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[Valren]

I am new to the forum. I have had impersonal experience with chinchillas over the past ten years through a friend who used to have a breeding pair that were also her pets. I recently got two female ebony chinchillas that I absolutely adore. They have fantastic personalities and are a joy to watch bounce around.

It seems though, that all of the breeding information that I can find, is if you have a male and female that are bonded or that you want to bond and to be cage mates. My two girls are sisters and are about a year old and have never been separated. I do not wish to separate them now just to introduce them each to a male partner and have them bond to two new chinchillas. Are you able to use 'stud' males (not quite sure what the accurate terminology would be) and if it is possible to mate two non bonded chinchillas would my two girls be likely to kill one another's babies?

Thanks for any information! 

[GrayRodent]

There are several things to say here. One thing is you want to know where the chinchillas you are planning to breed come from. Do they have good bloodlines? If they are litter mates they should not be bred. A veterinarian or experienced breeder should be consulted to determine their breeding capabilities as well. Chinchillas must be fully grown before they are bred and other considerations such as size need to be taken into account or you risk having dead chinchillas. For instance a large male bred to a small female may produce kits too large to pass through the birth canal. Nutrition is another factor. I'm not saying you shouldn't breed but I am saying that you should be educated and prepared with the proper equipment and outlook before you attempt.

Here is a book that I recommend:
http://www.huggablepets.com/huggablepets/freebook.shtml
More articles and materials are accessible to CBO members as well.

I do not recommend breeding pets that you are dearly attached to. Complications can and do happen. Do not breed if you are not prepared to deal with complications to the kits or breeders. Do not breed chinchillas if you don't know their genetic background.

As far as introductions I recommend separating the breeders but after the males have been introduced. Never have multiple males in a cage with other female chinchillas in the room or they may fight each other. Never put a chinchilla together without properly introducing them or they will most likely fight and injure or kill each other. Having multiple cage mates is possible but very risky.

Personally I don't have experience breeding but I do help breeders on this board on a regular basis and have seen many interesting challenges arise. Be prepared. It would be great if others who have experience can comment as well.

[kageri]

Normally breeders use run breeding.  Each female has her own cage connected by tubes to each other.  The females wear collars to keep them out of the tubes and the male runs to each cage.  While it's the easiest and safest to maintain the chins don't really get to bond with anyone.  That's a main benefit of pair breeding.  It is possible to do colony breeding where there is one male to multiple females but it has the highest risk and really should not be tried without experience.  The females and male have to be very carefully chosen,  cage space versus kit safety is complicated, and they need monitored extra closely visually and weighed.  It is only occasionally done and mostly in other countries than the US.  Information can be found on some international sites.


You really do need more than happening to have a female in order to breed.  Preferably the chins will be judged at a show or their close family members were.  Color genetics need to be understood and you need the colors your chins came from.  Some colors result in dead kits if bred and some colors hide those colors.  Those aspects plus avoiding inbreeding is why nearly everyone says you should have a good pedigree on each animal.  Weighing to the gram needs to be done and cages designed to keep kits safe.  Then there are complications of getting pairs together like you were starting to think about but you also don't want a pair to just keep breeding repeatedly.  You have to balance their behavioral needs of not being pulled apart and put together too often and their physical health from breeding frequency when doing anything but run breeding.