First Introduction

[VolcanoBunny]

Edgar is a 1 year old standard grey chinchilla whom I bought at an exotic pet store just out of town. I know now that it would have been wiser to adopt or find a breeder, but I was so frustrated in my search that I went where I knew they would be. Even on his worst day, I'm glad I brought him home with me. He was painfully shy of people at first, though never short on energy, but there were times I feared he would never want anything to do with me. He has improved tremendously since and now hops all over me and lets me pet his back and eats from my hands. Every now and again, when someone laughs too loud or you move too fast for his liking he bolts and hides and I wonder how he was treated before I got him. This is why I feel bad for leaving him alone during the day. I work until the evening and though I spent hours on end with him whenever I got home it never felt like enough and I wanted Edgar to have company when I wasn't around.
Enter Henry, a two month old homo beige baby who is adventurous and entirely comfortable around people. He came from a very nice family who didn't expect babies, but had a daughter who socialized them well. He has been with me a week now and is in good health (both chins were inspected by a vet before being near one another). I have had them in the same room since (though initially not in sight of one another).
I play with them both every day in separate rooms and try my best to keep them apart until they are more used to one another, but there was an incident the other day where Henry was in his cage (in Edgar's "territory") and Edgar was out. He ran right up to the cage and seemed to be trying to dig at the bars, making an "annoyed" sound (so the sound index says http://www.cheekychinchillas.com/chinsounds.html). Their noses were meeting through the bars and Henry seems excited to have another chin around, but I fear this aggressive behavior from Edgar will persist. So I put a sheet around the cage until I could get a hold of my older chinchilla. The annoyed sounds stopped immediately, but he was still restless and searched the outside of the sheet anxiously trying to get a look at Henry. Is this curiosity a good sign? Does his digging at the cage count as lunging?
I really want this introduction to go well without either getting hurt and I know I have to be patient, but I can't help being so nervous about the whole endeavor's success.

 

[tunes]

First, a vet cannot tell you if a chin is carrying a parasite or other illness. In this case, it would be too late to do anything anyway; however, for others that might read this thread a vet's opinion means nothing when it comes to quarantine. Your little guy most likely was fine, but I would have observed a quarantine anyway, just because he's so small and needs time to adjust to being away from mom and in his new home.

Second, you say Henry is two months old. How long have you had him? Most reputable hobbyists do not allow their chins to leave until they are a minimum of 8 weeks old. It sounds as though they took this little guy from his parents a bit younger? Having a strange older chin may be a bit intimidating to him, especially if Edgar is really hanging on those bars. I would definitely wait a while until I let them try an intro. At two months old, he doesn't stand a chance if Edgar decides to attack him.

Next time you let Edgar out, whack of his whiskers (they will grow back). Just leave him with a half an inch or so and see if he acts aggressively towards Henry at all. He may have just been acting goofy the first time because there's a new chin. As long as he can't bite at Henry, it wouldn't be bad to let him go up to the cage while he's out for play time, as long as he's supervised so Henry's toes and nose won't get gnawed on.

BTW, the way you describe Edgar is pretty much normal chinchilla behavior if they come from a large rancher rather than a small hobbyist. It doesn't mean he was mistreated, it just means he was never handled. Chins are by nature skittish, though gentle, and they are going to run if they get startled because they are at the bottom of the food chain. He could have been mistreated in the pet store, but it's just as likely that he was just scared because he wasn't all that used to humans.

 

[VolcanoBunny]

I sure hope he doesn't have a parasite . I will definitely adjust back to a quarantine level of separation. Henry seems fearless around Edgar and runs to him whenever he is in sight. I hope this means he isn't scared as I have never heard him make any bad noises since I brought him home. Meanwhile Edgar goes into hyperdrive whenever Henry is around.
I do hope he was being goofy, he hasn't seen another chin since he came to live with me. What will cutting his whiskers do? Thank you for the advice!

 

[Regan713]

Cutting his whiskers I believe will make him feel/think he isn't as dominant and will act less aggressively. Hopefully someone else will correct me if I'm misinformed on that. It sounds like you are taking good precautions for your chinnies and not rushing them. Best of luck!

 

[Cuddlebug]

Cutting the whiskers imitates what chinchillas naturally do to assert dominance, the dominant one chews the whiskers of the other chinchilla and makes them shorter. Therefore, the longer the whiskers, the more dominant the chin.