivalry between children ...  ... you will find having chinchillas is much like having children.  (A good friend of mine told me her chins got her ready for the raising of her daughter.     )

First, are we positive that all three chinchillas are females?  (Sounds like a dumb question, but there have been so many cases I have seen where someone purchased two chinchillas of the same sex, only to find out later, they were really one of each sex.  In a few cases, they found this out with the surprise discovery of kits in the cage.    )

I have found female chinchillas to be more territorial than males, when it comes to housing.
The males tend to be very territorial with their mates.

As a general rule, it is easy to put a chin in a larger cage, but once they have become accustom to the larger cage, it is not as easy to put them in a smaller cage ... By separating the levels, you made Chinny & Bella's cage smaller ... this could be part of the apparent frustration and being hateful that you are seeing in Chinny.

Chinny became very grumpy.  She went into her house and wouldn't come out.  Then Bella would go over to Chinny, and she would make grumpy noises, like, "Go away!  Don't bother me!"

You have one ticked off little chin that is showing just how stubborn she can be.     They usually get over it with time.    Bella still has the scent of Bebe on her, this could be part of the problem.  I would let Chinny take a dust bath, then add Bella to the dust bath area ... here she will pick up more of Chinny's scent on her and loose more of Bebe's scent.

If Bella gets along with Bebe and Bella gets along with Chinny, you might try some reverse physiology.  Allow Chinny and Bella to play, then put Chinny in a small carrying cage and allow Chinny to see Bella and Bebe play.  Then allow all three to play ... anytime one starts to be "not nice", they will have to spend about 5 minutes time out in the small carry cage.   Chins will learn much faster than you might think.  This should work, IF it is just jealousy ... but if it is a conflict of personalities, then you are talking about a permanent separation, as far as cages go.  They can still play together (with strict supervision) IF they are nice to each other during play time.

This is some of the things I have found to work for me in the past.  I am sure there are others that will have other suggestions also.   

   Jo Ann

Keep us posted on the progress or lack of it.   

[jessla]

Thanks so much for all the advice.  As far as I know, they are all females.  I've never personally checked (I've just taken everyone's word for it).  Bella originally came from a breeder, and Bebe came from a shelter, where they were separated out by sex.  Also, my friend has checked Chinny and Bella out before.  So I am pretty confident they are all female.

Chinny and Bella seemed to play okay in the bathroom last night, but once they were back in the cage, it was back to hating each other.  I bought another water bottle today, so we're planning on completely cleaning out the big cage so that there's no more scent of anyone in it anymore, and separating Chinny and Bella for a little while until they cool off, into the upstairs and downstairs.

Bella and Bebe also fight.  We tried putting them together, and Bella attacked Bebe.  Poor Bebe, she seems like she has a very shy and meek personality while Bella and Chinny are very rambunctious.

I'll have to try the small carry cage thing.  I'm hoping it's just a jealousy issue and not a conflict of personality, especially since they got along so well until I put Bebe into Bella and Chinny's territory.  I just hate punishing my chins.  I'm much better at spoiling them .

Would it be okay to let Bebe use Bella and Chinny's dust bath?  Or should I get her her own?

[Debbie.nl.ca]

I have never had one turn down a dust bath no matter who was in there before, but.... the scent may stay in the dust so maybe a different container would be better.

Give them time too, they may learn to like each other.

If you'd really like them all to live in the same cage, take a break and try again. But give it weeks or months not hours & days.
I'd keep the new gal in a cage by herself until she was bonded with me before I'd let her meet other chins. That way she will feel more secure that you won't let anything happen to her.
There is always the chance they will never get along, and / or it's not worth the trouble & stress to keep trying.

It's not as easy as most folks think.

[jessla]

Well, the good news is that Chinny and Bella get along again, and we didn't even have to clean out the cage.  We had to go out today, so we didn't get a chance to clean the cage, and when we got back, they were friends again.  We cleaned out the cage anyway.  I also took a towel out of Bebe's cage that she was using, and put it into Chinny and Bella's cage so that they could get used to her scent.  They've been very interested in it, and sniffing it out.  But they're not bitter anymore, which is good.

I also placed Bebe's cage in sight of Bella and Chinny.  So hopefully soon they'll get used to her presence.  They're going to have separate play times outside the cage for now though.

I'm just glad that my chins aren't sad anymore .  I do hope that they will be able to all live in the same cage one day.

And I'll definitely take your advice, Debbie, to bond with Bebe first, before I try to bond everyone together.