Chin Fight

[Oliver14]

Hello,

I have 2 male chinchillas who are both 6 year old. I have owned them both since they were kits and they are actually brothers. They have spent their entire lives together in a double FN and always got a long great cuddling etc. This morning I woke up to barking and when I went over to them I could tell they had gotten into a fight- Some small cuts on each of them and fur slips. They were still chasing one another and I immediately separated the two of them, but I am just so confused why after 6 years this would occur.

Any advice or ideas about why this might have happened?

I am also guessing it would not be safe for me to put them back together?

Thanks so much!

 

[tunes]

It's hard to say. Any chin can turn on its partner at any time. Sometimes for a reason, other times not. I would give them a cooling-off period, then trim their whiskers back to like half an inch or a little more, and let them have playtime together. You will have to be on your guard and ready to separate immediately. If that goes well, you can try caging them together again. Be aware though, it's very possible this will not work and you could end up with a bloodbath on your hands if you're not always vigilant and watching.

 

[Dreamlite]

Once a pair fights, I don't advise putting them back together. Colonies can fight at any time for any reason

 

[Peep_erz]

I've never had success re-introducing after a fight. I like the suggestion of trying it out during playtime though.

 

[Kelley]

I wouldn’t house them together again, maybe they can have supervised playtime but housed separately

 

[DavidC_Surrey]

I have a pair of brothers who also lived happily together for years. One day one of them had some scratches on it's back and the other one was fine so I assumed this may be self-inflicted and just checked for mites and so on but found nothing. I wish I had realised at the time because a couple of days later the poor thing had been badly beaten up and this time I had to take him to the vet. He advised never putting them back together again and believe me, after seeing what this one suffered I would not want to. The only time they are together now is the few minutes that it takes me to clean out the other's cage. He did make a full recovery though with just a couple of battle scars on his ears.

 

[becky12883]

I had a father and son pair that were together for years, then separated because of fighting. They each had their own new cagemates, but sadly one passed away. So, after father and son had been apart for four years, we reintroduced them and the third. They've been happily living together again for a year and a half. We used the "smoosh" method for reintroduction, put them all in the carrier, cleaned their cage to give it neutral smell and took them for a car ride. We watched like a hawk for about a week after that. We're lucky so far, but always have a back up cage just in case.