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1

Q & A / Re: Playing or fighting?

« on: September 20, 2016, 09:53:20 PM »

Thank you! They cuddled up earlier and slept like that for a good 20 minutes. It was really cute! They're both still eating and drinking, so I think that's a good indication that this isn't too stressful on them. They're both tuckered out right now, sleeping on their own chin-chiller stones. I hope that they can live together, seeing cuddling chinchillas is pretty much the cutest thing you could possibly see.

2

Q & A / Re: Playing or fighting?

« on: September 20, 2016, 04:42:46 PM »

Are you absolutely sure they are two males? Spraying is unusual in males. Not unheard of, but that's usually a female trait. You may want to double check. Of course when males groom themselves it's pretty obvious they are male.

Yes, they're both males. I've seen them both groom themselves. Usually when they do the little circle dance thing, it's followed by mounting. It kind of looks like they're trying to see who can mount who first. I separated them last night when I went to bed. Opened the entire cage back up to them both today, no serious chasing. They both groomed one another and shared a little pile of crushed rose hips without squabble. Sharing food and water. They did their circle dancing again. Usually when they mount, it's for a few seconds and then they popcorn off of each other. But does trimming whiskers help? They're both still in the cage at the moment, doing their own thing. Not seeking each other out.

3

Q & A / Playing or fighting?

« on: September 19, 2016, 10:41:15 PM »

I've got two males. Pip, I've had since February. Kylo, I've only had him since July. I did the side by side cage method, and they did fine. No spitting, trying to bite through cage bars or anything. During the first play times, Pip would do the mounting. Now during play times they both try and mount each other. Though, It's not constant. They'll do it here and there. For the past month, I've had them separated in the two story Critter Nation cage. Before I did that, I tried letting there together to see how they'd react, Pip would try and mount Kylo, who would then rear up and try and spray Pip. So I stopped that immediately. But tonight, after deep cleaning the cage, getting brand new liners, I've decided to open up both levels of the cage to them both. Of course, there is the mounting here and there, no severe chasing, no fur flying, no blood shed. They both have their own food dishes, water bottles and hay bins, which they've been eating and drinking out of each others. A couple of times when one tries to mount the other, they stand up and looks like what I'd call dancing. They're standing up and dancing in circles. Is fighting between chinchillas completely obvious? Am I being paranoid? I know that they can decide to fight to the death and it can get grim real quick. They've been grooming each other, little squeaks and kacks while getting groomed. I get involved after a few seconds when they mount, dance and/or kack.

They've been in the open cage together for a few hours now. They're not actively seeking each other out, but I just want to know if they're truly fighting, if it's completely obvious. Does this sound like they're getting along? Oh, and Kylo even humps Pip when he mounts him. I read about trimming whiskers, but have been on the fence about that. I plan on separating them when I go to sleep until this weekend due to me having to get up and get my son ready for school. Any insight, tips, personal stories would be appreciated!

4

Q & A / Female housed with two males?

« on: August 03, 2016, 07:44:46 PM »

I haven't gotten a female yet, and I know housing her in the same cage with a male who isn't neutered would result in babies. I do not want to breed, I feel that that's something I would only consider after owning chinchillas for quite awhile. So now that that's out of the way, I want to know if I would have to house my two male chinchillas separately if I brought a female into our home? I've heard that males often fight for breeding rights. My males aren't even housed in the same cage yet, we're still working on bonding them, it's going well, just taking our time with them! I've just found someone who is looking to re-home their lovely girl, and she is LOVELY. But I'm hesitant on bringing a third chinchilla into my home when the two I have aren't completely bonded just yet. If anyone has experience with this or any information, I'd be happy to hear it!

5

Q & A / Re: Introducing cinchillas

« on: July 19, 2016, 09:30:45 PM »

Yes, they're both male. Pip has tried to pee on me once, but it just dribbled down in front of him, hasn't done it since. But I will definitely slow the introductions down. Kylo is still really small and pretty young. Thank you guys!

6

Q & A / Introducing cinchillas

« on: July 19, 2016, 02:51:39 PM »

So another chinchilla forum I've been a member of, seems to like to ignore anyone with questions. Anyhow, here's my questions. I've had my little Pip for about 6 months now, he's a very sweet and loving guy! We got him from a pet shop, (I know, bad bad bad!) But he's had no health issues, and is doing really well! I'm going to guess that he's now a little over a year old. Recently we've gotten a second chinchilla, same place that we got Pip, his name is Kylo. Now I've read the basic "how to" on introducing a new chinchilla. Though, the things I'm reading doesn't seem to be the norm of what to expect when introducing them. A few things were. When putting their cages side by side, they weren't really interested in each other. No barking, trying to pull/bite at the cages, no reaching out little hands or anything. Not even a sound out of either of them. So we did the nose to nose meeting, again, nothing. Just looked like they were kissing. When we got to the point of letting them in a neutral area to play, with chew toys and a dust bath in the middle, they sniffed each other, jumped around and Pip mounted Kylo a few times, but he wasn't biting. Nor fur flying. But Kylo doesn't like it when Pip jumps on him. Kylo is quite a bit smaller than Pip is, he seems to be younger too. Pip wasn't chasing him a lot at all, and sometimes Kylo would mount and chase back. But it was for about 2 second intervals from either of them chasing. Kylo is already nervous because he's new to the house, so maybe we should have waited longer, especially since he's not completely used to us. But at one of the play times, Kylo reared up at Pip for mounting and looked as though he was going to try and pee on Pip. When they jump on each other, how do I tell what is fighting and what's not fighting? There's no kacking or biting, but it all happens so fast. We're prepared to have them live separately if needed, they still are right now just to be cautious. Maybe we should wait longer to have them play together again? If they stand up and go nose to nose, is that good? I've just been watching to make sure neither of them start biting, which, they haven't been done so far.

Oh and Pip has been housed with 2 baby chins at the shop, but they were adopted instead of him. Kylo was housed with another chin for awhile, and they were cuddling and all that when I got him. Should I wait until Kylo is comfortable with people and THEN try to get him to be comfortable with Pip? I know this can be a lengthy process, so it doesn't bother me to have to take my time with it. Does it sound like they could eventually be friends? Or does this sound like I'll have to house them separately?