Avoiding monkey business

[Binki]

I would appreciate opinions on this.

We'd have a chin girl visiting for a few days (with her own cage), which will provide a good opportunity to check whether my boy misses the company of his own species and tries to approach her cage during his playtime. Of course as neither of them is neutered, there is no question of letting them play together.

However, what worries me is, if I remember it correctly, reading in a post in this forum (and in the web site of Sunshine chinchillas) that chins can mate through cage bars. If so, would a band very close netting e.g. 10cm high, surrounding the bottom of the cage, prevent any monkey business?
My boy is a good climber but not even chins can do the deed while hanging from bars for dear life. Or can they?

 

[Amethyst]

I don't think it would be a good opportunity to see if he wants a friend for a few reasons. First, yes they can hang on the cage and still mate through the bars, definitely an "if there is a will there is a way" situation, lol. However having to climb to get to her will likely slow him down enough to give you time to move him off the cage before he has a chance to do anything.

However I would not even let him near her cage for the second reason, regardless of being a male or female, ideally any new chin coming into your house should be isolated from your current one for 30 days before being in the same room. That way if the other chin has anything contagious like ringworm, URI, or gut parasites like giardia, it shows up before you expose your current chin, and even if healthy it allows the new chin time to settle in and feel comfortable, a couple days is not long enough for that.

The third reason is, chins, especially female chins, are territorial, obviously each is different and some are more territorial then others. So although your male might at best be curious and investigate the new comer, which could be a good sign he wants to be social, a stranger coming up to the female's cage is likely going to make her defensive. Think about it, how would you like it if you go on vacation and one of the locals is coming up to your windows. Intros should ideally be done in as neutral an area as possible to help prevent either chin from feeling like their territory has been invaded. As well as chins are not like dogs, you can't really do a meet and greets to see if they get along, intros can take weeks or months, and just because they get along with one chin doesn't mean they will get along with another. It could also be possible that even if he does show interest in her it's purely because she is female and not because he wants a cage mate.

I will say though, most chins do enjoy having another chin around, someone else to "talk chinchilla" with, even if they are just in the same room and never share a cage. Kind of like living alone but at least having neighbors vs living alone in a remote area.