Just thought I'd let you know that I have started the bonding process. They've been going in each other's cages for a while so last night I put them all in a rabbit sized carry case together. A few squeaks but nothing too bad. They were starting to get a bit stressed by the lack of space so I transferred them all to Chong's (dad) cage. To my surprise the first fight was between Snake and Chong, but after that both the babies and Chong were intermittently fighting. Nothing too serious I should add, just fur pulling, squeaking and squaring up to pee (you know where they stand up as tall as they can and kind of stick their crotch out at the other chin) but no actual peeing.
Cheech (mum) was just wondering about chewing things and even though the babies started to attack her when she came close she still stayed her normal laid back self. She really is a special chinnie. She pinned Chong down and groomed him and he groomed her for a little bit too. Chong also tried to mount all the girls which they weren't to pleased with...
I then put the door of Chong's cage against the door of the girls' cage so they could all wonder between the two but Chong seemed a little scared of them and just stayed in his cage in his box attacking anyone who cam near, even Cheech. So I stopped the bonding then.
24 hours later (tonight) I put them all in my new cage (which is almost finished!). There was a little bit of fighting but Chong just wanted to avoid them all by going to the opposite end of the cage to them. And it's a big cage... I left them in there for a few hours but to be honest I think it's too big to bond them in. I really need them to be in a small space like the carrier but they get stressed being in such a confined area and concentrate on trying to get out rather than each other. Oh, they've also shared a few dust baths with no fighting other than the scrap of four chinchillas trying to get into a bath that fits two at the most.
Chong is also missing a big clump of fur from his bum.
I'm now deciding whether to give them a day or two break before I try again and also where best to do the next introduction. But all in all I am very happy with how it's going. There have been no major fights and no one is too stressed.
I'll keep you updated.
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Topic: The bonding has begun... Update: Reply #13! (Read 4016 times)