housing male and female chins together??

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lukiesmommy

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I am going to be purchasing a few chinchillas within the next month or so from a local breeder. She is "downsizing" her herd and I am looking to start my own. I am having a HUGE cage built for them and I was wondering if males and females should be kept in the same cage ALL the time, or if only for breeding?? I have looked for the answer to this question all over, and have had no luck so far... so any help would be appreciated! Thanx
 
now I am not a breeder, but I figured I'd throw out what I know...


The males, father or son after 8ish weeks, need to be removed to prevent back breeding. Dad is taken out a (I think) week before mom is due to give birth. After that I would guess that the only male and female contact should be those who are breeding-i.e. no sons in with the mothers etc. There is also a number of months (I think it is 3 or more-maybe less someone else will have to clarify) that the mother should take off from breeding to give her a break.


For the more specific detials you'll have to wait for a breeder to come along, but I figured I throw out some facts that I had stuck in my head:nod:
 
thank you, knowing that I may need to build 2 cages :wink3:
 
Since I don't know you and don't recognize your name from any other forums, I'm going to ask you some basic questions first to get assumptions out of the way.

First off, have you owned chins before? If so, how long?
Do you know the basic needs?
Do you have a local vet who is chin savvy? This is very important as breeding can bring up some major issues in chins that will need a vet who knows what they are talking about and doing when it comes to chins.
Do you know if these chins you are getting are actually good quality chins? I.E. fur quality, size etc.

My assumption by your initial question is that you don't have much experience with chins. Because if you did, you would have researched these questions by now.

Personally, and I think many on here will agree with me, breeding chins is not something to jump into and you should really own pet chins for a while before taking that leap.

Forgive me if I assumed wrong, but I don't know you so I can only guess.

And in answer to your question, you should not allow the males to have access to the females at all times forever or else you will end up with some very worn down females from repetitive breedbacks. Not only that, but you said males, and that you had one large cage, there should never under any circumstances be multiple males in with females. The males will fight over the female in heat and you will end up with dead chins.
 
well, your halfway right... No I have never owned any before, but yes I have done research, I just couldnt find answers to some of my questions, so I figured asking one of you wouldnt hurt. I dont plan on breeding immeadiately, but eventually. First I wanted to get to know the animal, to make sure its something I wanted to do. The only chinchillas im going to purchase have pedigrees, I do not want to let them breed without knowing that inbreeding is NOT in their background.... and if I said males it was a mistake, as I am only purchasing one male and 2 females... but thank you for the response :)
 
definitely keep them separate until you learn more about chins. Not that you haven't researched, but actually seeing them you learn more. And not all chins get along with each other and may also turn on each other so make sure to have a back up cage for the other female so in case things go crazy in the cage, be sure to be prepared.
 
Honestly, I would keep males separate from females until you learn more. The chins you get may not even be breeding quality anyways!
 
I am going to be purchasing a few chinchillas within the next month or so from a local breeder. She is "downsizing" her herd and I am looking to start my own. I am having a HUGE cage built for them and I was wondering if males and females should be kept in the same cage ALL the time, or if only for breeding?? I have looked for the answer to this question all over, and have had no luck so far... so any help would be appreciated! Thanx

well, your halfway right... No I have never owned any before, but yes I have done research, I just couldnt find answers to some of my questions, so I figured asking one of you wouldnt hurt. I dont plan on breeding immeadiately, but eventually. First I wanted to get to know the animal, to make sure its something I wanted to do. The only chinchillas im going to purchase have pedigrees, I do not want to let them breed without knowing that inbreeding is NOT in their background.... and if I said males it was a mistake, as I am only purchasing one male and 2 females... but thank you for the response :)

Ok forgive me for being blunt but ...............
Your "research" is sadly lacking - you are asking basic questions, the answers to which can be found on any half-way decent chinchilla site/forum. :(

Keeping ANY animal together in opposite sex pairs results in pregnancy and offspring (unless the animals are neutered) - your first statement about keeping male and female chinchilla together when you don't want to breed "immediately" is nonsense! Put them together and they are going to breed - whether you're prepared for the consequences or not - and the poor chins will suffer those consequences and so will your wallet.

Buy one or even a couple of chins (same sex) and learn the basics of behaviour, husbandry, care and health and then consider whether you want to go into breeding. If you start with pairs and then decide "it's not for me" then what happens to the kits and parent chins?

Peggy (tunes) posted an excellent thread about the perils of breeding - it's well worth a read. There are also other threads on the forum that will be useful for you - the FAQs especially.
 
If you put them all in one cage you'd have babies running out your ears in a year and a lot of fighting.

You'll need at least two cages if you breed them, one for the parents, one for the offspring.

General rule of thumb is three open cages for every breeding female you have.

I would recommend a separate cage for the males, and a separate cage for the females. Different rooms. Have a third room with a breeding cage if you like, plus a couple of spares for the kits.

They will multiply faster than you think...
 
thank you all. I will probly start off getting 2 baby females....
 
I agree keep them seperate and learn..pedigrees do not mean breeding quality.



:clap:

Go to some shows to see what a good quality chinchilla should look like. Then find a mentor who is well established and shows chins themselves and ask questions and learn learn and learn more.
 
Not to mention none of them may get along at any time! You might need 3 cages! I've been lucky with 3 trios, but I also attempted 2 that didn't work at all!
 
I'm glad I didn't offend you with my questions. It's hard to know what people know and don't know. And I'm glad that you're asking before hand.

I think that the idea of just getting two females to start off with as pets would be a great idea. This way you can get a hang of caring for chins before you dive head first into breeding.
Besides, if you want to get into breeding, I highly suggest going to some chin shows first before you breed so you can get an idea on quality animals. Sadly the one in MI is already past, but there's Nationals in Indiana in March.

Get some same sex chins and own them for a while to get a hang of any illnesses they may get, any complications, so you don't get overwhelmed.
 
thank you all. I will probly start off getting 2 baby females....

I'm glad you are doing some research before getting chins. You are nowhere near ready to think about breeding chins. Unless you plan on improving the breed and going to shows so they can be evaluated you shouldn't be breeding. There is no money in it, thats why the breeder you are contacting is downsizing. If you love chins and get "addicted" then just adopt some from a shelter. Glad you're here, there is so much to learn here. Good luck on getting some chinnies. Theresa
 
Excellent comments made about attending shows, finding mentors, doing some serious homework before breeding. A respondsible breeder will ask themselves "what is my purpose for breeding?" Also stated is the fact that you will be over run in no time even on the smallest scale. And I don't think I'm wrong to point out that serious breeders are only purchasing from other serious breeders to add to the herd they already have. They recognize the importance of quality. A predigree is just another peice of paper. Proves nothing but lineage. When you start looking around you will start to notice the difference in those breeding as well. Some are only turning out animals.........and some are working very hard with genetics and serious herd improvement. Each serious breeder I have contacted by e-mail or phone has been a great help! I can't tell you the joy it brings me to have them share their knowledge to someone like myself. I have one chin here that "may" start my foundation herd. And I'm sitting back taking my time. I'm copying information and adding it to my chin book, prep work for kits, thinking about my cages I"ll need. And then finding the right animal.
 
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