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[wvdreamer69]

We got our first baby Chilla in january, and the second Nilla about 2 weeks later (chilla seemed lonely). both are boys and were kept next to each other in seperate cages for a few days and let them have playtime and now they share the same home,   and they are best buds.. Well a few weeks ago my husband surprised me with a little girl..much much smaller than either of the boys when we brought them home, Willow is very affectionate but seems timid, her cage is also place next to the boys i've even let them play together COMPLETLY  supervised a few times and they were fine, no plans to breed so they are kept seperate. What i am wondering is if there is any way to estimate the age with the size of the chinchilla's? i got them from a petsmart pet store, and they had no info at all about their age, i keep very close track of how much they eat and how they behave and also of their weight and length..i can't seem to find anywhere that might show me a range..and that is my main concern at the moment is just having an idea of how old they may be so i can make sure their growth and development are on track...can anyone help?

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Very hard to tell age in chins.
Males tend to be smaller,as well as some colors.
Someone used to seeing all ages might be able to say one is under 6 months or one if full grown but that's about it.
They run around 3-6 months when the shops get them, they should be quarantined for a spell, so the youngest I figure you can get at a shop would be 3.5 months old. But most I've seen here seem full grown, and could be at the shop for 6 months.
I have never been able to get a shop  to tell me when the chins came in?
2 males in the same cage and a female in the room could be problematic::confused::
When she goes in heat they could fight to the death to get at her.You can't put her with one of the males until she's a good 8 months old. So you'd have to wait 3-4 at least.
Though many of us wait til 12 months, or over a certain weight.
They can breed in a flash so even letting them play together can be dangerous.
 I have heard of folks who've had no problems keeping males cage together with females around, but it doesn't work for me.
Just keep a close eye, and ear.

And congrats  some sweet ain't they

[wvdreamer69]

Right now one of our boys weighs close to 15 ounces and the other is just shy of 14 ounces, the little girl is only around 9.5 ounces.
Never really thought about having them close to each other..two boys fighting over the only female they will probably ever see...i thought at first i was completly wrong about the two boys....the newest boy who's name is "Nilla" seemed to treat the first "Chilla" well...um...like it was a female..but i soon found out it was a dominating behavior..like in the groups to show who's the leader..i was totally freaking out..i thought maybe he was confused haha.
But now i just call them "my boys" and they roughhouse and play like a couple of kids. i have thought back and forth about breeding and acutally right now have bred an giant english angora rabbit and am awaiting babies in the next 7 days . I just worry about babies going to homes that won't respect the fact that they aren't hamsters or gerbils. i know with the rabbits that you usually cannot have males together at all so i am prepared if the boys need to have their own space, but what about females, i have have female rabbits that do great together..any advice on that one? These are my babies..among the many others..human and not lol..and i adore them..i never imagined the little personalities that they would show..they are definatly a unique animal. One of my older babies had his picture taken so much..we'd always say "cheese" when we took the pic and now we hold up the camera and he'll come to his ledge and perch  just like we had him do to take the pictures in the beginning

[Debbie.nl.ca]

We have some problem here with rabbits!!! Our Bird & Small Animal rescued took in over 100 in 12 months. She had to stop taking rabbits.
Like chins folks think they are so cute as little bunnies, but the novelty wears off as the become full grown.

I have made some bad sales too, and have always tried to find them the best homes.
I'll never foreget the vet student I sold a male too.Company for another she had. I thought it was one of the best homes I could have found.
About 6 months later I get a call from another small animal rescue. She had put them out on her front step and called them to come get them before someone goes off with them. Said she couldn't take it anymore, they were fighting!!!!!
2 little chinchillas, I was shocked and took them both.

Females do much better as cage mates, though I have seen them fight too.It's a safer situation though.
They all have different personalities and just don't like someothers. LOL
I have 3 females that have shared a cage from birth, tried to add another but they didn't get along.
Though I can put any female kits in there until they go to their new home.


I weigh in grams so 15 oz is about 420 grams. I think they are all a little young yet.Most will be at least 500 gram full grown
about 18 ounces?? At around 12 months old.

[wvdreamer69]

i'm thinking now that the close cages really may have been a problem..the more dominate male has a scab on his left side, the hair is a little matted slightly moist , so i've been clearing it away and making sure its dry , doesn't seem to be sores, the skin is pink with no bleeding or oozing underneath, he is eating, drinking and playing just  fine..i do not have access to an exotic pets vet at all, so i am thinking he has either fought with the other male (there was an issue with a water bottle they decided not to share anymore and they were fighting about around a week ago over it..but mostly just chasing each other away and barking, they rarely argue about anything..but this was after getting the female. the other thing i was thinking was that maybe he had gotten wet from the water dripping at one point?? maybe it had gotten in that area and when the hair matted it caused it. But i am going to get a new cage and seperate them tomorrow...i hate to think of them being alone because they sleep snuggled up next to each other and definatly have fun playing together.
Our little girl is doing great, she's adjusting very well, but she seems content to just play with her own toys and not have to share.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Nothing wrong with have single chins in a cage, they tend to want their human partners more

Not sure what the wet could be on his side? Unless he did get a little nip and is licking it.
How wet was it?
They will pull out patches of fur when fighting.
Yes you will have to split them up if that is happening.