break up a M/F pair to repair M/M?

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Snowflake311

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 8, 2017
Messages
76
Location
Tahoe, CA
So I am fostering Chinchillas and well I had to keep some just because I got attached and I enjoy them. So We have nibbler our first. He is awesome we paired him up with a female they hit it off right away. Well I do not want babies but I want Nibbler to have a friend. SO I have this young male that I LOVE!!!! He is the best Chin. I want to pair him up with nibbler.

SO I took Potato the new young male about a year old out to the play room. I let him hope around before I let Nibbler out. The 2 were out and Nibbler mounted Potato. Potato did nothing just tried to walk away. They sniffed noses and were fine when on their way. They then took a dust bath together. Well after a little bit Nibbler the older one Jumped on Potato and pulled his fur. I broke it up and took potato back to his cage.

NOW I did have Nibblers lady friend in the same room in their cage. All and all it went well till than. SO I want to try again but do cages side by side and remove the female?

Nibbler and the female have only been together for a few weeks. Well they be sad if I split them up?
 
I would first remove the female, since they have been together for weeks it's likely she is pregnant so she needs to be in a kit safe cage. Mating literally takes a split second, so get her into a cage that has bar spacing no wider then 1/2 inch and count 120 days from the time you separate them. Yes they will be sad when you split them up, but they will get over it.

As for the males, some males will fight over females. Even if the female is just in the same room they can smell her and especially since the female is Nibbler's mate it's not surprising he is going to be protective. It really depends on the males though, some people have males together in the same room as breeding females and have no issues. Others need to have the males in another room or they will kill each other when the females go into heat, even if they have never mated before.

I would try again to bond the males anyway, the squabble may not have been about the female. So long as it was just a bit of fur I don't see that as reason to give up. I would let them calm down for a few days at least before trying again though. Also if possible try to make the play area as neutral as possible, clean the room to remove as much scent as possible, put new toys and play things out, etc. You don't want Nibbler to think it's his territory. Also keep in mind that bonding can take weeks to months, and sometimes years if you are willing to work with them that long.
 
Thank you for getting back to me on this.

I have 6 breeder cages so I can safely keep my female if she has kits. Yes I think my pair thinks they own the room. That might have been why they were a little nippy. I will also move Nibbler out into another cage for a while. Clean the play room and cage. I will try and start over fresh. They took a few dust bathes together so they can't hate each other that much. No one could hate my little potato he is so sweet.

Little potato is very sweet and thinks every chinchilla is his friend. He is with 2 other foster males now he snuggles with them. It is nibbler my older one that is the naughty one.

I think Starting over with clean cage, clean room, and no female around will work.
 
Here are my little rescues.

The first one is potato the last photo is of Nibbler the mosaic and the female Sassy.
 

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So Everything went well for 48 hours. I moved them now into their permanent cage tonight. They love it. These are both adult males So I hope they stay bounded I do not plan on bring any females around them so It should work out. They have been sleeping together They are so cute. I am so proud of my boys. I will figure out this photo thing.
 
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