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Mookie

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2009
Messages
355
Location
New Jersey
Misty and cookie my chinchillas. are doing pretty well. So my theory was doing what my vet said, i have the critter nation double unit so I covered the hole so they live in the same cage, but different halves. So every week I open the flap and see how they are. Well, in the beginning it went perfect cookie (my male) was grooming misty) my female. And they were doing ok, then she started biting and chewing his stuff and then whenever she came over he made a mean squeak and her being the bully started chasing him and bit a chunk of fur off of him, and they were running around the cage, but i stropeed them and put them back in their halves. Is this a bad sign? Is there anything else I can do to help, or should I just keep doing this very week, and this was the first time I did it.
 
Your vet OK'd you having a male/female together? First off, find a new vet. Unless you plan on breeding quality chins or one of them is fixed, these guys shouldn't be together. Other than that, I'm really not sure what to say.
 
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From what I know the best way to introduce new chins to each other is to keep them in separate cages side by side for a while, that way they can see each other but can't do any damage. That is how I have always done it in the past and it has worked well for me. Usually it can take up to a month or a few months for them to get used to each other, some never get along well together.
 
Ash - He's castrated.

Trim both of their whiskers back by at least an inch. Whiskers and dominance go hand in hand for some odd reason, so when you trim the whiskers back, it can help.

Completely clean the cages with hot water and white vinegar. Wash all the hammocks and boil and bake the wood products (or boil and throw them out in the sun until dry). Make the cage completely nonterritorial, where neither of them have hung out before.

Put a dab of vanilla on both of their noses and some around their tail, towards the butt.

Put them in the cage together with two houses, so they can get away from each other, as well as a dust bath to share, a big pile of hay, and some new chews or toys to gnaw on. Put them together on a Saturday morning when you know you will be home from school, and when they should sleep most of the day. In the evening, before you go to bed, separate them in to different cages. Sunday morning, put them back together again, using the vanilla and the dust bath and hay. Sunday night, separate in to opposite cages.

Monday when you get home from school, put them together. Are they in your room? If they are, leave them together all night, remembering to use the vanilla just above the nose and just above the tail. Use the same dust bath again (where they are mixing their scents). Normally you wouldn't do dust baths this often, but I suspect part of the problem is that your male still smells like vets office and it's upsetting your female. If they get along well on Monday night with no scuffles, and you feel comfortable leaving them together, let them sleep together during the day on Tuesday. "Usually" they sleep well during the day and there are no fights (there are always exceptions to any rule). A little scuffling is always possible, i.e., some barking and kacking. Lots of fur pulling, chasing, or, obviously, blood shed are not acceptable.

If you can get a hold of a small wire cage that will fit inside the critter nation, you can do the cage within a cage intro, which has always worked for me.
 
Tunes- I tried it, and what happened was she came up from behind and bit him, then they were running all around the cage like maniacs. And then they came face to face and stood on their hind legs. I closed to opening so now what? do I leave it open stil, or no?
 
You did it step by step as I described above? After separating them? It can take weeks and even longer to get chins together.
 
Yeah, well what I did is i cleaned out the cage with this special cage cleaner, and I cleaned everything including the wheel, then I trimmed their whiskers back, and dabbed vanilla on their noses and butts, and what happened was, he was on the top level and she was on the bottom, and he was standing over the opening and was looking away, and when she noticed it open she came over and attacked his leg. So now what? should I put vanilla back on their noses and open the divider again and again every day until they get along?
 
No. You cannot keep letting her attack him. That isn't going to make them get along. It's going to end up getting him killed. Keep them separated, leave the divider in for a while. Let her forget about him a bit, then in a few weeks or a month, try to introduce them again.
 
Ok i will do that then, sorry I guess i didn't understand correctly. I will keep you updated how everything turns out in a few weeks, or a month.
 
ok I tried it after the wait. I opened the divider about 1 or 2 inches for one night to see how they were first though. Misty came running over when cookie was there and bam she started grooming him. now everytime she sees him she grooms him. Then yesterday They were grooming through the bars so I opened It up and they groomed achother and so we are at a good start:)
 
Sounds good. I just recently bonded my 2 and this is what they were doing. They would groom each other and squeak and now they are best buddies! Good Luck!
 
Sounds good. I just recently bonded my 2 and this is what they were doing. They would groom each other and squeak and now they are best buddies! Good Luck!

Yeah misty and cookie are doing the exact same thing they groomed eachother for around 20 minutes today:)
 
how long did you wait to re introduce? did you re trim the wiskers and vanilla them up?
also when you say trim the whiskers do you mean so they are an inch or so long? or take an inch or so off? i would assume as long as they are the same length all would be good, but im not sure
 
I'm very curious, if I ever have to do chintros again, what's the vanilla do?
 
I think it mask the smell of the other chinchilla.. ( please check if i'm correct).
 
Just wondering does the vanilla make a bad taste or something which discourages biting?
 
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