Choosing the right buddy for my chinchilla

[Eckish]

Long story, short. I want to get a new chinchilla to accompany my current chinchilla. Are there certain colors that mix better than others? Or does that matter?

The long of it:

I've read a lot about introducing chins, about choosing the right age and gender, but I haven't seen anything about color. The only thing I read about mixing chins of certain colors is regarding the lethality factor for breeding them. I don't want to breed. I just want to get the right buddy for my chinchilla. Should I factor color when choosing a cagemate for him?

A little about my chin:

My chinchilla's name is Tuffy. He's white with red eyes. He has one spot of dark fur above one of his eyes (looks like an eyebrow :laughitup. He is about 3 years old and I have had him for 2 of those years.

I'm pretty comfortable taking care of a chinchilla, but when I got Tuffy, I got his cage and all. He was my cousin's, so I had also interacted him a lot before taking ownership. So, this will be my first 'new' chinchilla and I want to make the process as easy as possible with good decisions from the start.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thank you,
David

 

[lauralynne]

No, you needn't worry about color. Color has nothing to do with personality (unless you ask those who have some of Peggy's crazy whites. LOL).

A young male would probably work best for you, in my opinion.

What you DO need to do is make sure you do a proper 30 day quarantine of any new chinchilla. That means separate cage and separate room for a full 30 days. Most illnesses will present themselves within that time (if there were any).

Secondly, after quarantine, you can introduce the two. Below is a thread on introduction methods some use.
http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13659

 

[Eckish]

Thank you for the response. That will make the search easier.

A follow up question would be about neutering. Tuffy is quite the 'hugger' as my friends like to call it. I understand that the behavior is normal and to be expected from time to time. However, over the past few months, it has become more of a daily ritual to assault my foot.

The behavior doesn't bother me, but I'm concerned that will cause issues with a new chin. Should I consider neutering first? Or might something like a cuddle buddy be enough to keep him happy without offending his new friend?

 

[Dusty Foot Prints]

I would certainly try a cuddle buddy before resorting to surgery. He may even outgrow it.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

There will always be mounting behavior with another chin. That is how they establish dominance. If you're lucky, one will be willing to be the 2nd banana to the dominant one.

If not, you can have them both neutered. That's what my veterinarian recommended when I came home one night and found Baby cowering in the corner with most of his fur missing on his back and multiple bite wounds.

They actually rebonded over the experience and recovering together, and all was well until Baby later died from completely unrelated causes.

You must remember, though -- there are NO guarantees that even neutering both of them will mean that they will be happy as cagemates. That is one of the risks of getting another chinchilla.

Single chins do well, especially if their human spends lots of quality time with them and bonds with them.

Good luck... :thumbsup: