Hey guys. So I have a problem with a chinchilla getting along with new ones I just adopted. Her name is Sandy, and I got her when she was only a couple months old. At the time, I had an older chinchilla, Gabby, who was about 6 or 7. They bonded immediately, and Sandy looked up to her as a mother. Now, Sandy is about 4, and she is HUGE. Biggest chinchilla I've ever seen. Gabby had to be put to rest this past weekend due to a brain tumor and Sandy knows that something is wrong. I had to get her some new roommates, so I adopted a mother (aged around 4) and her two daughters (aged around 2.5). They are very sweet chinchillas, and they let me hold them and pet them and everything. Sandy, on the other hand, has developed quite a prima donna personality. She doesn't like being held or touched and this has worsened since Gabby died. I also have a cat who loved Gabby and never got along well with Sandy, but she gets along well with the new chins. Sandy likes to lunge forward in the cage at the cat sometimes, but when they're out running around, they seem to get along fine.
I brought Sandy to the owner's home, and let her run around in a pen with the three new chins and they seemed to get along well. On the ride home, she seemed distant. The three (obviously, since they are bonded) cuddled with each other while Sandy was off on her own, pouting. Upon bringing them home, I put them all together in a big four-story cage I have. At first it seemed fine, but before long, Sandy pushed her way into a wooden house that two of them were sleeping in, and they begin clicking. Then, she lunged forward, attacking the mother, and biting her! I stopped them immediately and things settled down. However, moments later, she attacked one of the children, and the mother was not having that. They sprayed and clicked and finally I just took Sandy out and put her in a separate cage. Seems like I have a problem on my hands...
Now, I understand what Sandy has gone through, losing her friend she has had all her life, and now these new creatures moving in to her home. Like I said, Sandy is seriously HUGE, and when Gabby was sick near the end, Sandy would walk all over her, almost bully her, even though they were close friends. I really love these new chins, they are so sweet, and I'm afraid Sandy's negative personality will rub off on them. I can't keep them in separate cages forever. I thought about taking the new chins, one at a time, and putting them in a pen with Sandy to try and acclimate them, but I am afraid for their safety, because Sandy could destroy them with her weight alone. So what is the best thing to do moving forward? How do I get them to all be friends? I've never had a problem like this with chins before, and I'm really at a loss. Below are pictures of Sandy (with the bars across her face), Nan (the mother) and the two sisters. Thanks for your help!
~ David
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Topic: Problem Chin! (Read 841 times)