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[hippie]

Hi everybody, I'm new around here, (posting anyway) tons of great advice, this place rocks . But anyway onto my dilemma.....So...we've had Hippie since she was a baby (shes 5 now),I felt she was getting a little lonely since we're both working now and she would look so sad when we would leave the house . So I started looking around for a friend for her, I started looking about a year ago, I found Harry at the end of April. Hes almost 4. Now Harry has a back story....We are his 3rd home, the first one he was in the female rejected him, so they got another male and gave him to a friend . There he had a girl that didn't reject him, they had babies, but the people put them all outside and they eventually died  (it doesn't get that warm here), so my poor Harry was all alone and sad I'm sure. So they moved him back inside, to their boys room . They didn't handle him much, if at all, hes still pretty unsure when we go to love him, but he does want the attention (he jumps up on his cage when we walk by, runs up like he wants to be petted but doesn't know what to do when you start), and hes fairly rough, not a gentle boy. So apparently he was to much of a hassle and made to much of a mess.....so now hes mine er..ours..We brought him home and Hippy was so excited i thought she was going to give herself a heartattack . Their cages are next to each other about 4-5 inches apart, they sniff, seem to talk, and hang out where they can see eachother. So, we start the introduction process, they seem fine in eachothers cages, not tearing it up anymore than they would do to their own, so...about 3 weeks ago we thought maybe its time for them to try to play together. We took them to our room and let them go. They were fine for the first 15 minutes or so, then he started chasing her and pulling out fur, she got a few chunks out of him as well, so we managed to catch them and put them back. Once in their cages they were like fine again .  So we tried it again last night. The same thing happend, we though maybe they just needed to work it out, so we watched to see what was going on, who was starting it, whatever. He like stalks her, and when she gets close tried to jump on or at her, and then chases her. All she wanted to do was hide from him . I feel like the worst mom now. All I wanted was to get a friend for her so she wouldn't be sad or lonely anymore .  So I'm guessing Mr. Harry had some deep issues and doesn't like the Hippie.  So...is this normal? Do we just need to spend more time bonding with him, since this is his 3rd house? Is this just the way it is and they can just never play together? Any comments would be sooooo appreciated. O and thanks for taking the time to read my novel  

[Jenova]

Hiya.
Okay, I'm not an expert in the slightest, I've only just got my second chinchilla to keep my Cheech company and we're having the same sort of dilemma. What we've been trying is putting them in neutral ground, a very, very small cage, so they have to stay close to each other and are easy to catch if need be. We put both houses in there so they could go to separate ones (though they seemed to go into each others. They seemed fine for about half an hour then they started to go for each other, but maybe you could try that?

Hopefully someone else will be able to give you some better advice. But I'm glad Harry's got a new loving home, even if they just stay in cages side by side I'm sure both of them are much happier. 

[hippie]

lol I actually just finished reading your post I think thats a great idea, we'll have to get a smaller cage for them to go into, but at least it'll give the fur some time to grow back. I hope things work out for you guys as well

[chinclub]

So one is a male and one is a female, right?  He is wanting to breed! This is a very bad idea.  It sounds like you don't know much about this chinchilla and you don't want to breed chinchillas that you don't know the full history on.  I know this isn't what you want to hear but I would not put them together. 

[jmrothermel]

I have to agree with Jaime, with your limited knowledge of chinchillas in the first place, combined with no knowledge of the background, putting them together is a BAD idea.  Please reconsider.  Keep them in separate cages

[Asikovsek]

I also agree...you more than likely dont have pedigree's for your chins (papers that tell you their parents and grandparents history)....He is wanting to breed and she doesnt know him enough to let him....You shouldnt breed these chinchillas you dont know enough about thier history...if you do breed them you are making a very high risk...the male could have past genetic problems that may not have shown in him but could show in the babies..I always advise new breeders to start with a Pedigree pair...you dont want to bring babies into this world if they are going to have genetic problems...Again I am sure you dont want to hear this but if you are going to breed start smart with it...

[hippie]

O no  it was never our intention to breed them, even when we first got her I never wanted to breed her. I always thought if I wanted babies I would by a pair just for that. Shes never really gotten along with other girls, the breeder we got her from told us she would fight with the other girls (maybe the reason she was the last girl to be sold), shes not to fond of many human females either. So we thought we'd get a boy and luck out and have a non-breeding pair.....guess not  lol. We have no papers for either of them...I dont even know where Harry's first people got him.

[Stacy]

I would just leave there cages close to each other. That way they can still see each other but not have kits.

[Asikovsek]

Just don't keep the cages too close because believe it or not, chins can still mate if the cages are still close together. about 2 inches or more are around a safer distance. A friend of mine had a sister and a brother's cages too close and they ended up inbreeding...the kits were fine and luckily haven't developed any genetic problems, but it is very dangerous!!..and there is no such thing as a "non breeding pair"...if she has never become prego then she definitely will become prego at least once...after that it is the females decision whether she will have more kits or not, but all virgin females will become pregnant at least once, unless they are unfertile, which is rare, and is usually caused by genetic problems or under development

[Jenova]

What are your views on castration for male chins? I know anesthesia can be quite dangerous unless it is a very experienced vet, where it is still dangerous, but I have a book written by some breeders in the UK (if we assume they are telling the truth) that strongly recommend it.

I'm still not sure at all but I would be interested in hearing everyone's views.

[chinclub]

I am really against it unless you have a vet that knows what he is doing.  A lot of chinchillas develop problems later on if it isn't done correctly.  I read an article awhile back on what makes the surgery different for chinchillas from other small animals but it has been some time and I can't quite remember the details.

[Jenova]

Right. It's not something I want to do. I'm against it for all animals unless it's necessary.

[Abby W.]

I am usually in favor of spaying and neutering your animals.  But, in the case of chinchillas, I am completely against it unless there is some compelling medical reason for it.  It's just too dangerous for an animal so small and sensitive.