Chins Fighting???

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~@Pokemon@~

~@Pokemon@~

Queen of Chinchilla Poop!
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
31
Location
Alberta Canada
Ok ive had my boys for about 6 months now and never had any problems with them. But after my one chin got hurt (i believe by the other chin cause of bite wounds on his ear) the other one has been weird. He chases the other one buthe made light squeaking noises once. Then when they were in the cage together he chased the other one around the cage. My injured chin wasnt happy bout it. Before they were fine, they would snuggle together and now they wont even go near eachother. My white one seems kind of afraid of my tan. Can chins just do a personality 180? They live in a huge 142 ferret nation cage so they definatly have enough space. But what can i do i wish i didnt have to seperate them :(:cry3:
 
Yes, chins can change in personality. I have heard of several scenarios where chins have gotten along for years and then suddenly stopped caring for one another and due to fighting, had to be separated. I would say that if your chins are fighting, they should be separated before something more serious happens. If you do keep them together, make sure you are there to observe what is going on so you can intervene if necessary. At least the FN is easily separated into two units.
 
Once chins have drawn blood, it is not a good idea to keep them together. Chances are that another fight will happen and when it does, it could end in serious injury or death to one or both chins. I would separate these tow nad leave them separated.
 
Nope. They would be on top of each other. Plus, if they are fighting, putting them next to each other will just aggravate the aggressor and terrify the one being attacked.
 
Ok making sure. Besides looking at my injured chin, he hasnt left my side, even with the other chin in his cage. Oh well.
Thanks for your help, im disapointed it had to come to this tho...
 
My last question hopefully.. Me and my boyfriend were talking and since the chinchillas are both of ours, he saw no reason for me to keep pikachu (injured chin) since they are seperated. And thought about possibly getting a friend for him? and one for kiwi (bully chin) One might be female possibly. Since id be moving in with him soon they would be back around eachother eventually. Would this be a good idea. It would prob be a while before this happend anyways, but would it be possible?​
 
If they have started fighting I would seporate them quick. 5 yrs ago I went out for breakfast and came home to a chin who had killed hr cagemate for no reason. So yes it does happen and at times without warning. Just be glad that your chins gave you clear signs that they weren't happy together. As for getting cagemates, I would wait. Just cause they got along fine doesn't mean they will like another chin that you pcik so you need to be ready for the possibility of more cages. I wouldn't get the 1 male a female cagemate, unless he is breeding quality and you are planning and ready for several kits. Which breeding isn't always pretty. Do a quick search and you will see that. Wait till you move before you make any desicions bout getting more chins. Makes it easier for you and the chins.
 
I have two sets of males now but I have been unsuccessful in my matchmaking far more than I have been successful. If your males are fighting and one injured the other, I would keep them separate. I've had males fight, separated them and eventually got them back together and I've had a male that would not take another male buddy again, he would even try to kill the young chins I tried to put with him. If you are new to having chinchillas, the last thing I would recommend is breeding them. Your male could kill a female as easily as a male. You may eventually get them back together or you may have two separate pets. I can tell you that trying to pair them up can leave you with more chinchillas and cages than you wanted or planned on.
 
Getting a female just so your male will have a friend is no reason to start breeding, and unless one or the other of them is neutered, that is exactly what is going to happen.

Your male beat up a chin. He will most likely beat up the next chin, and possibly even a female. Leave him by himself, he obviously prefers it. Don't try and shove a chin in with the one who was injured either. You may find him going off his feed, losing weight, fur chewing, just from the stress. Chins have long memories. Give them both lots of attention - separately - lots of chew toys and maybe wheels and they will be fine.
 
