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[Callifax]

Hello,

My boyfriend and I have a one-year old female chinchilla named Yuffie, and she is our baby - we give her lots of attention, but I still worry that she might be lonely while we are at work, or at night.  We've been thinking about getting a second chinchilla as a companion (and man, chinchillas are such great pets...).  Yuffie's cage is a very large, four-tiered habitat, so there should be plenty of room.  We also have an additional, smaller, three-tiered cage that we could use to keep the new chin in until we are able to slowly introduce them to each other.

My question is, is it a problem to introduce two new chins to each other after one is already established in a home?  Would it be more distressing to Yuffie, in the long run, rather than helpful?  I've also heard that chinchillas tend to bond better with their pet parents if they are housed alone, and tend to be more aloof with their owners if housed with others - has this been anyone's experience, or have they bonded just fine with paired chinchillas?

Thanks. 

[GrayRodent]

Although I've never owned a chinchilla before I have seen many remarks that chinchillas prefer to be on their own and that if you get a second chin it should be for your benefit not for the other chin. Would anyone like to comment on this?

[Marip]

i read somewhere that some chins can be depressed if they are alone introduce a chin to other it can be easy or difficult  it depends but you should buy a male unless you dont want to breed.

[lilchinchilla]

There are a lot of ways to introduce chinchillas. Some chins may never get a long, some get a long instantly, some take a little time. Best thing is to have a spare cage in case introductions don't take off right at first. I wouldn't recommend getting a male, unless you've done a lot of research about breeding first and know what you're getting into. With breeding can come a lot of responsibility. You're at a greater risk of troubles happening from breeding (c sections, breech births, hand feeding kits, fighting  when the female is in heat, uterine infections, etc..etc...just examples of things that can happen when you choose to have opposite gendered chins and they may mate/may not.), than just having two same gendered chinchillas as a pair.

I personally find chinchillas DO like the company of another chinchilla. As far as introductions go, the best one by far that has worked 99% of the time for me, has been to introduce chins in a neutral room (a room that neither chinchilla has been in before and has no reason to assert dominance or territorial behavior in.). Usually in the early morning hours, and usually with a quick snip of the whiskers to just an inch in length on the chinchilla who is accustomed to living with you/in your home already. Putting a dust bath in the room and a toy or something for them to bond over/play with together, helps too.

Usually, I monitor the chinchillas for a couple hours this way, and if there is no fur pulling, no chasing, fighting, etc... I will place them in the cage together and monitor again for another hour or two to ensure all is well. If you see fur pulling, chasing, fighting, spraying, then it is best to separate and try another method. I only ever had to separate once using this method over the years, and it was an overly dominant male who wouldn't accept any chinchilla no matter what.

If that doesn't work, there is numerous other methods, but usually that one works incredibly well and is used by quite a few breeders I know for pairing up chinchillas.