When to give up?

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Huffnpoof

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Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
90
Location
Baltimore, MD
When doing intros, I had my girls cages next to each other for about a week and a half, and switched cages for 3 nights (back and forth). After that, I put them in puppy play pens that were right next to each other, so they had protected contact. All seemed to be going okay, they were sniffing each other, then my one girl bit the other in the face right through the bar. She continued to bite down on the bars to try to get to the other chin as I was removing them. Should I even try to continue to intro these two, or give up and build another more perminant cage for the second girl? Do you stop when blood is involved? I would like them to live together, but more importantly, I don't want anyone else getting hurt. Thanks
 
well...this isn't encouraging or anything but i've tried to get my boys to be...well even just civil with each other for nearly two years. everytime i think they are getting better and try to let them play together..all hell breaks loose and fur goes flying...so personally i have given up. Buckie is the dominant alpha male of the household and he absolutely will not back down to the slightly younger spastic Fatty.


Also, Buckie has a heart murmur as i've read is very common. I don't think Fatty does but anyway. This may be unfounded, but I get nervous about Buckie getting too worked up. And Fatty i think gets on his nerves to no end.
 
I'd like to hear more about this from more people. The responses on here seem to be advising that even if there has been a wound inflicted (in this case a nose bite) that it's still possible for the chins to eventually get along. I'm inferring that since the whisker trim has been suggested even after this altercation.

So, is the consensus that, yes, it is still possible for them to eventually get along? Or would most people say, no, if one has been wounded (bit in any way for example) not to continue to try no matter how cautious?
 
When Kuzu got his paw bit by Baba I stopped intros for a while. After a couple months of sepearation I then tried other intro methods like neutral playtime. Baba was less aggressive but Kuzu was still terrified of him. If Kuzu were to get over his fear of Baba I think they would have gotten along but I decided to not push it any further because Kuzu wasn't comfortable with it. Now I am introducing Kuzu to Coda and there is no aggression but there isn't grooming yet.
 
I had two girls that I thought would NEVER get along. I got a really great intro method from Tunes (Peggy), and they are as thick as thieves now!! Order a show cage (Ryerson's has them) and check out the thread "Chintros: not going so well!". I posted the question and got a TON of good advice, including whisker trimming and putting a small amount of vanilla above their noses and around the bases of their tails. I don't think it's hopeless as long as no blood has been drawn.
 
When I did my first intro with Cheeko & Gideon, I started by putting their cages side by side for a couple of weeks. The first face to face introduction went ok...they chased each other and kacked, but it wasn't violent. I tried the vanilla on their noses, giving dust baths before their meet and trimming their whiskers. I think all of these things helped. I even tried the smoosh method with them. The second time I put them together Gideon bit Cheeko on the back of his neck pretty badly. I kept them separate for a couple of months, but still had their cages side by side.

I had let Cheeko out for playtime one day and was sweeping Gideon's cage out and the little buggar escaped...next thing I know they were nose to nose checking each other out. From that point I gave them 10-15 minute playtimes together each day and now they live together in their big cage.

I did slow introductions with all 5 of my boys and they all play very well together. They chase each other, wrestle around and groom one another. It's the cutest thing to watch!

The key to introductions, IMO, is to do it on THEIR terms on THEIR time. You can't push them too quickly. Some chins will get along right away, some take a while, and some will never get along. I consider myself very lucky that all of my boys play well together.

Don't give up hope that yours will not get along. Give them some time and try again.
 
whisker trimming? don't mean to hijack someone's thread, but whats the whisker trimming about?

It's a dominance thing...if you trim their whiskers to the same length, they're on the same "level". I actually trimmed my more aggressive chin's whiskers shorter than the other one's...worked pretty well.
 
Since they had a negative first meeting, give them a few days before trying them together again. Chins don't forget a bad encounter with another chin. If you put them right back in the play area again, chances are they will be aggresive.

