Hello all!

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GhostStang17

New member
Joined
May 5, 2017
Messages
3
Location
Dundee,MI
Hi,

Joined the forum with some issues with new chins. My girl friend has two chins a standard grey(Mika) and A tan (Rosie) she moved them in with me and I've have bonded with them. I like them so much I researched them and found various colors one in which I liked pink white and mosaic white. I happened to come upon two unloved chins for sale off face book a pink white(renamed, Floki) and a standard grey(Ginger). They quickly bonded with me after a few weeks had the vet checked them out and are healthy. We moved them in same room as Mika and Rosie, I let Floki and Ginger run around the room to get to know the new location. This make Rosie jealous, my girl friend decided to let her out and hold her(that didn't last long), she met Floki which they seemed to be ok with, Ginger on the other hand not so much got chased and several hairs pulled. Since then we do not let them play together. We have moved the cages near one another and Rosie and Ginger try attacking through the cages and pee. So I attempted to bond all four of them with a long drive through back roads. All seemed ok once they got home. About a half hour later they are at it again but Mika joined in the taunting of Ginger. Floki has no part of this.

This has been a problem since introducing the new chins, floki is afraid of the other two Ginger try's to fight. Is there any other ways of making play time safe for all four at once? Or am I stuck with four chins that will hate one another for their life's?

Thanks, Matthew
 
Welcome!
It can take a long time to bond chinchillas, especially four at once. How long have you been trying? I've known it to take months or even years and even then sometimes they won't bond. Even after bonding for years they can have a scuffle and need to be separated so be sure you always have an extra cage for just in case.

There's a lot of good information here on bonding chinchillas. Some suggest keeping them in the same room for a few weeks before letting them play together. You can try switching their toys and play things (stuff that has their scent) too. When you've let them get to know each other's scent and it's finally play time, try taking them to a neutral space such as a hallway or elsewhere that's safe and blocked off where the chins don't normally play. Watch and see how thy react to each other. If they fight it's time to put them up and try again in another week or so. Hopefully you can successfully bond your chinchillas, but just remember it's a long process. Good luck :)
 
Honestly I would not try to cage 4 unrelated chins together, it can be hard enough trying to bond 2 sometimes, add a third or fourth into the mix and you have just multiplied the problems. It is not uncommon when trying to add new chins that you end up with the bonded pair, or in your case, pairs, ending up splitting up. You could end up with all four needed to be housed separately in the end. Or you could end up with the pairs switching, or have two or three gang up on one, so you end up with 3 together and one ending up having to be all alone, So long as the bonded pairs are still ok I would just leave it like that. They clearly don't all want to be friends, not all chins like all other chins and you could very likely mess up the existing pairs. From what I've seen having multiple (more then 2) seem to work better if they are say mother and daughters, father and sons, or siblings.

I have had 4 females play together (not caged together) before, but it took months to get to that point, and the new chins were also introduced when they were kits to the play group.

You are going to want to move the cages far enough apart so that they aren't getting agitated with each other anymore, that is only making matters worse. Once they calm down, wait a week or two. Once they are all good you can try moving the cages closer together slowly, over the course of weeks, but if they start getting annoyed again, back the cages up again.
You didn't say how long you've had any of them, but the advised 30 quarantine time not only makes sure the chins are healthy, but also gives you time to get to know them and for them to fully settle into the new home. If you got the new chins and try to bond them all right away that can really cause a lot of stress. Trying to rush the process can make them feel like they have to fight to claim territory for themselves. Also putting strange chins in the existing chin's territory, makes them feel they need to fight to protect it from the "invaders".
 
I got the new two a month an half ago, they are around the same age 3-4 years old, we had them for two weeks before the vet visit since I was able to hold them and touch them earlier than expected. The cages just within the past week maybe two have been in same room but far away wasn't till a week ago I put them on same side since I moved out my geckos from that room. I have the cages separated now since it's cause it cage fights. Well attempted fights through their separate cages. As far as I know none of them are related, not even the pairs. I was hoping for play time to be ok, the four in one cage didn't seem like an great idea(although a friend has 6 in a home built cage)

Thanks for the advise, for now they are in separate cages and play times.
 
I've had the new girls for a month and a half now, the ages are 3-4 years old. I took the new girls to the vet after two weeks to have checked out, since I was able to touch and hold them quicker than expected(bad home before me). They have been in the same room for about a week and a half not close to other cage since I had geckos in the room. We just recently attempted to put the cages near one another and discovered to attempted fights through the cages. The plans are to allow play time together not a full cage(a friend has 6 in one custom cage). As far as I know none of the pairs are even related.

I'm not sure if they are fighting over territory or if it the dislike of the girls having had babies. I've only seen issues when one of my girlfriends chins are near mine. Both Rosie and Mika dislike Ginger. Floki seems to get the flak.

Thanks for the advise, they are moved away for now but in same room. Hopefully someday they can play nicely.
 
Back
Top