I know its done that way in other animals (dog and rabbits and such) but chinchillas don't work like that. It can take weeks for chinchillas to accept each other and be able to live in the same cage. Then, they need to bond before the female will let him breed. This can take anywhere from a month to a year. Once they have lived together long enough to breed they are already bonded. Once you separate them the male will become very depressed. Some males will even stop eating and eventually starve to death and die.
