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Lexillo

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Messages
7
Location
Houston
Hello!

Right now I have one chinchilla male. He is 1.5 years old and he is extremely sweet. I currently started a new job and tend to be a little bit busier than I use to be. I started to feel bad because I haven't spent as much time with him as I use to. I was thinking of getting another chinchilla for him to bond with but I'm not sure.

Is it best to get another male or get a female? My chinchilla is still intact.

He plays with me about a 30 minutes - 1 hour a day. I am about to move to an apartment and that will give him more time to run around freely for longer but I don't know if this is good enough.

Should I get another chinchilla?
 
If you get a second chin get a male, if you put a male and female together they will breed. Chinchilla breeding is not to for the faint of heart, or wallet. Neutering and spaying is not really a safe option with chins, the do poorly under anesthesia (they can die or end up brain damaged) and can require several weeks of owner assisted monitored recovery (making sure the incision is clean and the chin isn't chewing it, hand feeding every few hours, giving pain meds, etc). Males for example require 8-12 weeks of recovery time, assuming nothing goes wrong.

Some other things to keep in mind is, when getting a second chin it's best to quarantine the new one in another room for 30 days. That allows time for the new chin to settle in, for you to get to know and start bonding with it, and for any health issues to show up before exposing your current chin. Intros can take time, anywhere from hours to months, and there is no guarantee they will ever get along. Not all chins like all other chins, it's like putting two random humans together. Personality is more important then age or gender, for example if your chin is more dominate, try to find a chin that is submissive. Even if they don't get along, since they are herd animals, having another chin in the room to "chat chinchilla" with can be beneficial for some.

So long as you can give him at least an hour a day of attention, he will be ok alone. Attention is not necessarily playtime, but also talking to him, being in the same room, etc. Unless he lives in a tiny cage out of cage playtime everyday is not required. If you are worried about exercise you can get him a wheel, just make sure it's a chin safe one.
 
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