Chinchilla depressed from bonding?

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Phoeblie

Active member
Joined
May 6, 2017
Messages
36
Location
Connecticut, USA
Hello, I am not sure if my chin, Mama, has been depressed from bonding with my newer chin, Coco. We have done side by side cage, swapping dust baths and toys, and they have playtime together now. They get along quite well aside from the occasional squabble, which we break apart and return them to their cages immediately. I’m worried for mama because for the short period she was living alone, she was active in her cage and very respondent to me. Always coming up when I walked by and would run up and down. Now she sits at the bottom of her cage, nearest to Coco’s cage, and is very quiet. Her eating seems to be fine although she has been picky at her grass since she prefers the grass Coco came with. Her poops are large and moist and her fur has been growing back. She seems overall healthy and not lethargic or anything, but just isn’t as active and responding as she was? Mama is 6 and coco is 1.


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Does she seem happy when they are both out playing together? It could be she wants a cage mate to cuddle with. Have you tried them in the same cage together yet?

Since she is picky with they hay why not feed her the hay she wants to eat? If the chin doesn't eat their hay they can have health problems, hay not only gives chins the necessary fiber in their diet it also is what wears down the molars. Hay is really the primary diet for chins, it should make up about 75% of their food, about a small handful a day. Also chinchilla poop should not be large and moist, they should be dry to the touch and about the size of a tic tac.
 
Does she seem happy when they are both out playing together? It could be she wants a cage mate to cuddle with. Have you tried them in the same cage together yet?



Since she is picky with they hay why not feed her the hay she wants to eat? If the chin doesn't eat their hay they can have health problems, hay not only gives chins the necessary fiber in their diet it also is what wears down the molars. Hay is really the primary diet for chins, it should make up about 75% of their food, about a small handful a day. Also chinchilla poop should not be large and moist, they should be dry to the touch and about the size of a tic tac.



For the past few days we’ve placed them in the same cage for different periods of time. They’re getting along well! The squabbles I mentioned before turned out to be just grooming, as I watched a few videos online of what it is like. We haven’t done any overnights with them being in the same cage though.

The hay I ordered hasn’t arrived yet but should be here soon. The poo is not moist to the point where it’s squishy, it’s still stiff and holds shape, just looks large and not extremely dry(because Coco’s was when she arrived; her poos are much improved now). Should I be concerned?


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