Should I?

[celmisha]

Hey everyone!

I have a young, male chinchilla named Remi who is a little rascal and lives by himself. My family really wants to get another one, and I have heard things about how male chinchillas won't get along with other males if they have not grown up together? Is that true? Remi seems fine by himself...
Apart from that, I have the money, time, experience, and a HUGE cage (http://www.amazon.com/Critter-Nation-Double-Unit-Stand/dp/B004B9UGB4 ... I would HIGHLY recommend this cage to anyone with the money by the way).
So will Remi get upset? And if this does go through, I want to rescue, so are there any shelters or orginizations anyone recommends (I'm in northern California).

Thanks a bunch!

-Caroline

 

[Cuddlebug]

Caroline, there are many people on this forum who have more than one male chinchilla sharing a cage. A good deal of them were paired up as adults. That being said. There is no guarantee that your current chinchilla will get along with a new one. Whenever you have more than one chin together in one cage, you should always be prepared to separate them at the drop of a hat, because that is how quickly they can turn on each other. That means that you will need to have a second cage handy at all times. If your family decides to get another chinchilla, please, follow the 30 day quarantine rule. After that proceed with introductions slowly. If you type introductions in to the search bar you will get a ton of information on various techniques for introducing chinchillas.

 

[Sandi]

I agree with the above and I have had to personally separate at least 2 pairs and 1 trio. Sometimes it isn't even a fight that causes a separation. With the trio that I mentioned, 2 chins were barring 1 from the hay and feed sometimes. I noticed some weight loss on him and kept a close eye for a little while and finally witnessed 1 chin bullying him away from the hay that I just put in the cage. I had 2 water bottles and 2 separate food dishes in their cage as well but when he continued to lose a little more weight without any symptoms of illness, I had to separate him and he is now thriving and putting on the weight he lost. It's just something else to consider.