Boy meets Girl

[LindyLu]

So I got my lonely Dewey boy a young female friend.
Daisy is in her own cage right now, near to Dewey's cage. They enjoy watching each other. Tonight I let Dewey out of his cage to run in the room...he ran up to Daisy's cage, and they were "kissing" through the bars. Dewey never left Daisy's side. I think they are going to get along great and would like to get them in the same cage fairly soon.
However...
The pet shop guy said Daisy was between 6-8 months old, but he didn't have an exact birth date.
I've read that you don't want a female to get pregnant until she is at LEAST 8 months old. Supposing Daisy IS 8 months, I wouldn't worry about getting her into Dewey's cage pretty soon. But if she's only 6 months, I'm thinking I may want to keep them in separate cages (and apart at play time) for another 2 months ...just in case.
But then again...
how likely is it that they will breed immediately upon getting together?
I have read some of the breeder threads and people saying their chins didn't mate for a year or more.
I KNOW Dewey is fertile because he's had kits before with his previous mate (in the care of his previous owners).
Obviously, I have no way of knowing if Daisy is fertile or not yet.

What do you think?
Is it too risky to put them together within the month?
How likely do you think they are to try to breed immediately?

(I'm not TRYING to breed them. I mostly just wanted Dewey to have a mate because he was lonely and didn't go for a male friend. If they do breed, it's fine though).

[cusunfireguy]

Well, when I put my young female in with my male, they did breed fairly quickly.  Total mistake on my part as I was a newbie, thankfully it all worked out fine.  If you do put them together soon and they happen to breed quicker than you would like, have a good vet on standby.  You may even want to get in contact with someone more experienced with chins that could give you a better idea of how old she is.  Congrats on the new chin!

Steven

[LindyLu]

Thanks. I could probably call the chinchilla guy at the pet shop and ask him to contact the "supplier" of this chin and see if he can find out an exact age. I guess another thought would be to have Dewey neutered. I just don't trust the vets around here though. The vets that SAY the know exotics & chins are rare, and still seem undereducated to me. Dewey has had 2 vets since last June... the first told me to feed him "roughage" and encouraged inexperienced breeding! I switched vets, and the new one seemed better but then didn't REALLY help or know what to do for my boy Schroeder and he ended up dying. So now I want to look, yet again, for an exotics vet - but not sure I'm reaady to trust them with a surgery right off the bat!
I feel like chinchilla's are like a secret underground world in my city. Like few people own them, there are no breeders listed online at ALL, few vets treat them, many owners don't know much about them even though they bring them home. (Schroeder was a rescue from a guy who kept them in pretty poor conditions). It's weird.

[cusunfireguy]

That's really sad.  It just kills me that doctors really have no idea when it comes to chins.  We were lucky when we were in Denver to have a fantastic vet.  He was Dr. Anderson and he was on the show Emergency Vets that is on Animal Planet.  I haven't found one yet in Charlotte although any vet here would have a hard time measuring up!

Steven

[LindyLu]

Understandable!
I think another frustrating factor in searching for a new vet, is that I can't talk TO the vet until I SEE them. I only get to talk to receptionists who say "yeah, he/she treats chinchillas" but I can't ask "how many times has he neutured a chin?" because the receptionists wouldn't know.... she just speaks highly for the vets in the office. So not until I fork over $50+ bucks to actually MEET the vet, will I know much about him/her. And even then, just because they SAY they have plenty of experience with chinchillas....how do I know that THEIR idea of "plenty" and MY idea of "plenty" might not be 2 totally different things? *sigh*
Guess my best bet is to contact the guy at the pet shop and ask him if he can get a more exact birth date on my little Daisy girl.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Do the thumb test on her first. Lift her tail and place you thumb just under it. You will feel a hollow that should be just big enough for your thumb to rest in it comfortably.
This means her pelvis is delveoped enough to born kits.
If you can't she is too young to breed and I would wait a few months.

[LindyLu]

Just under her tail....so my thumb is on top of her privates? Yesterday I checked her to see if she was in heat. (I saw some pics online showing the vagina opened vs. vagina closed). From what I saw, her vagina was closed...no milky discharge or anything. So there is a good chance she's still pretty young. I also read something about a female needing to weigh 500 grams before getting pregnant.... is this accurate? I don't have a scale, I should get one.

In the meantime, although she's in a separate cage, she is doing "the job" of keeping Dewey company. He's been much more active and playful since she arrived. So as long as they are both HAPPY I don't mind keeping them seperated a few more months.

[LindyLu]

Tonight I took a picture of Dewey & Daisy kissing through the bars on Daisy's cage (Dewey was running in the room).



I just thought it was cute & wanted to share.

[cusunfireguy]

Totally adorable!! 

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Well how cute is that,he's doing the stand too. Got his little bottom tucked in close, right ready to mate.  
Won't take those two very long  

[Jo Ann]

Do the thumb test on her first. Lift her tail and place you thumb just under it. You will feel a hollow that should be just big enough for your thumb to rest in it comfortably.
This means her pelvis is delveoped enough to born kits.
If you can't she is too young to breed and I would wait a few months.

Do remember ... everyones thumb is a different size ... this "scale or measurement" is based on the average man's thumb ... if you have small hands, it is not as true a measurement. And you will need to make allowances.  

Is it too risky to put them together within the month?

Without knowing more, I would not, but that's my personal opinion.  

(I'm not TRYING to breed them. I mostly just wanted Dewey to have a mate because he was lonely and didn't go for a male friend. If they do breed, it's fine though).

Anytime you put a male and female together, you the take the chance/possibility of producing kits, if they are both fertile..

How likely do you think they are to try to breed immediately?

Will they try? He probably will ... it's in his nature. Will it be successful? Depends on both of the chinchillas.
(1) If she is or is not in season at this time.
(2)  If both are fertile.
(3) If they both remain agreeable, after being put in the same cage ...

I've had ones that have connected the first day and some a few weeks/months later ... one pair did not produce a kit until 7 years after being put together ... and that was the only kit they had ... they have now been together over 10 years.

You might want to think about getting a proper whelping cage before putting them together ... with a litter of only one kit ... sometimes, it is hard to tell she is even pregnant.
The 500 + grahams is almost a must for the female ... for it to be safe pregnancy for her.
As a rule, it is best if the female is larger than the male ... for the odds to be in her favor, for a safer delivery.
  But ... it's your chinchillas and you must decide ... we can only give you advice, according to our years of experience.

  Jo Ann

BTW They are adorable in that picture!

[LindyLu]

What exactly is a whelping cage?
Have a picture?