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Author Topic: First Time Poster  (Read 1535 times)

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Ross J

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First Time Poster
« on: January 01, 2012, 07:49:09 AM »

Hi Guys,

As the title says this is my first time posting on here. I've had a wee look around the site already and I'm very impressed with how helpful you guys are. My partner and I have 2 boys, Charlie (who is neutered) and Frankie (who is not), both of them are around 18 months old. This is my first time having chinchillas, we originally got Charlie on his on from Dobbies Garden Centre. The problems we endured through getting him from them were, to say the least, unprofessional on Dobbies part. Charlie was originally sexed by a member of staff (who owned his own chinchillas) as a female, he was also, unfortunately, suffering from ringworm which did not surface until about 5 days after we got him home. We got him treated at the vet and he made a full recovery. We then moved house and decided it was an idea to get Charlie a cagemate. So we sourced a recommended breeder who gave us a choice of a couple of males around the same age. We made our choice and off we went with Frankie. We had read up on so many websites about on how to pair so we were doing it slowly (stiill are) we have the cages next to each other and we get them out together on the upstairs landing. Charlie was very aggressive initially towards frankie and after a couple of months we decided to get Charlie neutered as he was the main aggressor. Since then we have had them out together and Frankie has now totally changed, he is now acting the more "alpha" of the two. Now my questions to you guys are:- Is it easier to pair males with females? How much of a "tussle" will males have to establish dominance? the posts i have read on here seem to always be males being paired with females as opposed to other males. We really are struggling to get them together so any advice would be greatly appreciated. To be honest I have been mulling the idea of possibly getting Frankie neutered aswell so we can get a female each for them.

Thanks guys I look forward to your replies  :)

P.S Frankie is currently under investigation at the vet as he has been having the odd Seizure now and then.

Cheers

Ross
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chinclub

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Re: First Time Poster
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2012, 03:21:33 PM »

Hi Ross, welcome to the forum!  We are glad to have you here. :)

 I hope you have a great vet that is very knowledgeable about chinchillas because they can have some bad problems after neutering. I would not suggest having the other chinchilla done.

Females are actually the more dominate and males are easier to pair together than females.  Chinchillas are just used to pattern and stability and don't like change.  Any chinchilla at that age will usually fight having a cage mate.  Once they have lived alone for so long they like being alone.  I often have people contact me wanting a friend for their adult chinchilla and I tell them the same thing I am going to tell you.  If YOU want another chinchilla for YOU it is a good idea.  If you want another chinchilla for your CHINCHILLA then don't do it.  The chinchilla will be stressed with the change and it doesn't always work out.

If your chinchillas are not getting long don't stress them by adding more chinchillas.  Just keep them in side by side cages and enjoy them.  They don't need a cage mate to be happy.

Lets look at how to better get your two boys to like each other.  What exactly are they doing that you call the "alpha male"?  It could be that you are interpreting normal behavior as a problem.  Chinchillas will bump noses and bark at each other a lot.  They will jump on each other's back a lot.  (both males and females will do this).   No matter what sex chinchillas you have (same sex or opposite sex) they will have to agree on who is the boss of the cage.  In some situations one chinchilla is happy to step down and bonding happens in minutes or days.  Usually you have two chinchillas who both want to be boss and you will see them each taking turns being alpha.  This is a personality thing not a hormonal thing. It cane take weeks or months for them to live together. You just have to let them work it out for however longs it take until they come to an agreement.  

You are doing great letting them out in a neutral place.  If they are are rolling around fighting and pulling hair you need to step in.  If they are nose to nose barking and mounting each other you need to step back and let them do their thing.

Tell us a little more about what your boys are doing and we can suggest some ways to help.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2012, 03:25:31 PM by chinclub »
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 Walterboro, South Carolina

Ross J

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Re: First Time Poster
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2012, 05:28:45 PM »

Hi, Thanks for the reply  :)

Well to try and cut a long story short, before we got Charlie neutered (ours vets have been superb, couldn't be happier) and we got them out together in the hallway, Charlie would always chase Frankie around and lunge at him, the occasional fur slip has happened but nothing major and no injuries have occurred. Since Charlie has been neutered (we left a good 3-4 months before we got them out together after the operation) Frankie is now the one lunging at Charlie. Again no injuries but they are both very jumpy and wary of each other for some reason so there is no real scope for nose bumping or mounting. If we hold the chins and move them towards each other Frankie will try and mount Charlie but Charlie seems more interested in trying to bite at Frankies fur. Currently as I speak, they are both awake and Frankie is being extremely talkative through the cage and Charlie seems more interested in his tail!

As for the jumping on each others backs, I haven't seen this happen because they are so wary of each other. Frankie was extremely wary of Charlie before we got him neutered mainly because Charlie would lunge at him almost all the time.
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chinclub

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Re: First Time Poster
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2012, 06:14:07 PM »

Sometimes it can take a long time to get chinchillas together, but some chinchillas just don't ever want a cage mate once they are grown. They just get set in their ways.  ::shrug::
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 Lowcountry Chinchillas
 
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Lori Ramsey Earle

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Re: First Time Poster
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2012, 06:25:15 PM »

In my opinion, you'd be taking a chance with having Frankie neutered - looking at it from the anesthesia viewpoint. If he's having the odd seizure now and then, I'd be wary of putting him under. For the record, I've had very good luck with some of our males being neutered, but the seizure factor here worries me...
Lori
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Ross J

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Re: First Time Poster
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2012, 06:32:41 PM »

Yeah that's what I've read alot. In all honesty we haven't tried THAT long to be fair. Could just be a case of breaking down Charlies barriers slowly and carefully. Frankie came from a breeder and Charlie came from a pet store/garden centre. The one thing I will ask though, should I be giving them time in a smaller area than my top landing? I have a porch which is roughly 3ftx3ft so that'd be more close quarters if you like. My thinking behind that being that there wouldn't be alot of room for chasing each other. We'll keep at it as I seen one post on here saying it took 6 months to pair a couple.

P.S - trying to upload a photo of them but can't seem to get it below 128kb. any tips? I'm totally new to forums

Thanks again!

Ross

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Ross J

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Re: First Time Poster
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2012, 06:34:34 PM »

Hi Lori  :)

Yeah I think we have too totally rule out neutering Frankie due to the seizures. We still don't know whats causing them but fingers crossed we can help him soon

Ross
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