Male Chin Introduction

[Lovelywhiskers]

I recently got my Male chin (Kai - 6 Months old) a new chinchilla cage its a critter nation one that could be separated. And yesterday I got a new chinchilla male which is 4.5 Months old. Kai is a very shy, not very active boy. And the new one (un-named at the moment), is quite hyper. They currently living next to each other, the new one in his own cage. Kai was interested in him at first, but most of the time he doesn't go near him. They have touched noses before through the cage, but that's about it.

Today I put out the sand bath in the bathroom and let 1 chinchilla out at a time, with the other in a carrier. Kai approached the cage and put his nose in and the other one did the same. There was times where the new chin started scratching at Kai & banging in his cage. Not sure if its a sign of being aggressive? Or does he simply just want to come out and see Kai?

Let me know what you've done to introduce 2 males since I've never done before.

I only re-introduced 2 females that were sisters, and used to live in each others cage. Their re-introducing with her kits took at least a week. No fights, no pulling out fur. Just a slight bit of aggressive rising up on their feet and looking like they would bite each other. And chasing each other until one hides.

I also heard males are easier to introduce then females?

 

[Smidgeyy]

Whenever you get a new chin, you need to quarantine them in a separate room for 30 days.

Not only does this assure that you won't spread illness between them, but it gives them time to settle in to their new environment without another chin to stress them out.

Separate them now in case they haven't spread anything to each other.

There are multiple different ways of introducing chins. There is the cage within a cage method, the smoosh method, neutral area play time, etc...

I feel like the method depends on the chin. My two are still single chins because I'm afraid of trying the smooth method. I would rather be safe than risk them getting hurt.

The cage within a cage is a good start. You put one in a hamster cage and swap them between cages. The smoosh method is just putting them in a carrier(a very small one without extra room for them to move about), so they are forced to cuddle while you drive around for a bit.

They may never get along in the end. Some chins just don't like other chins.

 

[Lovelywhiskers]

Hi smidgeyy,

I've been looking at your thread lastnight and seen some replies. I'm not a fan for smoosh or cage in cage method.

Someone whos had many male chins replied from me asking them lastnight. And I do prefer this method maybe.

"put sage or some other herb on both of them, starting at the tail and moving to the head... They do much better when they cant smell the natural scent

Once a week has passed you can try to let them be together as the natural scent takes over for maybe 5 minutes in an enclosed SMALL AREA like the bathroom, and you MUST BE THERE. do not leave for even 30 seconds

if the 5 minutes goes ok.// and there might be some fur slip from fear and no major aggression... then sit on the floor with them offer a wood chew or a healthy treat and see if they can get along for 10 minutes

then separate them

Then take the chinchillas and SWITCH cages...one in each others do this for 2-5 days , switching each day, then going into the bathroom NOTE ...ONLY IF THERE HASNT BEEN AGGRESSION

humping, mounting, is all normal, and a little fur is normal biting, is what you want to watch for ... intros are the time most chinnies get their toes bitten off, their ears ripped you just have to feel through this

putting a crate or cage inside another cage is dangerous...in my opinion it makes one submissive and its for them to decide

there s more you can do , but this will be a good start Please remember this can take weeks , every day , patience is needed and again DONT EVER LET THEM ALONE without you right there You may want to put on gloves so if they bite you dont get hurt"

 

[Smidgeyy]

You still should have quarantined the new one and you should start before they possibly spread anything.

That method does not always work so you need to be open to other methods.

Just leaving them out together is risky, so I wouldn't try that right away. Even with herbs on them.

Switching cages with mine did absolutely nothing. Their behavior towards each other didn't change.

That's just my personal opinion... Each chin is different and one method may not work with them.

 

[Lovelywhiskers]

We sorta thought of a name for the new chinchilla. We might keep his name as Toby. At first we put the 1 in the carrier, then we put the other one in the carrier. And Toby was scratching at the carrier (not sure if this was aggressive behaviour or defensive). We got him to finally interact with the other male chinchilla by just letting them both out in the bathroom together (We had the towel ready to be thrown if they fought), and let themselves sort things out. Wasn't any biting, but just chasing and some noises. I was surprised our sweet little boy Kai wasn't very aggressive, but he's shown to the other chinchilla he is more dominant. And the new guy knows this now, and behaves much better. Round Two in 2 more days, since they have their play time every other day.

