Which would be best?

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WEFA_in_Me

WEFA_in_Me

Chinchillaholic
Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Messages
53
Location
Seward, Alaska
Backstory:
My boyfriend and I hear our chin make many calls in the night and when he is sleeping (really cute, he does slight movements and many sounds). He looked up some sounds and we are thinking he is lonely. I spend quite a lot of time with him when I am home, but he will still make sounds and chew his bars when we go to bed. We want to get him a cage mate. I decided not to go for getting a second until we had an FN 142 so we could divide the cage easily if there was an issue, and now we bought one last night.:dance3: ChieChie is a standard grey about 2 years old (we are guessing January or February as he was adopted).

:hmm:The Question:
My question is do you guys/gals think it would be better to get a male or a female buddy? I know if we choose female that he needs to be neutered, and that it can be a dangerous procedure. Logan is very cautious about getting a female because he is really worried about the spraying. Do you think ChieChie could get along with another male and how old should he be? The second chin is supposed to be my birthday present, but he really wants a beige so thats what we are looking for.

ChieChie is really loving right now, always wanting our attention and I think a buddy would be a good way for him to be less lonely while I am at work. Im not supposed to buy anything for a month since I bought the cage with some money from savings, so where would you send me to get our new baby next month?

Sorry for taking your time and thanks for any help :thumbsup:
 
Well, the problem with getting a female and getting him neutered is...what if you go through all that trouble and put your boy through an elective surgery and then they don't like each other? You've just gone through lots of trouble and put your boy at risk for nothing.

I would get a young male (they seem to introduce better) and hope that your boy and the new male get along. If not, you have the right cage for the situation anyway :)).
 
Definitely 100% go with another male rather than a female. Surgery is risky and probably fairly pricey too and in the end they may not get along anyway.

A younger male would be my choice too but I have done successful introductions with older males as well but I did take it really SLOW which means some quarantine time, cages in the same room but at a distance and then gradually move the cages closer, then supervised playtime and having good nights and bad nights etc. I have done pretty well with the intros I've attempted but I was very patient and took things one little step at a time.
 
What everybody else said is what I did, and it worked well. Not perfectly b/c one of them is kind of a brat, but they got along well enough. The only thing I'd add is that keeping multiple sources of food, water, etc. for the chins seemed to help stop fighting before it started.
 
Thank you all for your opinions, that is what I will go with if/when I get my second baby.

Its too bad that that was the day Logan decided to read over my shoulder, because now he is very very worried about getting a second, he doesn't want the fighting. He is scared our chiechie would get hurt.

I told him that we would have to quarantine for 30 days first, then slowly introduce them by bringing cages together slowly, a few play times and if things go well then in cage together, but he is worried if they ever decided to turn on each other that he wouldn't be able to stop them and would have to watch them kill eachother. (he is in a wheelchair and can't reach more than a few inches into the cage.)
 
If they do fight in the cage and he can get to the cage and toss a towel on them, that should stop any fighting. But if you intro slowly and let them get used to each other and see they are getting along you shouldn't have any problems. While it's true mates can turn on each other, there are often times signs things are not going well. Recently, as with Sandi, I had two boys who began to fight after living together from weaning for 2 years. I clipped whiskers and separated them at night while we slept and were away. For the past two weeks there is no more fighting--but we still keep them separated when we are not home just to be on the safe side.
 
I understand your husbands concern since he is with him all day and Chiechie is his company. Maybe while you are at work the cage could be separated to ease your husbands concern. When you are home they could interact and you would be there in an emergency.

Congratulations on your FN also. I can't wait until we can get ours for Edgar.
 
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I have done intros three times, so no expert, but most recently with my 5 yr old male and 2 -- 5 month old brothers. I take it slowly with quarantine, slow intro (cages tip to tip, move it up a few inches a night until they are side my side - as long as you see no hostility. If so, back it up a bit.) Dust bath, vanilla on nose, neutral cage!

I have never had a fight or anything other than harmony. (hope I don't jinx myself here!)

My older boy was already bonded to me, and he actually taught the two new ones to like me too. When they saw him take a cheerio or rosehip from my hand, they decided I was a pretty good thing to have around! All the chins have bonded to each other and to me as well. I did not find having a cage mate a detriment, but my chinnies enjoy each others' company!
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When I did intros, when I got to the final stage of putting them together, I took the cage apart, cleaned and washed everything and put it back together in a different set up so the two chins that were already in that cage wouldn't recognize it as their old cage. If you rearrange things, then they all or on 'new territory'.
 
I agree that a young male is your best option for a cagemate. As far as where to go, it depends on how far you are willing to travel and how set you are on a biege. I can't personally recommend anyone in your local area but, I know there are a few around the forum from STL or close by.
 
You could try dividing your FN and letting them get used to being neighbors for a while. And I second the suggestions to get a young friend and clean the cage before putting them together.
 
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