ArmyWife
Well-known member
Yesterday my fiance and I were able to rescue a female chinchilla from their owner. We currently have a 7 month old male (was told it was a female) chinchilla named McKinley. He's a very friendly but has his tendoncies to run away when being picked up. The new chinchilla, we named her Jade, is said to be a 3 month old from Petsmart. She's actually bigger than McKinley so I'm thinking petsmart had no idea what they were talking about OR she's just a big baby lol. Is there any way to really know how old she is? She's VERY friendly and loves to run around.
Right now I have them in separate cages side by side with about 6 inches apart. Should I have them farther apart from each other? I'm still new to owning my first chinchilla but have done a TON of research and want to breed my chinchillas one day and become a breeder. I am definitely not going to put the two of them together yet since Jade is so young. How old should chinchillas be before introducing them to each other? I've done a lot of research about introducing new chinchillas and feel that the cage to cage introduction is the best and most humane way of introducing them. Is it ok to allow them to play together as long as I watch them the whole time and stop any fighting?
I would have preferred a same sex pair but Jade needed to be rescued from the living situation she was in and I have a huge heart for chinchillas. She was in a cage locked up a bedroom where they never visited her or played with her. The cage was VERY bare with no chew toys or any place for her to hide. She was soaked in her own urine and feces and seemed to not have a dust bath in weeks. The previous owners did no research about chinchillas and just wanted one because it was "cute". They just couldn't handle the responsiblity yet they just got a new kitten.... :banghead: It made me so incredibly sad to see this poor thing living like this. Once we got her home and in her cage we immediately went out and got her some chew toys and a place to hide in. She seems MUCH happier here and is so comfortable that she lies down and lounges around all day
Right now I have them in separate cages side by side with about 6 inches apart. Should I have them farther apart from each other? I'm still new to owning my first chinchilla but have done a TON of research and want to breed my chinchillas one day and become a breeder. I am definitely not going to put the two of them together yet since Jade is so young. How old should chinchillas be before introducing them to each other? I've done a lot of research about introducing new chinchillas and feel that the cage to cage introduction is the best and most humane way of introducing them. Is it ok to allow them to play together as long as I watch them the whole time and stop any fighting?
I would have preferred a same sex pair but Jade needed to be rescued from the living situation she was in and I have a huge heart for chinchillas. She was in a cage locked up a bedroom where they never visited her or played with her. The cage was VERY bare with no chew toys or any place for her to hide. She was soaked in her own urine and feces and seemed to not have a dust bath in weeks. The previous owners did no research about chinchillas and just wanted one because it was "cute". They just couldn't handle the responsiblity yet they just got a new kitten.... :banghead: It made me so incredibly sad to see this poor thing living like this. Once we got her home and in her cage we immediately went out and got her some chew toys and a place to hide in. She seems MUCH happier here and is so comfortable that she lies down and lounges around all day