 

[Lovelywhiskers]

So far they are getting on pretty good. They finally settled down so much I put the new one in the other males cage just for most of my night being awake until I go to sleep and I put him away in his cage next to the other male. They are grooming each other, and they mount each other as well (I suppose trying to sort out dominance). Kai no longer looks so bothered by the other male, and is pretty much excepting him. There was no blood or missing body parts. No serious issues. Total time for this to happen - 2 weeks.

Lets hope they will be together in the same cage hopefully soon enough in a few days.

 

[Lovelywhiskers]

The two boys spent the night together in Kai's cage and they went on okay. They spent today as well together they fell asleep together in the bed, and I haven't heard them fighting. They are both eating & drinking okay. Hope this good behaviour continues.

 

[Dreamlite]

Sounds like they are well on their way to being good friends. Just keep a close eye on them for a few more weeks.

 

[david]

sometimes it takes longer than 30 days . I would keep them apart for up to two months

 

[Narcissus]

It is to late for quarentine now... the chins have had full body contact.

 

[wotjr1232]

Two Previously Cage-mate Chins, Hostile After One-day Separation

Hello!

I am very confused about these two boys(4 months and 5 months).

Tl;dr summary:
Went to breeder -> got a male chin(Chin1) -> after one day, went back to breeder and got Chin1’s cage-mate(Chin2) (the breeder said they were caged together for 3 weeks)
-> put Chin2 into Chin1’s cage as soon as I got home and saw that they were biting/mounting/chasing each other :impatient:
-> Separated the cage in two parts with a cardboard piece in the middle
-> On Day 4, took them both to my bathroom (a neutral ground) but they would still be biting/mounting/chasing each other
-> BUT... every night since Day 1, both Chin1 and Chin2 scratch and chew the cardboard piece as though they want to see each other (or maybe invade each other's territory?)
-> Chin2 actually broke the cardboard and climbed up to Chin1's part of the cage but they were still acting hostile(biting/mounting/chasing) :hair:
-> Now is Day6 and they still want to remove the cardboard block, but when they actually meet, they still fight.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS :hair::hair::hair:


Somewhat Whole Story:
I have had one male chin for about 3 months (about 8 months old), before I decided to get him a friend, which unexpectedly led me to getting one more chin (total of 3).
The main reason was that he seemed very bored and I thought chin-friends would make him happy.

I went to a breeder and brought home a very cute ebony-velvet male chin (who was caged with another chin at the breeder's), only to find out that my first chin is acting hostile to the new guy, and also mad at me(?) for not giving him undivided attention. So I decided to give them some time in getting to know each other and of course, put them in different cages.

Seeing the new guy being intimidated and feeling somewhat guilty that I separated him from his cage-mate, I went back to the breeder's the next day and also brought home the cage-mate (a 5 month-old violet male chin).

So these two chins had been caged for 3 weeks at the breeder's and separated for one day until I brought them both home.
But as soon as just I brought and put the "newest guy" in the "new" guy's cage(the two-story critter nation cage), they almost instantly started to bite/mount/chase each other. Had they forgotten each other already?!
So I separated the cage floors by blocking the middle with a small cardboard piece, and decided to let them meet again on a “neutral” ground(my bathroom) in a few days.

It has been six days since I brought them home, and they still bite/mount/chase each other even when they are inside the bathroom.

ONE VERY VERY STRANGE THING… is that every night since day 1, both of them have been scratching and chewing the cardboard piece that I put to divide their territories and they seem to be wanting to meet each other(?!).

BUT THEN AGAIN… when the “newest” chin actually broke through the cardboard piece and climbed up into the “new” chin’s part of the cage, they started to attack each other.

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?

 

[Lovelywhiskers]

wotjr1232 try to make your own thread about it this is confusing others. And others won't see your post.

Anyways... To go back onto my topic. I keep the boys together during Morning-My bed time. And they are always fine together. It's always when I turn off light and go to bed or real late they start to fight.

They can successfully do everything together. Eat food, drink, sleep, groom, bath, play, chew toys, and being in carrier together. I just don't know know why they bother fighting, if they aren't bad with each other. I still think they are trying to establish who is more dominant to each other, but not in a terrible way. As they never hurt each other.

I keep the one males cage next to the other males cage throughout the night. So they will keep each others company.

 

[Lovelywhiskers]

Lately for the past few days Toby and Kai both sleeping together in the same cage.