Bonding four Chinchillas?

[cahtie]

Hello! I currently have one pair of chinchillas that were bonded to eachother before I adopted them. I'll be acquiring another bonded pair today, and my ultimate goal is to see all four chins bonded together and living in the same cage.
I have plenty of time to do introductions (I'm planning on keeping the new pair in a separate room four a month or so to make sure they're not carrying any hidden sicknesses that could spread anyway), and the ability to cage each chin separately should the need ever arise.

Right now, my two chins are set up really nicely in a huge cage (two critter nations put together with a wall knocked out), so there'd be plenty of space.

I have heard that it can be difficult to get even two chins bonded to eachother, much less four, so my question is, is this a feisable goal? What would be the best way to go about it?

 

[tunes]

I would be very hesitant. You may end up with bonded pairs breaking up and all of them hating each other. You could attempt it I suppose, but lately all you see is chins beating each other almost to death (and sometimes TO death) when trying to intro other chins into a bonded pair.

If you have such a large cage, why not just divide it in two and not have to worry about introducing them to each other?

 

[Zoaea]

Could always keep them separate but near for longer than usual intros, so they are used to each other. I would also intro the new guys one at a time. That way they don't end up hating their old buddy if it goes poorly?

I've seen people that have four or five chins together, i think the trick for you will be the intro.

Oh and i have always had success with putting the dominate chin in a small cage within the main cage for the first day or two.

 

[Riven]

Are they all the same sex?

 

[cahtie]

Thanks for the help guys.

They're all females. I've heard males tend to be easier to bond together, but, alas, mine are all PMS prone girls.

There are a couple things I didn't realize before I acquired them last night. They were used in a breeding colony. I think a pretty small cage with a buncha chins in it. They seemed used to human contact there (being rather calm while being held), but needless to say, the trip home was a rough one on them. (Just a car ride, but I'm a stranger! They were scared). They didn't want anything to do with me. Understandable, so I put them in their new home, and am giving them a few days to adjust before I try bonding with them. (Me bonding. I'm going to wait a lot longer then I anticipated with trying to get the four together because I want them comfortable with their home and me first.)

They were separated from a male recently, so there's some concern they could be pregnant. >.< I accepted them knowing this risk (Didn't realize until I went to pick them up though), but I had a bleeding heart for them, and I have the resources to care for them thankfully. But I'm crossing my fingers that they're not. The cage they were in was pretty small, and they both look like they need some TLC with dust baths (one's got clumps of hair all along her backside). They don't look neglected, I'm just not sure they got a lot of one on one attention.

So yeah.. long story short, looks like it'll be a long time before I do anything stressful to them like try to bond them.

 

[becky12883]

You'll definitely want to keep them separated until you are sure there's no possibility of pregnancy. 111 days, mark your calendar. Thank you for taking them in, it sounds like they need some love.