LilBubs
Im a Slave 4 Bubs
Hi all, I've posted before but haven't updated since we started actually introducing the boys. You can read about when we first got Bean here - http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45488 This post will be long, sorry, but I can't shut up once I get talking about my furbabies, lol.
So, basically Bean is a tiny (383g!), sweet, shy, neutered male ebony. I think between the original breeder and the humane society, he's been poked and prodded enough for a lifetime, and hasn't been socialized with other chins much at all. So he's baaarely starting to warm up to me+boyfriend after 3 months with us. He does, however, seem curious about Lil Bubs and always approaches LB in a friendly/open manner. Unfortunately, Bubs seems a bit hostile to the idea of another chin in his house, and will rush at Bean to scare him away.
Bubs, on the other hand, seems to be a bit of a dominant asshole (a bit bigger, around 500g, and quite ball-acious/non-neutered). He came from a happy family and is more used to human social dynamics, but hasn't had to share with another chinchilla in a while, if ever. After 11 months with us, he's warm and friendly with the people, runs all over us, chirps at us, eats out of our hand, etc. But anytime we try to introduce him to Bean, nervous nelly Bean flees at the first sign of movement, and Bubs takes that as a cue to chase after him. It's just a high speed chase with fur flying until we separate them (Actually, it seems like Bean may enjoy being chased, at least by me+boyfriend, but it's hard to tell. He kind of initiates it as a game sometimes). I really think Bubs would like a companion, and I think he'd love to cuddle with Bean as he's quite a cuddler on his own with his fleece buddy, but since Bean won't stay still and let him investigate, all LB wants to do is chase him around for fun.
Sigh. We've only tried introducing them 2 or 3 times, just because it's always pretty exhausting and we want to take it slow. I have read all kinds of tips (rub them with sage, put vanilla on their noses, trim their whiskers, put one or both in or out of a cage blah blah blah) but I'm not really sure what direction to go. One thing we tried was letting Bean run free in the playroom while Bubs was in a small cage--normally bad because it makes the caged one submissive, but in this case we really needed to take Bubs down a few notches. It went okay, there were even a few minutes of peace between them, but once we let LB out of the cage it was back to the high speed chase. He managed to take a big chunk out of Bean's fur which really worried me--was he really trying to bite him, or is it possible he grabbed his fur playfully or by mistake?
Here's one of my main questions: Is it really okay to trim their whiskers, and if so, would it make sense to trim only Bubs' whiskers in this case? It's clear that we need to make Lil Bubs more submissive and somehow give Bean more of an upper hand in the intro, just because he's so nervous. But I refuse to do anything that would hurt Bubs or really freak him out psychologically. So, do y'all have any other advice for introducing a dominant chin to a submissive one? How about for getting a high-speed-chase pair to sit still long enough to get to know each other? I don't want to try the smush method as of now, because I'm too worried that Bubs will just tear into Bean like he's breakfast.
If they were people I would just give each of them a glass of wine and tell them to chill out for 5 minutes, but unfortunately, chinchillas are more complicated than humans. Currently, they live in a double FN cage that is separated, with Bean on top and Bubs on the bottom. When we leave a little grate uncovered between the cages, Bean will investigate occasionally and Bubs will immediately jump up and nip at him until Bean goes away. So we usually leave a little fleece pillow over the opening so Bean's toes are safe. Maybe we should try switching their cages?
Anyway... I value your experience, stories, and advice, so I just wanted to get some more specific information to our situation. I've read up on introductions a lot, but most things I've read seem to assume that the chinchillas will STAY STILL while investigating each other, and I haven't found a lot of info about dealing with the fur-nado that is Bubs and Bean in the same room. Also, I do understand that they may never get along, and we/they are fine with that--I just want to give them a fair shot at getting to know each other, since I really think both of them would benefit from having a buddy (and a full size FN to share!). Thanks for any thoughts you can share!!
(Attached a couple pics of Bean for your trouble... you can see Bubs in my profile pic! )
So, basically Bean is a tiny (383g!), sweet, shy, neutered male ebony. I think between the original breeder and the humane society, he's been poked and prodded enough for a lifetime, and hasn't been socialized with other chins much at all. So he's baaarely starting to warm up to me+boyfriend after 3 months with us. He does, however, seem curious about Lil Bubs and always approaches LB in a friendly/open manner. Unfortunately, Bubs seems a bit hostile to the idea of another chin in his house, and will rush at Bean to scare him away.
Bubs, on the other hand, seems to be a bit of a dominant asshole (a bit bigger, around 500g, and quite ball-acious/non-neutered). He came from a happy family and is more used to human social dynamics, but hasn't had to share with another chinchilla in a while, if ever. After 11 months with us, he's warm and friendly with the people, runs all over us, chirps at us, eats out of our hand, etc. But anytime we try to introduce him to Bean, nervous nelly Bean flees at the first sign of movement, and Bubs takes that as a cue to chase after him. It's just a high speed chase with fur flying until we separate them (Actually, it seems like Bean may enjoy being chased, at least by me+boyfriend, but it's hard to tell. He kind of initiates it as a game sometimes). I really think Bubs would like a companion, and I think he'd love to cuddle with Bean as he's quite a cuddler on his own with his fleece buddy, but since Bean won't stay still and let him investigate, all LB wants to do is chase him around for fun.
Sigh. We've only tried introducing them 2 or 3 times, just because it's always pretty exhausting and we want to take it slow. I have read all kinds of tips (rub them with sage, put vanilla on their noses, trim their whiskers, put one or both in or out of a cage blah blah blah) but I'm not really sure what direction to go. One thing we tried was letting Bean run free in the playroom while Bubs was in a small cage--normally bad because it makes the caged one submissive, but in this case we really needed to take Bubs down a few notches. It went okay, there were even a few minutes of peace between them, but once we let LB out of the cage it was back to the high speed chase. He managed to take a big chunk out of Bean's fur which really worried me--was he really trying to bite him, or is it possible he grabbed his fur playfully or by mistake?
Here's one of my main questions: Is it really okay to trim their whiskers, and if so, would it make sense to trim only Bubs' whiskers in this case? It's clear that we need to make Lil Bubs more submissive and somehow give Bean more of an upper hand in the intro, just because he's so nervous. But I refuse to do anything that would hurt Bubs or really freak him out psychologically. So, do y'all have any other advice for introducing a dominant chin to a submissive one? How about for getting a high-speed-chase pair to sit still long enough to get to know each other? I don't want to try the smush method as of now, because I'm too worried that Bubs will just tear into Bean like he's breakfast.
If they were people I would just give each of them a glass of wine and tell them to chill out for 5 minutes, but unfortunately, chinchillas are more complicated than humans.
Currently, they live in a double FN cage that is separated, with Bean on top and Bubs on the bottom. When we leave a little grate uncovered between the cages, Bean will investigate occasionally and Bubs will immediately jump up and nip at him until Bean goes away. So we usually leave a little fleece pillow over the opening so Bean's toes are safe. Maybe we should try switching their cages?Anyway... I value your experience, stories, and advice, so I just wanted to get some more specific information to our situation. I've read up on introductions a lot, but most things I've read seem to assume that the chinchillas will STAY STILL while investigating each other, and I haven't found a lot of info about dealing with the fur-nado that is Bubs and Bean in the same room. Also, I do understand that they may never get along, and we/they are fine with that--I just want to give them a fair shot at getting to know each other, since I really think both of them would benefit from having a buddy (and a full size FN to share!). Thanks for any thoughts you can share!!
(Attached a couple pics of Bean for your trouble... you can see Bubs in my profile pic!
)
