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[terezavictoria]

Hi,I'm a chinchilla pet owner from Portugal so I apologize in advance for any english mistakes.
In the past year I've bought a male chinchilla and recently I decided to get another one,so I bought his brother.
They're about 1 year old.
I keep them in separate cages that are now really close to each other.They seem okay,however some times the new chinchilla "barks" at the other one.
I've tried to let them out for their daily walk together,but it didn't really work well.They chase after each other and make kind of barking noises,they also seem to "nose fight"(they stand in front of each other and move their noses in circles).
They don't bite each other and there's also not hair pulling.
What should I do now?Are their behaviours normal?Are they just trying to figure out who's the dominant one?

[GrayRodent]

Yes that is normal. Sounds like they could be ready to be combined. How long have the cages been in the same room together?
Normal behavior is going to also include dominance mounting, where they will get on top of each other like they are mating. You should see this when they are together as well.
If they start pulling hair and you see fur flying they must be separated but noises, chasing, and mounting is normal.

[terezavictoria]

Thanks for your reply.
They've been in the same room for about one month.

[GrayRodent]

If I were you I'd try it and see what happens. A month is normally plenty of time.

[terezavictoria]

But I should try to put them in the same cage?

[GrayRodent]

Combining chinchillas is always at your own risk.

A month is more than the normally recommended two week introduction period. Watch for hair pulling and large fur slips. If that happens separate them.
When you put them together you can expect a lot of activity, noise, chasing, and mounting. They should start grooming each other.
Make sure one is not constantly hounding the other and denying access to food and water.
They should settle down in a few days. Make sure you monitor them closely once the sun sets as at that time they become more alert and their behavior can change. I recommend combining them in the daytime when they are calmer and monitor them for a few hours.

[terezavictoria]

Okay, I'll try to join them tomorrow morning.Should I clean the cage(my first chinchilla cage) they're going to be intensely ?
Should I double the amount of toys,houses,etc in the cage?
Thank you a lot for your help

[GrayRodent]

There's no problem with doubling up on toys and mini houses. Cleaning is good but I'm not sure if there's a real benefit to it. They're going to work out a pecking order but it could take several hours.

Your welcome.

[terezavictoria]

Oh.I mencioned the cleaning thing because I had people telling me that the odors should be minimized.
Me keeping them apart for a month in the same room may affect the end result negatively?

[GrayRodent]

From what I know about my two chinchillas it is my opinion that odor isn't going to be the driving factor. Clean your cage. I'm not sure if it will have an effect or not. What's really going to drive it is the personality between the two animals. You have done everything reasonable to do already. The only way you're going to know for sure at this point is to just go for it and observe.

[BLS Chins]

Odor isnt a big factor but ownership of the cage can be an issue. Thats why cleaning and reorganizing the cage is advised. That way neither chin has 'home terf' claim. It reduces the chance of a territorial fight. Intros are best done in the morning rather than the evenin. If you notice any hair being pulled then separate. Mounting and some noises are normal, just keep them in a room where you can monitor them.

[terezavictoria]

I've decided to keep them apart.
Before putting them in the same cage I tried one more daily walk together and it din't went very well.
There were no fights or hair pulling,however my first chinchilla,Orpheu appeared to be very stressed(fur slip) and he's not doing very well since then.So I decided that is safer to keep them apart.Thank you a lot for your help.

[terezavictoria]

Another question
Is it stressfull for them to be in the same room?Or  should I keep them in diferent rooms ?

[GrayRodent]

I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping them in the same room. In my setup I have a cage with a divider to keep my two separate so they actually live in the same cage. I fully expect they will settle back down within a few a hours.