Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Q & A => Topic started by: outlaw1306 on February 12, 2007, 04:41:17 PM
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I have a tempermental Chin, his name is Sid. I've had him for two years and he's always adored me and vice versa. But, about 2 months ago I bought another young ebony, also male. I introduced them slowly, using all the tips I could find and after the first month they seemed fine together at playtime. But, now the progress seems to have gone backwards. They can't be in a cage together for more than 20 min. without Sid getting very fiesty and begging to be left alone. Also, when they're out running around together Sid will get very territorial after about an hour. He charges, he bites (very hard) and he growls at me. His behavior scared me at first because I had never seen him act that way. I now have both of them secluded from one another because Sid's behavior is so violent and unpredictable. What do I do? Do I start again from the beginning, try to re-introduce them? Or are some chins just incompatible?
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Did you start with cages side by side? Some chinchillas can be very hard to get together and the stress of a new chinchilla can change a chinchilla's personality. Its important to take your time when you are introducing two chins because they will fight to the death if they are not ready.
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Although some chins are just incompatible, I think there are many things that you can try to get them living together peacefully. Try letting the more dominant chinchilla out for a very, very long playtime so that he has very little energy left and THEN bring the more docile chinchilla out. If the introductions on neutral territory aren't going well, you may try putting a little baby powder into the dust bath and letting both of the chinchillas have access to it at the same time in the neutral territory. Dust baths generally help chinchillas to feel more relaxes. Do this every day for a few days. Try putting the more dominant chinchilla into the more docile chinchilla's cage while the more docile chinchilla is still in it. This should throw the more dominant chinchilla off a bit and shouldn't make him feel as territorial. Try using a completely new cage that neither chinchilla has been in and that has not been used with either chinchilla before. This is essentially like the neutral territory for play time, but in cage form. I have other suggestions as well, but this is a good place to start. Good luck! :)
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I started with their cages next to each other. I would swap them for a few hours every night and put them in each other's cages. I let them bathe together and they seemed fine but a little distracted by each other's presence. I let them play together at the end of Sid's play time (Sid is the dominant one). And then after all of that, I finally put an attachment between their cages so they could go in and out of each other's habitats. Like I said, that worked for a couple of weeks without any major problems. But now Sid gets very aggressive and violent no matter where they are together. He bites and charges at play-time when they're on neutral territory and he just barks and whines when he's in Johnny's cage. But, I'm limited on space and money so I can't get a brand new cage yet. I just want a way to get Sid to soften up a bit before I really commit to them being a pair and spend the money on a new home for the two of them.
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When you had their cages connected did they ever spend time together or did they stay apart? Did they ever sleep together? I'm wondering if the shared space was too large for them to really bond which could be why one chinchilla is starting to get irritated with the other one.
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They spent about an hour a day together, after too long Sid would get fiesty so I would have to put the divider back in.