I agree with the person who said to take it slow with chins. Let them get together at their own pace. I have had some chins get along within a week of living side by side and others take a month. I have had chins chase each other for a few seconds, but when fur gets pulled, put them back in their own cage and let them cool down for a few days.

If the next meeting is aggresive, then you will have to consider that they may never get along. Chins have to get along great and somewhat ignore each other during play time before you ever think about putting them in the same cage together.
 
So then I shouldn't give up? Just take things slower? She really had a big gash on the side of her nose (which has since seemed to heal up). I've put there cages next to each other again and it's been like that for about a week. I'll try the show cage thing and the whisker trimming, but I just wanted to see what the thoughts on here were when blood was drawn. Thanks again.
 
I'm probably biased because my chins seem to hate each other, but it seems like when they hate each other, that's the way it's going to be.
I mean, if you want to spend the time to keep taking it slow, go ahead, but in my experience, the minute my girls showed aggression, it never got better.

When 2 of my girls got along, they just hit it off right away and there was no fighting. With my others when I tried to get them to get along with either group, there was fighting, and it only got worse. I tried swapping cages, cages next to each other for weeks, the small cage within a cage, vanilla on the nose, everything it seems short of smooshing. And it didn't really make a difference. I even let them settle for a couple months and tried again, and it still didn't work. There was fur flying and biting through the bars and even a gash on poor MuShu's leg.

I personally, don't see the point of forcing. I know some people will have success with just taking it slow, or whatever techniques they may use, but I don't force my girls to keep trying to like each other. I'm just scared that at some point, something may set them off and they'll go back to how they first were. But perhaps my chins just like to make it difficult for me haha

I'm not sure that this really helped, but it's just another perspective. I think only you can really decide if you want to keep trying.
 
Thanks Alli. I'm not 100 % sure what I'm going to do. For right now though, I'm going to build another melamine cage for a perminant cage for the second chinchilla. I don't think I'd ever have them live in the same cage because I'd also be paranoid that something would happen. Thanks again to everyone for all of your advise. :winkers:
 
I personally, don't see the point of forcing. I know some people will have success with just taking it slow, or whatever techniques they may use, but I don't force my girls to keep trying to like each other. I'm just scared that at some point, something may set them off and they'll go back to how they first were. But perhaps my chins just like to make it difficult for me haha

agreed. there's no need to force it. i think sometimes chins just don't get along. I had another boy i adopted from the petstore I used to work at. He had some problems I think genetically (never gained much weight like Buckie did when i took him home despite better food, vitamins, and other such thing, had a permanently prolapsed penis, and other strange issues). Well, he LOVED Buckie. And Buckie seemed to tolerate him. He would even groom him from time to time and they would snuggle together. But he never tried to be dominant over Buckie so I think that helped their relationship.

Unfortunately, he died in October of 07, the ER vets said he had an infection that was septic, meaning spread thru his whole body. :( it was awful....

ok so not gonna cry now..so Fatty seems very interested in Buckie. He loves to groom him and sit by his cage. But the grooming always leads to trying to mount him. and thats when it all hits the fan.
I keep trying cuz it seems like they want to get along but it just isn't quite right.

Either way, its hard for me to say you should still try after there has been blood. I've been trying with Buckie and Fatty for close to two years, but theres never been blood. But hey maybe in your chins' case it could just take a long time. Who knows but good luck
 
All my girls got along right off the bat so I can't really give any suggestion as to what to try, but I'm not sure I'd give up just yet. I would wait a few weeks before trying anything other then having their cages next to each other, though.
I think a combo of fresh bath beforehand, tri8mmed whiskers and the vanilla might do some good. At least it couldn't cause any (more) harm.
I do think I'd be skeptical to try again if there's another injury. Jmo
 
was wondering about the vanilla on the nose thing. I am new to chin ownership and hope to introduce a friend for my new boy Remi in a month or so. Thanks for someone asking about the whisker thing. Very helpful info.
 
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