boy and girl playtime

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staceylwolf

staceylwolf

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Feb 4, 2009
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Does anyone else have a male and female chin that they let have playtime together? I have my boy Patch who is going to be 3 years old this fall, he's always been caged alone and has never been used for breeding. And I also have an 8 month old female, Chalupa. She's lived with her mom and dad until she was weaned and came to live with me. I keep them in different cages, actually it's one cage, but Patch has the top bunk and Chalupa has the bottom. Anyways, I was doing playtimes where I would let one out and just sit by the cage and talk to the other while the one was playing. Then one day while Patch was playing, I was sitting by Chalupa's cage with her door open talking to her and Patch jumped up into her cage to introduce himself. They got nose to nose, then he just hopped away. So I slowly started introducing then to playtime together. It's been working perfectly. They actually totally ignore eachother the whole time. I sit with them the entire time and they are never out of my site. Patch so no interest in her at all, except if she tries to take a bath, then he feels he needs to run over and take one quick before she can. I'm very happy about this as this means they get more time out instead of having to split their time up. I'll just need to keep a watch and make sure he doesn't try to hump her, althought he's never tried to hump anything. I was just wondering if anyone does this with their males and females.
 
I would never ever recommend doing this! You are breeding if you do, and there is just no possible way to keep an eye on them at all times. So you are chancing her being pregnant already. If these are not pedigreed chins intended for breeding, then you need to stop the "boy and girl" playtime or you will have some "boy and girl" kits real soon.
 
how is it impossible to watch them at all times? I sit right with them, in an empty hallway. I can see them at all times. Most of the time one of them is in my lap or next to me.
 
Your girl is only 8 months old, so even if you were trying to breed, it would be a really bad idea. Please, if you want them to have friends, get them a same-sex buddy (but be prepared to keep them apart if they don't get along). I know you're just trying to make your chins happy but it isn't a good idea to let males and females together unless you want babies.
 
Chins can mate within a few seconds, so even if you are watching like a hawk, they could mate before you have a chance to intervene. Believe me, nature will find a way. If you are not looking to breed you should definitely not allow any direct contact between them. If you are worried that they are lonely, you could get the male neutered, or look into same sex cagemates for each of them.
 
I'm not breeding them. It's not really even about them being friends as they ignore each other the whole time they are out. It just gives them more time out of their cages with me by letting them both out together. Now, if he showed an interest in her then I would not let them together. But neither of them pay any attention to the other. They don't play together, they are just out in the play area at the same time.
 
I have seen chinchillas breed and it literally takes seconds. I could never allow opposite sex chins to roam around together during playtime because it just isn't possible to break them up fast enough if the male attempts to breed. He may not show interest in her TODAY but when she's in estrus, the pheromones will change everything and he won't be able to resist being away from her.
 
He is not showing an interest now probably because she is not in estrus (sp?) now. When she is willing to mate (i.e. she is ovulating and at the optimum time to become pregnant) he will show an interest. You really should re-think this idea. First, they could mate before you can stop them, which means your female gets pregnant when she is not yet old enough. Her body is not yet done maturing and being pregnant too early can stunt her growth. Then, of course, there's the dangers of pregnancy and raising kits to consider. In addition, when a female comes into heat the male can try to mate her early and she will turn on him and can injure or even kill him in the blink of an eye. It's a dangerous and unnecessary risk you are taking. I hope you will consider changing this practice and giving each a separate playtime.
 
Please listen to what we're saying - we are looking out for the best interest of your chinchillas. They don't need an excessive amount of out-of-cage playtime if they have ways to entertain themselves in their cages... please keep them separated. It only takes a few seconds for him to get her pregnant. What if a month from now you become complacent, the phone rings, you talk on it while they're out for just a second and while that's going on he's gotten the deed done?
 
Bad idea. Very bad idea. Like someone said it can happen in seconds before you could even ATTEMPT to intervene. And then being as how your girlie is so young, if and when she gets pregnant, there is the possibility of things going horribly wrong. Actually, no matter the age, something horrible can go wrong during birth/ pregnancy.
 
Once a female chin is open and ready, watch out because the male will take advantage of the situation. He'll notice her then!

I agree with everyone, just have separate playtimes for the chins. Unless you want babies... Letting them be around each other can and will allow for the female to get pregnant even for a short amount of time and even if you are right there. Maybe if there was a chinnie chastity belt or something, then it would be alright...but as far as I know there is very little out there in terms of chinnie contraception.
 
yeah.. It's only a matter of time. It's not like you would think, literally the male hops on and is done within the blink of an eye. So unless you're following them around the room with your hands on them, you won't be able to separate them in time.
 
Agreed. When she is fertile, he will try to impregnate her, and you will not be able to stop it before it happens. She WILL get pregnant if you continue to let them have playtime together.
 
agreed with all the above statements.

Letting them have playtime together is asking for trouble.

Kind of like if I was to let all four of my males, who all live seperate, out for playtime together and saying they won't fight or try to be domanint with one another because I'm there with them. it's just asking for trouble.

Just because you're there doesn't mean he won't breed her.
 
Just wanted to add that if either can get to the other's cage during playtime, they can also easily mate through the bars.
 
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