Sharing toss toys and sticks?

[Spodumena]

Hello! I have two 6.5 month old chin brothers called Clodius and Milo. They seem pretty well bonded: they often sleep snuggled up together, groom each other often, and I *think* the dominance issue has been pretty quickly established: Clodius is the more ballsy of the two (although smaller). There was more dominance mounting in the first month. It has petered off a bit, but still happens occasionally -- usually Clodius mounting Milo, although Milo tries to assert himself once in a blue moon.

My question is about bonded chinchillas sharing toss toys and sticks. Whenever I give them something to play with I give them two, but 95% of the time Clodius loses interest in his own toy/stick after a few chews, and goes to grab Milo's. Sometimes Milo will let it go, but sometimes he gets irritated that his brother is being a greedy chin. There's some tug-of-war and sometimes some chasing.

I tend to intervene because I don't want them falling out with each other. Should I not be doing this? I realize animals will grab food/toys from each other and the concept of sharing isn't the same for them, but I've been sticking with putting fixed hanging toys in the cage, and monitoring stick chewing/shredding time (sticks come out of the cage when the chins lose interest) because I'm worried about them irritating each other. Am I being overly cautious? :hmm:

Anyone else have multiple chins living together who can advise?

 

[Godofgods]

my girls love to rip each other off. They do it quite often. Even if they both have the same thing. Best thing iv found so far is to give them each there twig at different locations. Since mine are in a two story FN cage, ill give one theres on the bottom level and the others theres on the top level or in there hut.


... of course half the time they want to 'protect there claim' on there twig so they run to a hiding area all to themselves. With generally means i have three chins all running to the same spot to be alone... but what can ya do'

 

[Amethyst]

Stealing from each other is pretty normal, my guys do it all the time. I think it's kind of like two siblings, they always think what the other one has must somehow be better then what they got, lol. Some minor bickering and chasing is normal, so long as it doesn't progress and the chase ends within a few seconds with no fur slips or biting. I don't worry about it too much, I normally just put a few extra sticks in the cage after I give them each one, that way whoever lost his stick will likely find another. I also leave the sticks in the cage until they are peed on or fully chewed up and get tossed/vacuumed up during a cage cleaning. If sticks are still big enough and not peed on during a cage cleaning I just toss them back in the cage, they do go back to old sticks. They also get fresh sticks every day, and have tons of hanging and toss toys in the cage. You do want a variety of types of toys anyway, that way they always have something to chew on even if they lose out on a chew stick or two from their brother. Luring each chin to a different part of the cage does help too as Gododgods said, sometimes they both are distracted by their own sticks, toy, or treat they don't realize their brother has one too.

Also just so you know from about 4-6 months until they are about a year old chins go through puberty so don't be surprised if you have a few more dominance squabbles.

 

[Spodumena]

With generally means i have three chins all running to the same spot to be alone... but what can ya do'

lol - oh yes, I have seen this — Silly chins.

Thanks for the replies Godofgods & Amethyst! Glad to know it’s normal behavior and I’m just being a worrywart.

I have been steeling myself for puberty. At the moment they just tend to be moody more often than not. I’ve had to come to grips with the fact that they’ll push my hand away with their tiny paws more often than they are happy to see me. Does very much feel like I'm dealing with teenagers…

 

[ChinchillMom]

I remember reading somewhere that in 'chinchilla culture' it's common for members to steal from one another, that it's an accepted norm between chinchillas (lol!) Much different than our human ways... I've noticed it happening between my boys too, and worried about it too.

But I guess that's more of an acceptable thing to do in their culture, though they'll let each other know if they're annoyed with the thievery. (Chattering teeth, anyone?) I remember thinking it was so cool when I first learned about chin sounds and their meanings. Very much like a bickering couple ;-)