No worries i read over the breeding forum on here and read the breeding-gone-wrong stories people posted. I wouldnt be strong enough to watch the kits die nor if my female did. So i will not be breeding at all. Im gonna hold off on anymore chins, cause you all are right. They seem content with my affection so my worries are mostly gone. Pikachu's ear is healing with no problems. So now my only concern is getting another wheel or two. Since i have a FN 142 one chin is on the top and the other is on the bottom. And the bottom chin has the wheel while the other is bored. I just decked out their cage so more room to jump and play so, now i just need a wheel if anyone needs to get rid of one ill take them off your hands :)

And my last question: I read on here about trimming whiskers when pairs fight and im curious if that safe? and what that would do to my boys if i considered doing that?​
 
Chinchillas Fighting over female

I run a chinchilla rescue in greater Boston. I own one female chinchilla and I am having a problem with male chins at the rescue. It seems that the male chins, no matter how long they are paired, and how close they are, my current two rescues Zen and Cloud are litter mates, they begin to fight when they realize there is a female around. Their previous owner loved them both very much and they have a chinchilla mansion and she requested they go to a new forever home with their cage, together. Unfortunately due to aggressive behavior (chasing, teeth chattering ect.) I had to separate them into different cages. I am now concerned with re-homing them together. Has any one had this issue in the past? Below is a picture of the cuties together. How do you manage your separated male and female chinchilla cages?
 
~@Pokemon@~ said:
No worries i read over the breeding forum on here and read the breeding-gone-wrong stories people posted. I wouldnt be strong enough to watch the kits die nor if my female did. So i will not be breeding at all. Im gonna hold off on anymore chins, cause you all are right. They seem content with my affection so my worries are mostly gone. Pikachu's ear is healing with no problems. So now my only concern is getting another wheel or two. Since i have a FN 142 one chin is on the top and the other is on the bottom. And the bottom chin has the wheel while the other is bored. I just decked out their cage so more room to jump and play so, now i just need a wheel if anyone needs to get rid of one ill take them off your hands :)

And my last question: I read on here about trimming whiskers when pairs fight and im curious if that safe? and what that would do to my boys if i considered doing that?​
Click to expand...

If they're getting individual playtime, they should be fine without a wheel for a bit. You could always clean and move the wheel between the cages until you get the new one.

Since you already had blood drawn, I'd leave them separate. Once they cause injury, they're beyond the standard dominance squabbles. Dominance has been established and I wouldn't risk further injury. Your chins will both be fine alone.
 
The same exact thing happened between my male chins at 6 months of age. They were going through thier first shedding, so at first I didn't notice that clumps of hair were being chewed off of the smaller brother! I only realized when I found the scabs, poor thing.
I ended up separating them, putting their cages side by side. I thought about buying the less aggressive one a new playmate, but I decided that would be a little irresponsible (bringing another chinchilla into a problem situation). I've tried to re-introduce them a couple of times, but each time has been a disaster. I'm giving them their space for now, but I might try again at 12 months.
I went to the vet recently and asked about this. He said it was typical for adult male chinchillas to be aggressive towards each other. Then again, he wasn't a specialist for this animal.
If you have an FN142, you can use the ramp as a drawbridge to separate the 2 levels. the ramp is wire, so they can see each other and poke their paws through.
 
mim0saBones said:
If you have an FN142, you can use the ramp as a drawbridge to separate the 2 levels. the ramp is wire, so they can see each other and poke their paws through.
Click to expand...

I was gonna try that but im worried bout bitten toes or noses or something while i sleep.

Though they each have play time in my room and Kiwi has jumped up and sat on my garbage lid and poked his nose through Pikachu's bars. The first time Pikachu barked at him and did the lil stand off chins do (stands on hind legs with teeth showing.) I usually gently nudge Kiwi away and they go back to whatever they were doing.


(A few weeks later...)
Tonight Kiwi did it again and Pikachu hopped over and they started sniffing and Pikachu dipped his nose into Kiwi's neck and started rubbing? it kind of looked like he was tryin to snuggle with him the way they did before. They only stopped when they noticed i was staring. So hopefully thats progress, if they seem more passive i might try to reintroduce them
in 6 - 12 months.
 
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