Fur biting, listlessness, and neutering..

[gizandcharlie]

I'm sure some of you read my post about me having two "boy" chinchillas but then one turned out to be a girl, had the baby and it died.
Well as soon as she started giving birth I separated mom and dad. And now mom seems depressed sitting by herself and dad is biting his fur! I think he's stressed out because the cage right now is divided on half and they can't see each other but that's the only way I can have it with my setup. And when I'm falling asleep I hear one of them making a crying sound and they sleep in the corners of the cage (dad bottom right corner- mom top right corner) so they are as close as possible.. Which is sweet..

So what I guess I'm getting as is, clearly they miss eachother.. Should I go get my male neutered so they can be together? I'm just nervous because I love him and I'd be so upset if he passed away from the procedure.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

The male wants to mate with the female. When chins give birth they are fertile and can get pregnant. I would not neuter the male because it is a surgery that is not needed for medical reasons. Chins can die or have a difficult time recovering from neutering.

Give the male wood to chew on and maybe a cuddle buddy to sleep with. He should adjust to being by himself just fine. The same with the female. Be sure they are eating, drinking and pooping normally.

 

[tcraighenry]

I would seriously recommend against neutering. We lost our boy a couple years ago.

 

[VikiH]

Chins can get over a separation with relative ease, it is not the same case for an operation - chins are fragile at the best of times so I think you should definitely listen to the people above and keep at finding other ways to cheer your two chinnies up. Operations should always be a last resort and should only really be conducted when it is vital due to illness etc. Definitely look into getting a cuddle buddy and keep an eye on both chins to make sure they're acting normal other than the crying and missing each other. Give them both some extra love and attention and I'm sure it will all be fine.