Chinchilla Intro Advice

[Kialana]

I know that there are countless forums here on Chins and Hedgies on chinchilla introductions, but I'd appreciate any help that anyone could provide.

First, I've had the new older one, Sigfried since the 22nd of January when his owner basically dumped him off on me without much notice. After his quarantine was over, his cage has sat next to Zidane's (my original chin) for about two months. Zidane seemed interested in the idea of a new friend. He even popcorned a bit when he first saw Sigfried. Sigfried was indifferent much like he is about everything.

I had researched intros for a few months (even longer since I have always bounced around the idea of getting a friend for Zidane.) I decided to first start with having them use the same dust bath separately to get used to each others' scents. They hesitated the first time but have handled it fine since and have been jumping in without a second thought.

Then today I tried the cage swap method that someone mentioned. At first this seemed okay. Everyone was bouncing around checking out the "new" place and experimenting with stuff. After that they started making themselves at home. Sigfried who I thought was the most laid back chin, began acting aggressive towards Zidane. He basically was getting in his face from the other cage! Zidane would hop away but Sigfried tried his best to stay level. I decided that because this seemed to upset everyone to switch everyone back. Sigfried however continued the same behavior in his cage to the point that Zidane was getting very jumpy. So I took Sigfried out of his cage, and trimmed his whiskers back to about an inch. That seems to have mellowed him out and now everyone is in their own nap zone in their own cages.

Needless to say everyone including me got stressed out and upset. I'm hoping that now that Sigfried has been dropped a few notches due to his trim that he won't be such a bully. I just don't know how to go about trying to introduce them again. I know supervised shared play times can be risky. I would really like them to get along if at all possible. I just don't know if I should give them more time or try something else or what.

 

[Zoaea]

Chins can be very territorial about their cages, he probably was upset that someone was taking his territory. Rather than whisker trimming I think it would have been better to separate their cages across the room to give them a break. When you get ready to try again, go with the small cage inside a big cage method, I always have used this for all my animals and it has never failed (I have only introduced a total of 3 pairs tho). You basically leave the more aggressive chin in the small cage, which is usually the one that 'owns' the cage. Make sure the small cage has very small bars, like 1/4 inch so that its hard for anyone to get bit. And you leave them in the small cage until the two seem to ignore each other. This takes at least a day, and the longest has been 3 days for me.

Keep in mind that some chins will never accept each other but its still worth trying more than one trick. Save whisker trimming for already bonded pairs tho as it can cause the trimmed one to be picked on and then build resentment. IF you try again soon I would make sure they are both trimmed now, so that they are on equal footing again, or wait a month.

 

[halfstache]

I have found that the most effective method of introductions for me has been the "cage within a cage" method. I use ferret nation cages, so if your setup is different it might not work as well, but what I do is use 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth to separate the ferret nation into two cages. I use the large plastic shelf that comes with the ferret nation as the top section of the new inner cage and run the hardware cloth from one set of door knobs to the back wall. I then give both sections a hidey house. My hidey houses are basically large cubes with one hole on two different sides. I put the hidey houses so that they are directly next to each other on each side of the hardware cloth, but the holes in the house do not line up so that each chin can have a place to run and hide and feel safe. They may initially act aggressive towards each other but they can not reach each other. I do worry about the possibility of a toe being bit, but I haven't had that happen so far (knock on wood). Anyhow after a while they will settle down some, might take a few hours, but they come around once they realize they are in no danger. When they seem to be ignoring each other for the most part I rotate the hidey houses so that they each have a hole that lines up along the hardware cloth and they still have one hole to go in and out of. Now when they sleep in their house, they are feeling safe and secure right alongside the other chin. When they are successfully sleeping next to each other I remove the hardware cloth that separates the two cage sections and let them interact with one another. If all goes well they stay together.

 

[jbcstratton]

A neutral cage works well sometimes, but if space is an issue, it is not always practical to have a spare cage.