Chinchilla Spay and Neuter

[xelay]

So I currently have one female chinchilla and I will be taking in two male chinchillas that needed rehoming this week. The chinchillas will NOT be living together and will NOT be used for breeding. However, as they will be in the same room I would like to take no chances of potential mating in case of escapes.

So what is the upper age limit of chinchilla fertility in males and females?

And, if they have not reached that age (female is 7 years old, one of the males is 6 years old, and I don't know the age of the third male) Would it be better to spay my one female chinchilla or neuter both males?

I have an extremely qualified veterinarian so I will be talking to her but I thought I would ask here first. Thanks so much.

 

[Narcissus]

if they will never have any time together. I dont see any point in putting any of them through surgery. as long as they have separate play times, and are not caged together. I have a female who is 8 years old and still has one litter a year so her age wont stop her from breeding.

 

[Pikaia]

Yep, I agree with Narcissus. I have both sexes of chinchillas and they live in the same room (separate cages and playtimes). Have been for 3 years. You should have your cages a good distance apart to prevent mating through the cage bars. It's risky to have a chinchilla undergo surgery and I don't think it's something you should put your chin through unless it's a necessity.

I have no idea how long chinchillas are fertile. I heard somewhere that if a female doesn't mate within the first year and a half, it's gonna be harder for her to get pregnant. I don't know if that's true or not.

 

[xelay]

I'm vaguely concerned about mating through the bars during out of cage time, but I suppose that is such a remote possibility that I shouldn't worry too much. She has always been well supervised during playtime and we chinchilla proofed our basement (well you know as much as possible, she is safe though and is usually out of her cage 4-6 hours a day), but I am still worried because as cute as baby chinchillas would be I just can't have that and it would be completely irresponsible.

I don't have much experience with chinchillas pulling through surgery, but I have had several hamsters have surgery and come through it very easily and wonderfully so I figured I would ask here before even seriously considering it.