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Author Topic: Is my chinchilla lonely?  (Read 1661 times)

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Milliechinchilla

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Is my chinchilla lonely?
« on: July 31, 2017, 12:00:05 PM »

Hello everyone,
I got a 3 year old chinchilla about 6 months ago from a breeder who couldn't breed him. They said that he didn't get along with his male cage mate at the time and was getting bullied by the bigger females. I was wandering if he ever gets lonely as he used to be in a room full of chinchillas and now he's on his own. Sometimes he makes noises to himself when he's in his bed. I have read about getting another chinchilla and how bond them but I'm worried about him not getting along with the other one or being territorial. If a chinchilla fights with one chinchilla does it mean he fights with all chinchillas?
Thanks.
 
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GrayRodent

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Re: Is my chinchilla lonely?
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2017, 03:05:22 PM »
I think your chinchilla will do fine. Most actually prefer to be alone. All chinchillas take time to settle down and learn their new surroundings. For two weeks I recommend being very careful to not stress him out. You may want to run a fan in the room at night (but do not blow it towards the cage) to give him some background noise that will drain out all of the new and unusual noises and vibration that will take some time to get used to. The noises are probably related to that.

If a chinchilla fights with another it's not worth trying to pair him with another. The general rule is if there is fighting that results in fur pulling or bloodshed it is too risky to keep the chins together. They are capable of killing each other in a very short time.

Take to handling your new pet slowly, especially the first month you have him. Interact mostly through the cage until your pet will come to you. A 3 year old breeder is probably not going to be very tame or pet-like. He is going to require a lot of work and care. I've done this with a two year old chin that wasn't handled much. It was difficult the first 6 months but it was a great learning experience.
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I'm a programmer not a chinchilla breeder. I learn by asking questions just like you.

mb30

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Re: Is my chinchilla lonely?
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2017, 03:53:05 AM »
I had a situation where I had to separate my two chinchillas which lover together because one has to get surgery. After she healed and recovered I tried to put them with each other again and the chinchilla that didn't have surgery wanted no part of the other anymore.

I ended up buying another cage and had them side by side. The chinchilla that had surgery was clearly depressed about being alone. I ended up getting a male kit from a private breeder. The same day I brought him home I put the adult chinchilla with him and she instantly bonded with him and took on the role of a mother. I suppose I got lucky with that. They are now paired up and the other chinchilla loves happily alone.

I guess some warning signs of a lonely/depressed chinchilla would be sitting in one spot and staring. You can see it in their eyes too if they constantly look tired it may be a good sign of loneliness or depression.

This is just my own experience with loneliness or depression in chinchillas.
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