Just introduced a new chinchilla 3 days ago

[ChinchandChilla]

Hello, I was surrendered a chinchilla a few days ago. . .and couldn't refuse. SO I now have two chinchillas. At first I was worried about them getting along. My original chinchilla (Chinch) was showing my new chinchilla (Chilla) that she was dominant. . .but after an hour of play time, they seemed to come to an agreement. Now they sleep together and rub noses and chatter to each other.

BUt here is the question. They have not shown any signs of aggression towards eachother at all since then. No fighting, no biting, no peeing, no chasing. Nothing. However, I'm worried that Chilla is not eating since I got her. The woman I bought her from did not feed her very healthy, so I'm wondering if maybe she is in withdrawl from a bad diet? I feed my chinchillas a strictly pellet based diet. . and only a cheerio every few days. When I wake up in the morning, most of their food is gone. . as supposed to when I had just Chinch, only a quarter of the food would be gone. Now I feed them the equivelant of 2 portions of food daily. Does this mean she is eating?


Sorry this is so long, but one more question. . .Chilla has been having little bits of hair fall out. I have allowed her to smell me and have offered her pellets and hay, but she is not eating it from me yet. Does that mean that she is still stressed from the move? She doesn't have any bald spots, and it's not a significant amount of hair. Just little strands here and there. When I first got Chinch, she had little pieces of hair too. . .but not as much as chilla. She also is sitting very quietly at the top of the cage in the day. A lot like when I first got Chinch, who is used to her cage now.

Confused!! I've had Chinch for 2 weeks and Chilla for 4 days.

 

[tunes]

No new chinchilla, especially a rescue, should be introduced to your chin before a 30 day quarantine is up. You could have exposed your chin to an illness. Be sure to monitor them closely now, since quarantine would serve no purpose at this point.

She may not be eating because she's overly stressed. First she gets relocated to a new home, a new human, and now she's thrust in with a new chin that she has absolutely no idea what to do with. That's a lot for her to deal with in such a short period of time.

If it was me, I would have them in 2 separate cages. You've only had your chin for a few weeks, so you aren't even really aware of all her foibles and traits yet. I would learn about both of them, how they act, what they do, etc. Make sure your new chin is eating well and drinking, make sure she's peeing and pooping. Then after she settles in, and if everything is going well, you can try and introduce them.

 

[Whimsy]

They rub noses and chatter to each other? Tell me, do they do this on their hind legs? If so, that IS agression.

So you basically took a stressed out new chin and let it and yours fight it out for an hour and left it at that?

I seriously hope you didn't awake to find a dead chin.

Tunes gave you some great advice. My advice is you back up and follow those directions.

 

[ChinchandChilla]

No. They don't do it on their hind legs. They do it while they are on all four paws? when they are in play time or when they are on the same ledge they do this. And they don't chatter constantly just once in a while. It's really quiet, like squeeking? It was strange because I thought that I would have to give the chin back if they continued to fight, but after that hour they completely stopped and now they sleep together and sit together. They go into the hammock together as well.

The good news is that I noticed that Chilla is eating! I saw her go up to her bowl last night and eat. She is also peeing and pooping very normally. She has her one spot she seems to use quite frequently.

I have another cage in the garage that I can put Chilla in, so I'll set that up today and try again. Thanks for letting me know all this information so now I can correct it

 

[starleomach]

at this point quarentine is pointless as they have already been exposed. You will need to watch them very very closely for the next several weeks

 

[Godofgods]

Since their already together, separating them as a quarantine is pointless. However if they were fighting, or have issues with each other, then it would be necessary.

I'm glad that they are getting along for the most part so far. And even more glad that shes eating. None the less you will still want to keep a close eye on them for quite a while. You might also want to set up that second cage you mentioned anyway. Even if your not putting the other chin in their, it would help just in case something went wrong later and you needed to move a chin fast.

 

[Peep_erz]

I would still separate the chins into different cages. If the chins have an illness they have already passed it to each other. Separate cages will make it easier to spot any signs of illness. You can keep track of poop, food, water, and any other signs of stress with less interference from the other chin.

 

[AZChins]

I'd still separate them, too. The new chin is stressed and needs to calm down. Unless I have a really good reason to put new chins in with other chins I tend to keep new chins by themselves (unless they came in with a friend or two.)

Right now it's time to build up trust with the new chinchilla. That can be hard to do if she's stressed by the other chinchilla. It may work out between the two, but it could also reduce the chances of this chin being friendly towards humans in the future.

 

[tunes]

Godofgods - Please allow people who have extensive experience with chins to handle this one. The OP has had chins for two weeks. They don't even know their own chinchilla, let alone a new one. They will not know what to look for to know if their chinchilla is "off." By separating them, regardless of whether the quarantine has been broken, it gives them a chance to get to know their chin, or any chin for that matter, so they can know what to look for if their chin should display signs of an illness.

It's great that you want to help a new poster. But it would be even better if you were giving a correct answer, rather than just posting to post, so that their chins could avoid being hurt.

 

[Claire D]

Since their already together, separating them as a quarantine is pointless. However if they were fighting, or have issues with each other, then it would be necessary.

I'm glad that they are getting along for the most part so far. And even more glad that shes eating. None the less you will still want to keep a close eye on them for quite a while. You might also want to set up that second cage you mentioned anyway. Even if your not putting the other chin in their, it would help just in case something went wrong later and you needed to move a chin fast.

