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[Nibbler]

So my husbands Aunt Lynn was a chinchilla breeder in Nor Cal. She bred for years and had up to 100+ Chins. Well we are down to 30 now. I have been fostering and adopting out small batches at a time. Right now I have 10 but 4 are claimed so that is nice. I kept a male female from the last batch because my male just paired up perfectly with her. The problem is I want to pair up my Male to another young male from this batch of fosters. 

Both males are mosaic and sadly all the info on the Chins was lost when Lynn passed. I have a feeling these 2 males could be related maybe father son. The first time they met was yesterday in the play room. They took a dust bath together they sniffed each other. BUT the older one did mount the young one a few times and the last time fur was pulled. SO I took them apart.

These are 2 of the sweetest Chins I have had out of the 20 fosters I took in so far. Lynns Mosaics are so sweet all have had the best temperments.

So I have read that boded pairs can turn on each other for no reason after years of living together. This scares me. How often have you had a chin turn on his male cage mate? Could having a female around cause the paring of males to not go as well?

I have so many Chins to pick from it is hard.



One more thing. Can I keep 2 males in the same room as 2 females? Or will they fight when a female goes into heat?

[GrayRodent]

It is possible for chins to turn on each other but it is rare and usually there are signs before a serious fight occurs if you're paying attention to their behaviors. I've heard of this happen on occasion. It does happen though. I've never heard of it happen to breeding pairs though.

Fur pulling is usually a danger sign so it's good to keep those separate. As far as the males fighting over females I've heard conflicting anecdotes from breeders. Some say it's possible and others say it's unusual. I think a lot of this depends on the individual animals and comes down to be observant.

[Nibbler]

Thanks. They were getting along well for the most part. I think the problem was... I had them in my older ones play room. They were right under my older ones cage when it all happened. Also my older males female friend was in the cage just above them. SO I am going to try again in a room both have never been in and see how that goes. No female around. I also have another clean cage they have both never been in. I am going to try again but keep a close eye.

I just love both of these Chins and I want to make it work. If I can not keep them in the same cage fine I will do separate cages. I just do not want them to get lonely they have never been without another chin.

[Nibbler]

So I paired up these 2 males. The younger one makes this little baby sounds. It is a quite cooing sounds to let the other male know he means no harm. He did this cooing sound with another male I put with him. It was so cute because as soon as he started making this sweet sound the other male left him alone and the snuggled together.

Potato and Nibbler. Nibbler is the bigger one I have had a bit longer. Potato is the smaller one I just rescued. Here is what I did.

So I let Potato out in the room where nibbler was in the cage. They saw each other. They met once before it went ok but not perfect. This morning I put both the males in a small cat carrier and drove my daughter to school with them in the carrier. I took the long way home after I dropped my daughter off. So they were in the car 30 min. When I got home I took them out in the bathroom a new place neutral territory and let them take a dust bath and explore. All went well but Nibbler did in a non aggressive way told Potato to get out of his face. As this point Potato made is little baby sounds and went on his way. No harm done. After about 20 min exploring the bathroom I moved them to a neutral cage one they had never been in. They were fine in the cage no aggression at all no problems. Potato might have sneaked in a little mount on Nibbler but Nibbler did not car. Now they are in the corner of the cage Butt to Butt sleeping next to each other.

I know it is still early but I think this might work out. Fingers crossed.

[Nibbler]

I am just going to turn this into a blog of how it is going between Nibbler and Potato.

So in the cage after the bathroom they got along well. There was one little bark off no big deal just talk. So I took them apart to cool off. They were stressed. I waited a few hours and put them park together in a new cage all clean again. This time my bigger one Nibbler is trying to make friends. He is showing respect if he gets barked at. He even tried to groom the smaller one Potato. Potato allowed it for a little than turned away. No bark.

They ate hay together this time right next to each other face to face. They took a bath and have been really good. I think Nibbler my first one is excepting his new little friend who could be his son or grandson. These were all from the same breeder. They are sleeping right next to each other as I type.

If I can make this work I will be so happy. These are 2 great little chins. I am keeping a very close eye on them. My whole day has been dedicated to getting these 2 to bound.

[GrayRodent]

That's great. Sounds like it's coming along nicely.

[Nibbler]

day 3 and it is all good. They sleep together all the time. They get perfect. I moved them from the temporary cage to the forever cage. They are so happy. I have them out running around together and they are being so cute.

They seem to like each other better than nibbler liked his female friend. I tell you what 2 boys are trouble. They are always looking for trouble. I love it! I had rabbits in the past. I had hamsters and guinea pigs. I took care of prairie dog too. Chinchillas  are my number 1 rodent followed by the prairie dogs. When you get 2 awesome chins that get along it's awesome.

[Nibbler]

I freaked out today because this morning I went into check on them and did not see them. Turns out they were both smashed in the little hut together. Nibbler never in that before. He would never go in there with Sassy.

2017-09-23_09-36-31 by Sarah  Ireland, on Flickr


Here they are after one day being together.
2017-09-23_09-39-20 by Sarah  Ireland, on Flickr

[GrayRodent]

Both accounted for! That's cool.

[Nibbler]

UPDATE. These 2 are BFF's they are so cute together.

Here they are getting ready for play time out of the cage.
BoyCage by Sarah  Ireland, on Flickr

I love these 2.
20171018_220344 by Sarah  Ireland, on Flickr

Chinchilla pile
20171023_155244 by Sarah  Ireland, on Flickr