Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Q & A => Topic started by: kaitlyncoaten on June 06, 2012, 03:53:36 AM
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So if k were to get 2 baby chinchillas from different people both roughly a month apart in age and date purchased would two females be able to live together right away or can females not live together at all? Or is it fine because they are young? Some one give me some advice and explain why you answered the way you did I don't want a yes or no I need to know why or why not and be able to go off of advice and such. Also if not ok is it ok to slowly introduce them than put them in same cage or.. What?
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I would also like to hear some opinions on this matter. I have a female who has been on her own here for a good 9 or so months and i have been really considering another chinchilla. I am aware of the whole introducing process. I just wonder if its worth it to take the risk of having two in different cages if they dont bond. Would it be easier with a baby or would the female i have now kill it? Im not sure if itd just be better to just stick with one or not.
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First I would like to reiterate the fact I am not a chin owner but am not new to owning exotic pets. If I'm wrong then someone please say something. However I think this is fairly common knowledge.
Will it work? It depends. Some animals do fine with others and some do not. This is true of all species.
When introducing chins the younger the better because their behavior patterns are set at a young age. For adults who are used to being alone it will be to be irritating for them to adjust. Now it may be they could be better off (preferring to have a buddy) after the adjustment but it depends on the individual which is why I have seen it stated that you shouldn't get a second chinchilla for the sake of the other chinchilla.
Putting two same-sex chins in a cage is actually commonplace and usually does not cause problems. Females can live together just as well as males can live together. However I have read case studies of adult chins killing each other unexpectedly but they are few and far between in both male and female pairs. Introducing an adult to a baby is still risky as is introducing two adults. The damage they can inflict on each other can easily become fatal. I recently followed a case where a nursing baby killed its brother (which is not typical but also not unheard of). I say this to demonstrate there is a risk whenever you have two chins together no matter what age or relationship and great care must be taken to watch for signs of fighting.
You must slowly introduce them and observe their behavior. Start with their own cages side by side (at least two inches apart so they are out of reach of each other) and observe. If they can reach each other at this point it could result in serious and deadly injury to face and limbs.
Some animals can be very aggressive and territorial and take longer to become accustomed to each other. Rule of thumb is a week. Also make double triple sure you are not accidentally pairing male and female or you get a different set of problems. If you are going to do this there are different techniques like swapping cages for a while or putting them together in a previously unoccupied cage once they are used to each other. This is because chins recognize their territory by their scent and will often attack the other for invading its own cage. There are other things you can do to help and a good method in this article:
http://www.huggablepets.com/huggablepets/addingchins.shtml
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Putting 2 males together is fine if they are compatible AND there are no females in smelling sight, or audible distance. If there are, the males will fight to the death for right to mate with a female they can't even reach. If you are really worried like i was, you could get separate cages but have them next to each other.
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I know females can be really territorial...i just wish there was a way to gauge just how territorial specific ones are. She certainly smacks my hand away alot hahaha
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2 males or 2 females can work at any age in any situation or not work...it really depends on the animals....2 males CAN be in a cage together in a room with females...I currently have 3 adult males I pulled from breeding that have been living together in the chinchilla barn next to a cage full of females not quite old enough for breeding and across from about 100 other chinchillas in breeding some who.have delivered...they have been together for months and I have done thus for 16 years.
Chinchillas are either going to get along or not opposing genders in the same room do not affect that. I had 2 males together for a year and they suddenly turned on each other before I owned females...I also had 2 boys who lived in my breeding tommy exposed to females peacefully 10 years
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Interesting...I always thought that the males would turn on each other in the case of a female. I house mine all separately.
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I have 150 chinchillas and have always kept all but a select few in groupings, often there is two females together, but I have several groupings of more than one male. it has more to do with the individual animal than the gender. It seems like if they will attack a same sex buddy they are very likely to also turn on an opposite sex buddy.... Those are the chinchillas I breed in runs, the others in colonies.