I have to echo Peggy's post here. I am afraid that you are not giving good advice to the OP. I know you mean well but you're missing some of the points of proper quarantine.

Quarantine is not just about preventing illness (although that is a massive part of it). Quarantine allows a chin to settle into their new environment & it also allows the owner to get used to the new chin - how they behave, how they eat, whether they are skittish or laid back, whether they are friendly or down-right bad-tempered. These things are really important - how will the new owner know if the chins is "off" (poorly or generally under the weather) if they don't know how the chins behaves normally?
Watching a new chin in their cage gives clues to that chinchilla - are their poops normal or dry or small or soft & squishy?

http://www.davidson-chinchillas.co.uk/pages/quarantine___chinchillas.php



OP I agree with the others - I would separate the two chins so you can get to know them (& they you) before attempting to introduce them.

 

[Pikaia]

I agree that quarantine is very much necessary when introducing new chins. I have read these forums and understand about quarantine and why it is crucial to the introduction process. I agree 100%. I am the first to admit I am new to chins and don't know everything. I'm still learning.

However, I don't see how Godofgods post was different from starleomach's post. He said quarantine was useless at this point (as did she) and said they should keep an extra cage on hand in case something goes wrong. I'm not saying I agree with either of them, but why say one is wrong and try to educate them and not the other?

Btw, I'm not trying to start a fight. I'm just curious as to why it was handled this way. Maybe I shouldn't even be asking..

 

[tunes]

Kristy said quarantine is pointless, which it is. She didn't say anything about leaving them in the same cage together. This is a new chinchilla owner, as is GodofGods. Giving them the advice to keep these chins together when they are so new to chins and know nothing of their behavior could lead to a dead chin.

 

[Pikaia]

Yes, I can understand how it is like the blind leading the blind. You should know your own chin before introducing another one. I completely agree.

 

[Godofgods]

Godofgods - Please allow people who have extensive experience with chins to handle this one. The OP has had chins for two weeks. They don't even know their own chinchilla, let alone a new one. They will not know what to look for to know if their chinchilla is "off." By separating them, regardless of whether the quarantine has been broken, it gives them a chance to get to know their chin, or any chin for that matter, so they can know what to look for if their chin should display signs of an illness.

It's great that you want to help a new poster. But it would be even better if you were giving a correct answer, rather than just posting to post, so that their chins could avoid being hurt.

Kristy said quarantine is pointless, which it is. She didn't say anything about leaving them in the same cage together. This is a new chinchilla owner, as is GodofGods. Giving them the advice to keep these chins together when they are so new to chins and know nothing of their behavior could lead to a dead chin.

I never said he shouldn't separate them. I only mentioned it in terms of quarantine. And while i admit that i don't know everything, after having chins for 5 years i do have some idea.

Seeing as many years ago i got my first two surrendered chins in almost the same manner, I can somewhat relate to the mindset and concerns of the OP. That being said, i wont read about the concerns and ignore them if I feel i might be able to help or offer an opinion.

On the same token, if you (or anyone) feel I'm wrong or a piece of advise was not good, by all means, say so. That way the OP, everyone reading, and myself can learn from it.

 

[tunes]

Since their already together, separating them as a quarantine is pointless. However if they were fighting, or have issues with each other, then it would be necessary.

I'm glad that they are getting along for the most part so far. And even more glad that shes eating. None the less you will still want to keep a close eye on them for quite a while. You might also want to set up that second cage you mentioned anyway. Even if your not putting the other chin in their, it would help just in case something went wrong later and you needed to move a chin fast.

I'm missing where exactly you said they should be separated. The OP said they are getting along fine, so obviously fighting isn't an issue which is when you said they "might" need a second cage. What IS an issue here is that this is a new chin owner, not with just one chin, but with a second one. We're trying to give advice to avoid any injury to the chins, not just posting to post.

 

[AZChins]

You know, anyone with two chins in one cage may benefit from having an extra cage just in case something happens. In this case, there still is a possibility that the new chin or even the existing chin could be ill with something. When a chinchilla is sick, it's a good idea to quarantine that chinchilla regardless of if it has been in with another chin or not.

For example, if a chinchilla has an upper respiratory issue, it's a good idea to keep that chin away from others until that chin is well and won't spread anything to others.

Quarantine isn't a bad thing. It just means keeping the chins separated. (Duh, I know...)

 

[Claire D]

In a healthy chinchilla, quarantine is mainly about knowing your new animal. In a sick chinchilla, quarantine is about preventing spread of illness & being able to nurse the poorly animal.



Quarantining can also mean "dedicated monitoring" in a separate cage - as in Susan's example above when a chin is sick - it is vital that the chin is monitored very closely in a separate cage for a number of reasons:
1. So that sickness is not spread from chin to chin.
2. So the chin is not picked on (bullying can be an issue) because that can stop a chin from eating.
3. So that the chin can be watched for signs & symptoms of illness.
4. So the chin can be easily medicated.
5. So the chin can be fed differently (soft food, hand feeding, Beaphar etc) without the other chin eating the poorly chin's food.
6. So the chin can be monitored for peeing & pooping
7. So that the chin can be watched for activity & behaviour.
8. So that the chin can rest/sleep without interruption.

That's the short version


With these new chins I would separate them & get to know them both, watch them closely & monitor them for behavioural traits etc.