Ready to Rumble! :(

[Lulilac]

Mmm... how many threads do we need about chins who won't get along?

In my case I have two male Chins. Barnaby is 5 years old. I've had him for 9 months and love him very much. He is fairly mellow.

I thought he needed a friend/frenemy and so I found Hugo who is 7 months old and full of energy. He's been with us for about a month and a half.

They live in separate cages that are next to each other.

I let them out for mutual play time. One hops up to the other and they touch noses for a bit and then one runs away. Sometimes, however, one will approach the other and try and mount him. When this happens, I clap my hands and say 'no' and they both run around.

Sometimes they don't stop. Three times now they have tusselled for a second and Barnaby runs away with a tuft or two of fur hanging from his back. Hugo's fur is unruffled.

I get mad at Hugo for trying to hurt Barnaby, which is silly since they are BOTH instigating these little rumbles. So:

Should I let them mount each other and fight a little? Once they establish dominance, will things cool down between them?

Some times, Barnaby jumps over to Hugo and then strats nomming him on the neck and face. H just sits there. Is this grooming behavior?

Last night, Barnaby was swishing his tail back and forth furiously like a squirrel. The tussel happened shortly after. This is aggressive behavior, no?

I find myself wanting to rehome Hugo. Does anyone want a bratty mosaic chinchilla? Actually, I've decided I should spend some time with Hugo alone so we can bond.

My goal was for them to live together. Now, I just want them to be able to have mutual play time. Ideas?

LuLu

 

[mishellyshel]

i have 9 boys. none of which play together with the exception of one pair, who has been paired since a very young age. they are all happier being room mates than cage mates. sometimes you have to resolve to having 2 alive happy chins.
there are lots of threads though with techniques you can try like trimming whiskers or rubbing a dab of vanilla on one of them. do a search to find the specifics.

 

[Brittany]

Should I let them mount each other and fight a little? Once they establish dominance, will things cool down between them?

Mounting, a little chasing, a little fur flying is ok. But if it's continuous then you might have to resolve yourself to the fact that they won't get along. Absoultely no fighting. Once blood has been shed it's game over for trying to introduce them. Things might cool down once dominance is established or this could always continue. They could start fighting one day for no reason at all.

Some times, Barnaby jumps over to Hugo and then strats nomming him on the neck and face. H just sits there. Is this grooming behavior?

Sounds like it

i have 9 boys. none of which play together with the exception of one pair

I can't imagine doing 8 rounds of playtime:youwoman: Do each of them come out every night?

 

[xcdnchinx]

Have you tried putting their cages side by side for awhile for them to get used to eachothers scents? When i introduced my boys, i would swap their cages every few days

 

[Laurie]

In the chinchilla world there will always be the need for the dominant and the submissive. It doesn't matter if it male or female cagemates someone HAS to be the boss. During these playtimes you need to allow some of the mounting in order for dominance to be established. Clapping your hands and saying No! is not allowing this to happen. It is normal behavior to see this in chins until the dominant role is established. Some tussling, some fur flying, kacking and in the case of girls--spraying is normal. Blood shed and wounds are not normal and if this happens they need to be separated immediately and most likely never to be allowed together again.

Keep a close eye on them during playtime to see this doesn't happen.

With great patience you could have 2 boys that will wind up being able to share a cage and snuggle.

 

[mishellyshel]

Originally Posted by mishellyshel
i have 9 boys. none of which play together with the exception of one pair

I can't imagine doing 8 rounds of playtime Do each of them come out every night?

Only Richie comes out every night. The rest get alternated. Some come out more than others, like Stitch & Zucca come out about 4 or 5 times a week. the rest about 3. The play area is right by thier cages so as I do my nightly clean i let them out. sometimes they are out for 20 or 30 minutes. sometimes only 5 minutes. When I do their fleece change I do 2 towers of FN's one night and 2 the next.

