Karate female chinchilla

[JohhnyBishop]

Hi All,
I hope you are well.
I reckon I own a combative chinchilla to say the least aka killer female chinchilla.
They were good friends for over a year in the same cage then when a bit older but rather shy female got little kits then the problem began (they were already separated, mother with the kits but I still tried some playtime together).
The other female which is younger & bigger but also assertive one have turned rouge & I suspect territorial thus attacks the mother chinchilla.
I have separated them since then but I can see after over a month she didn't changed her stance. For the last two weeks I tried swapping their cages so they get use to their smell but this didn't work or didn't work yet.
I think she is upset as soon as the other one is in the vicinity but once the peaceful one approaches her and they touch their noses she goes full berserk.
From the stories I heard there are these killer chinchillas which never change and the separation has to be permanent otherwise it will kill the other chinchilla. Both are about 1.5 year old.
What is your experience or opinion about that?
Best regards

 

[Amethyst]

Ok if I am understanding this right, you have a bonded pair, then one had kits and you separated them, and now you are trying to rebond them?

If the kits are still with the mother the other female could smell them on her and to her they are unknown stranger chinchillas. Also I'm sure a nursing mother chin is going to smell different then she normally does. If they kits are no longer with the mother though it could just be that the time apart was enough to break the bond.

When you say "attacks" do you mean actual biting and drawing blood? If so then yeah you have a "killer chin" that you are no going to be able to trust with another chin. If it's just barking and chasing though, maybe some mounting and minor fur slips then that is not the a sign of intent to kill yet. If there is a lot of barking and chasing going on though it's best to separate them for at least a few days to a week, or however long it take for them to calm down and are ok with the cages being next to each other. If you put them back together before they calm down from the last fight they will just pick up where they left off. Once they are calm in cages a few inches apart then you can try short 5-10 minute out of cage play times together trying to end before anything happens, making the time longer over time if they are getting along.

Some chins just like to live alone though, just like some people prefer to live alone. Being separated from her cage mate likely gave the younger chin time, possibly for the first time in her life, to be alone and she likes it. Also even bonded pairs that were never separated can for no obvious reason (to us anyway) after years of being together have a falling out and no longer want to be friends anymore. Just another thing to add, around 6 month to about a year or two they are going through basically a teenager faze and that can change their personality just like it does for humans. Since personalities for chins need to mesh for a bond to work that can be a problem and can break the bond, just like people that were friends as kids may not stay friends as they mature into adults.

 

[JohhnyBishop]

Thank you Amethyst, as always your answers make a lot of sense.
Chinchillas are pretty advances species of rodents in terms of the character and they can change a lot over time. They are like little people with their different zodiacs

I have not seen any blood yet but the fur patches yes. I had to push the big young one away because it assaults the mother. Who knows it could end up bloody if I left them unattended.
I think she is against the mother only not her kits because I done some playtime sessions with the karate chin and the young ones only and she was fine.
She was actually pretty much excited and regularly checked the young ones like any female should do but the smell of her mother triggers a response.

I lean towards the theory of incompatible characters but it could also be that the maternity of one chinchilla has disrupted the old habitat.
My early theory was that this must be something the mother chinchilla did, even if it's a shy type as a mother we could assume she will become territorial and in some less visible or invisible way challenges the other chinchilla. The problem for the mother is that it turned out the young chinchilla is bigger and has better karate skills.