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[Elvisthechinchillasmom]

Good morning! I'm a newbie here with a question. I'm not new to chinchilla's, but I'm new to having more than one chinchilla. I've had my guy, Elvis, for about 3 months, and recently came across free baby chins. I've got two cages, so I put the new guy in my old cage, and sat it next to Elvis for about a week. I introduced them for the first time, and it didn't go so well. So we waited a bit, and did another one. Both were done in my bathroom. Second one went decent, and there wasn't any noise making, or nipping. So I put our new guy in with Elvis. First couple days seemed to go well.(Also something that might be of information is that our new little guy is a baby. I'm guessing him to be around 4 or 5 months old. Elvis, i think is about a year.) Now I've noticed some weird behavior from Elvis. He has always from day one slept in his pigloo. Not outside it, or on top, or anywhere but his pigloo. He's been sleeping now outside of it, on top of it, and beside the wall of the cage. He won't take his cherios, and did eat a small grape last night. My husband said he did see him eating and drinking, but just seems to be maybe upset that the little guy has taken his space. They don't fight, but sometimes the little guy will nip at Elvis, and I just don't know what to do. Do I keep them in different cages? Does it sound like Elvis is upset that his space is being taken by another chin? I Thought maybe a vet visit was needed, but he's still eating and drinking. Had them out this morning for a run, and he didn't do much, but wasn't just laying around either. I'm just so confused, and want to do what's best for them. When I got him he wasn't with any cage mate so I'm sure having this little guy around is something new to him. Any suggestions? Needing some advice here! Also, I did notice that he's been kind of on edge and maybe not sleeping a whole lot. He's been watching the new guy and trying to keep him off his stuff lol. Thank you kindly for reading, and hope to figure something out! It's making me sad for my little guys. I really just want them to be happy!

[dianah]

i would be tempted, if you do have a spare cage, to stick the new guy into a separate cage and have them side by side and extend the intro period. when i was introducing spock and mae, they got to the stage where they were happy to stay together but she became very withdrawn when i left him in her cage thinking they were fine. i took him out after a couple of days and continued with intros (it took ages because she's a rescue) and they live together now and are fine. so perhaps more time is needed!

[Elvisthechinchillasmom]

Thank you! I actually did put Cash ( new guy ) in my other cage. I cleaned out Elvis's cage, and let him know that cash was in his own house, and he had the whole cage to himself. For the most part I've noticed a bit of change in his behavior, and attitude. A good change. He seems to be doing better, and he's slept in his pigloo almost all day now. I'll just keep them side by side for longer. Could there be an issue with the age difference? Does it cause for a lot of trouble with bonding? I don't mind keeping them in different cages for good, i just wonder if Elvis will be like this with all chins? Just as long as their happy, I'll be happy with whatever, too! Thanks again for the reply. I figured he was acting like this due to having cash in with him.

[dianah]

i've only bonded adult chins so i'm not sure about the age gap but from my experience, they take their time! chinchi and fluffy, dear god, i thought they would never be together. he wanted to kill her (though we thought she was a he at the time). for two months. and then he decided that actually, he was a chinchilla, she was a chinchilla and it'd be quite nice if they lived together. they ended up grooming faces for half an hour when they accepted each other. so cute!

mae and spock took six months. i thought at first that they'd be really easy to put together because they groomed faces if i held one next to the other. but it wasn't that easy! she's a rescue and only has three legs so i'm very protective of her and i was being extra careful. so it took six months but they finally live together! just last week and she's super happy!

one thing i'd say though... chinchi absolutely loved me until he decided to love fluffy. mae absolutely adored me until she decided that actually, mom, you're not spock. they still like you, of course, but it shifts. but it's better for them! hurts though!