Bonding two males possibly

[mmarcus03]

I want to get another chinchilla. I have had my chinchilla for almost 6 years now. He is a standard grey male. I want him to have a buddy. I am going back to school so I won't have a lot of time to get him out of his cage like I do in the summer. He will still get interaction everyday just not be let out everyday. I also have a job so after school I usually work to 8:30. So he won't see me from 6:00 in the morning to 8:30 at night. I want him to have a friend so he doesn't have to be alone all the time. I have enough time for two of them now. I was just wondering if it is possible to bond males and is it easier if Gizmo (My Chinchilla) is neutered? I want to get either a ebony or a Mosaic. I just don't want to get a standard again because then I won't know who is who. lol. Also leave in the comments your experiences from bonding either male and a male or a male and a female. I have thought about getting a female but I would deifinitly need to get Gizmo neutered. All I have to do is convince my parents which won't be to hard.
Thanks!
~Marcus

 

[lightningturtle]

It is much easier and safer to bond two males than it is to have your male neutered. Chins die way too easily under anesthesia to take any operation lightly. Also keep in mind that you NEED to have a second cage handy in case they suddenly decide they don't want to live together any more.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it's safest to quarantine a new chin for a full month before even the first introduction. Do you have time for that and the slow introduction of the two?

I'm not trying to dissuade you. If you have the time and space for all of the above, great! However, you want to make sure you do what's best for Gizmo. If it helps, they tend to sleep most of the day so he might not even notice you're gone until just before you get home. They don't HAVE to have constant companionship.

 

[Amethyst]

Same sex pairings are better, and neutering doesn't really help (there is no health benefit) and does create a lot of potential issues not only with anesthesia but there is also post op care, it's not simple like neutering a dog or cat. You also need to make sure you have it done at a vet that knows how to and has successfully neutered chinchillas. It's not uncommon for a chin to stop eating after surgery so that requires hand feeding every couple hours round the clock. They also need to be monitored to make sure they don't pull stitches and watched for infection. People have had chins die on the operating table do to complications and post op from infection and/or complications. Unless there is a medical reason to get a chin fixed, I strongly advise against it, you are risking your chin's life.

Another thing to keep in mind, aside from the needing to quarantine new chins in another room for a month, is that bonding can take weeks or months. You can't rush bonding and some chins just don't want a cage mate no matter how slow and long you do the intros. So you could end up having 2 single chins instead of one (making a neutering pointless). It should be more a decision of you wanting another chin then of you wanting to have two in one cage so they aren't lonely. Also as said chins sleep most of the daytime anyway, so as long as you still spend at least an hour a day with the chin it'll be fine.

The only time I've bonded chins together I had the cages near each other and each week moved them closer and closer until the cages were next to each other, and did play times out of the cage together if they seemed fine near each other. I did have several, male and female (personality matters more then gender or age in terms of wanting a friend), that enjoyed playing together (males only play and females only play), but didn't want to share a cage. So if you want another chin, having another in the room to talk chinchilla with when you are gone, even if they aren't in the same cage, might be an option if you have the room and things don't work out for bonding.

 

[Cass C]

I third the do not neuter! I stupidly neutered my boy because my mom got a brother sister pair not thinking about them breeding. I wanted to keep the pair together because they looked cute cuddling and playing together. However the vet advised against it, but I insisted I wanted to keep the pair together. What I didn't count on was how fragile their bond actually was. My male developed an infection from pulling on his stitches and almost died. I'm very thankful I had a good vet who was willing to save him for free because I was a poor collage kid. My vet ate a $800 bill and managed to save my boy after almost a week of round the clock care at the vet. After that the bond was broken and I had to try and rebond them. It took close to two months before they accepted each other again. I used the cage swap method mixed with playtime method. They have been bonded for a solid 5 years now, but I would not neuter again.