 

[TheSurvivor]

Since I didn't want to start another thread about this
I have a mounting question:
We've had our Scrat and Gizmo for over a month now and mounting is still occurring.
At first it was Scrat mounting Gizmo (even though he's noticeably smaller than Gizmo) But I figured that's because he seemed to settle in a lot easier. He's more social with us, climbs all the way to our shoulders and lets himself be picked up a lot easier.
the last few days it seems gizmo is a lot calmer towards us and less stressed out and now he's taken to humping scrat more often than the other way around. It also seems to happen a lot more during playtime
I'm not overly worried (but wondering if I should be, I figure after a month dominance would be established) but I always get a near panic attack at the noise they make during the whole humping ritual.
*edit* I'll admit that the fiancee and I've been trying to break up the humping for the past week or two because of that - should we just let it happen? with the noise I always worry they might start fighting - even though they seem to be best buds the rest of the time.

 

[GorillaJTA]

*edit* I'll admit that the fiancee and I've been trying to break up the humping for the past week or two because of that - should we just let it happen? with the noise I always worry they might start fighting - even though they seem to be best buds the rest of the time.

My boys have been together a year and they still have the occasional hump-battle. Usually it is when the less dominant one tries to assert himself. They usually settle right back down.

 

[mishellyshel]

I had to separate one pair because of the chasing and dominant behavior. which btw i never saw or heard. the deciding factor with Snickers & Oreo and was the clumps of snickers fur that i found for a day or so. i thought he was shedding because his fur is so thin and airy but the next day i found him cowering in the corner and so ends the story of cagemates and starts the story of room mates! since they have been separated both are much happier and both have gained weight and they still live next door to each other.
my other pair, so far i am just lucky. if they are not huddled on top of their house, they are in the hammock together. or sometimes in their house or a box. i have not seen signs of fighting or anything in their cage.

 

[Lillie_Chilla]

I'm also having issues with my chins getting along... I have a 4 year old -roughly- female who has never been around another chin till now. I have had her since October. Then I recently adopted another female, Graison or Gracie- who is I think close to a year old now... I can't remember off the top of my head! :/ lol
I've recently started introducing my 2 girls...about 2 weeks ago. I let them out twice total for mutual play time, but the second play date was cut short due to a scuffle that scared me! Mind you, I'm brand new at this and so any little thing like that is bound to freak me out. Haha
I have their cages side by side (It's been that way since day 1) and I let them out one at a time to play now. When one is out, she will go to the other's cage and sniff around. Once they are nose to nose though, they start trying to bite at each other it seems and they make the growling noises. 99% of the time Lillie is starting it. The rest of the time I think Gracie is just acting out of fear. Tonight when I had Lillie out, she went over to Gracie's cage and they started in like usual, but then Lillie decided to spray. From what I've read, all of these things ARE normal. (Not sure about the attempts at biting...) But, I'd really like some advice on where to go from here...I want to things the right way to maximize the possibility of them getting along after dominance is established, etc. Any methods you could pass on that you have used and have worked well would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[Lulilac]

The struggle continues...

Thank you for your advice and words of experience. Last night, I let Barnaby and Hugo out at the same time. They did okay until Hugo lept into Barnaby's cage and started nomming his food!

Barnaby hopped over to investigate and they met at the entrance to the cage. They did the nose to nose thing and Hugo jumped out and Barnaby mounted him. This is the first time I haven't interceded at this point. Hugo ran away and there was crazy chasing. First it would be B chasing H and then H chasing B with little tussles here and there with some minor fur flying action. Somtimes, Barnaby would stop and look at me like, "You are actually letting us do this?!?"

After like 5 to 10 minutes of this, I decided it was accelerating rather than calming down so I stopped them by gently talking to them and saying no and putting my hand in front of the chaser etc. I lied to them and told them they were good chinchillas. Hugo jumped into his cage and I closed his door. I let Barnaby stay out on his own for a while.

So, there you go. Thats the first time I've let them mount, chase and tussel freely. I've decided to try closing the doors to their cages while they are out for play time. That way, Hugo wont' go into Barnaby's territory which seemed to start the whole thing this time. Hugo doesn't seem defensive of his cage at all, but I will probably close it too.

The struggle continues. I am happy to report that neither of them seemed especially stressed out after there little war games.

Sherry