chin-chillin'
New member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2013
- Messages
- 3
Hey everyone. Long story short, I wound up getting two male chinchillas in the hope that they could be paired together and keep each other company. After several months of trying I see that this isn't going to happen. I had a few questions about what to do now to keep my chins as happy as possible.
1. The two chins are in cages next to each other. For the most part they get along, but every so often there are arguments. I also allow them to play together, under my supervision, which again is mostly okay, but eventually there will be arguments and chasing. I seperate them immediately, and they calm down and are friendly-ish towards each other again. First question: Is it okay to keep them like this? When they aren't arguing, they seem to enjoy each others company, but I don't want to cause them unnecessary stress.
2. If I end up selling one of the chins, will the other one get depressed being alone? Both of them were alone before I got them, and I've read in a million places that even though chinchillas are social creatures they will be fine as long as you can act as a member of their herd. However I'm not sure if being seperated from another chin would make him upset. They do engage in social behavior such as grooming, and they definitely show more interest in each other than in me.
3. If I sell one, and decide to get a new friend for the remaining one, is there any way to make sure that I would be getting a compatible match for him? I would keep the less aggressive one, but he seems very dominate. Are there more submissive male chinchillas? Also are they too old to get along with a new chinchilla? From what the previous owners said, they're both about 3-4 yrs old.
Any advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated. Sorry this post turned into such an essay; I just want to explain my situation as best as possible. Also sorry if these topics were in previous threads. I didn't see any specifically about this, but I may have missed them. Thanks for taking the time to read this and help me
1. The two chins are in cages next to each other. For the most part they get along, but every so often there are arguments. I also allow them to play together, under my supervision, which again is mostly okay, but eventually there will be arguments and chasing. I seperate them immediately, and they calm down and are friendly-ish towards each other again. First question: Is it okay to keep them like this? When they aren't arguing, they seem to enjoy each others company, but I don't want to cause them unnecessary stress.
2. If I end up selling one of the chins, will the other one get depressed being alone? Both of them were alone before I got them, and I've read in a million places that even though chinchillas are social creatures they will be fine as long as you can act as a member of their herd. However I'm not sure if being seperated from another chin would make him upset. They do engage in social behavior such as grooming, and they definitely show more interest in each other than in me.
3. If I sell one, and decide to get a new friend for the remaining one, is there any way to make sure that I would be getting a compatible match for him? I would keep the less aggressive one, but he seems very dominate. Are there more submissive male chinchillas? Also are they too old to get along with a new chinchilla? From what the previous owners said, they're both about 3-4 yrs old.
Any advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated. Sorry this post turned into such an essay; I just want to explain my situation as best as possible. Also sorry if these topics were in previous threads. I didn't see any specifically about this, but I may have missed them. Thanks for taking the time to read this and help me
