Chins fighting after castration

Hi,

I have a 1 year old male chinchilla Tommy and 3 months old female chinchilla Lola. They got along great before Tommy was castrated. I hade my Tommy neutered last week. He is healing great, no problems, luckily. I have him separated from Lola and he cannot yet use a dust bath.

Because he is not used to being locked up in one story, I let him outside in the hallway, where he cannot jump on anything. I let Lola in the same room with him. All was well until Tommy wanted to mate with Lola. First she warned him to back off, and he did, but then he tried again, so she sprayed him and tried to mount him. Usually that was no problem, but now Tommy also got up, sprayed urine on her and lost some hair. He was obviously freighted or annoyed, I do not know, but this is the first time he did that.

Is it normal that chins do not get along after castration. I do not know when to try to put them together again. I do hope they will get along again, because before castration they were best friends. Did anyone had the same problem and when would it bi ok to try and get the back together in the same room and cage? Thank you.

It's very common for chins to not get along simply by going to the vet, but especially with going through surgery. Even formerly long time bonded chins will likely need to be reintroduced. If the female is only 3 months they haven't even gotten to know each other for long, so there is no guarantee they will ever get along, that is the chance you take when getting a second chin. Also if they had any contact prior to him being castrated (which from your post it sounds like it) then there is a possibility that the female is already pregnant. They can mate as young as 8 weeks and mating literally takes a split second. I would also wait longer then a week before allowing them together, it takes time for all the sperm to work out of the male's body so he can still mate and impregnate the female for weeks after the castration (not sure on exactly how long but at least a few weeks but could be a couple months).

After the male is fully healed and enough time has passed I would try reintroducing them again. A week is too short of time for him to be no longer in any pain/discomfort, and healed, so he could also be more moody and not acting like himself just yet (so not acting how she remembers). Personally I would give a chin a couple weeks of cage rest after a surgery to heal, it's easier to keep things clean in a cage then in a hallway or room just in case he over does it.
There is no need for them to be in separate rooms, but separate cages and separate play times will be needed for now.

A male needs kept apart for a month so the sperm can work out of his system. He can still get her pregnant right now. At 3 months old it's possible she may not want a cage mate. Females can be quite moody and are more picky about cage mates than males. Is they a reason your didn't get a male cafe mate?

Thank you for your answers and suggestions.

Now they are friends again. They started calling each other, and when I placed Lola in the cage with Tommy, they started to clean each other.

I got Tommy a female chinchilla, because as I read it is easier to get two chins, that were not together from the begging, to bond, if they are separate sex. I know that a male chinchilla can impregnate a female for up to 8 weeks after castration, so for now I will keep them in separate cages and I let tem play outside.

Keep them separated for at least a month, preferably 6 weeks. Mark your calendar for 111 days from now, in case she is already pregnant. I really hope she is not since she is so young but it is possible.

Ursa said:

Thank you for your answers and suggestions.

Now they are friends again. They started calling each other, and when I placed Lola in the cage with Tommy, they started to clean each other.

I got Tommy a female chinchilla, because as I read it is easier to get two chins, that were not together from the begging, to bond, if they are separate sex. I know that a male chinchilla can impregnate a female for up to 8 weeks after castration, so for now I will keep them in separate cages and I let tem play outside.

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It's not true that male/female bonds work better, it just increases the chance that you will have kits, and the need to have a risky surgery done on one of them if you don't want kits (there is no health benefit to fixing a chin). The odds of bonding have nothing to do with sex or age really, and almost everything to do with personality. I've found that male/male bonds tend to work the best actually, females tend to be territorial.
Also mating takes a split second, so don't allow them any contact until the 8 weeks is up. A lot can go wrong during a chin pregnancy especially with a young chin.