Chinchilla Squabbles

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furbabies33

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
15
Hello,

I have a question regarding my two chinchillas who I introduced in Feb 2017. They were quarantined, given play time, introduced slowly etc. They were doing great up until this point.

Momo is an approximately 5 year old female mosaic and Cocoa came from Petco, unsure of age, she is a tan female. I adopted Momo from craigslist and she lived a solitary life previously. Cocoa is very interested in Momo and wants to be near her and cuddle a lot. Recently, Momo has been nipping Cocoa's tail. She does not latch on but a quick nip enough to make Cocoa bark. Cocoa does not retaliate or chase. Momo appears to act like a bratty older sibling; like "Get out of my way, No I get the treat first, I want that..." and so forth.

I know Chinchillas can just decide they no longer like each other but I'm wondering does this action on Momo's part warrant a separation?

FYI- A little background info: No blood has been shed, thank goodness. They still sleep together on an occasion in the same shelter. They are in a double ferret nation and have: 2 food dishes, 2 hay dishes, 2 water bottles, 2 fiddle stick shelters, 1 chinspin, chew sticks, lots of leaping wooden ledges ...basically living the chin life. :thumbsup:

Thanks for any input, I am prepared to separate if I have to.
 
It doesn't sound to me to be anything too concerning so long as it doesn't get past that and Cocoa doesn't seem to be lacking anything or acting fearful because of it. They haven't been together long and Momo could just be making sure Cocoa knows she is boss. It sounds to me like normal "sibling" squabbles though, my two boys (who are 10+ year old twins) do similar things, you have one dominate and one submissive. One will commonly take things from his brother, and run off, sometimes leading to a few second chase but nothing past that. They also push each other out of the way all the time causing little barks and grumbles. They have even pushed each other off ledges and shelves before!

So long as no blood is being shed, no fur is flying, no serious catching is occurring, etc, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Keep an eye on it though, and should things progress to actual fighting, or one seems to be acting stressed, I would at least do a temporary (so long as no blood was drawn) separation to let them cool off.
 
Thanks for the quick response! Glad to hear they still could be figuring out their housing arrangement and who's in charge lol. I will keep a close eye on those two. My other bonded pair (two ebonies who I purchased together) have def. Been through their squabbles over the pecking order but I never witnessed behavior like Momo. Thanks again for the input on it, these little girls sure do have some big personalities!
 
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