Do some chins never learn to like other chins?

[Chinchilla63]

My 9 year old rescue chin HATES my other two chins, who are a bonded pair. I'm not trying to get them together, but I have thought about whether the rescue chin would like a friend. I had her first, if that makes any difference. The bonded pair came about 6 months after she did.
Their cages are on opposite sides of the room. They can hear but not see each other. The only time they have any contact is sometimes when I'm bringing one out for playtime and putting the other(s) away. I keep them gated off from each other during the swap, but my rescue girl attacks the bars of the gates and if either of the two girls come over to check her out she goes crazy trying to bite them through the bars. I thought the pair would be more likely to go after her, but they seem perfectly fine - just a little puzzled by why the crazy fuzzball on the other side of the gate is trying to kill them, lol. I never leave them alone, I've just given it a few minutes to see if she settles down and then put rescue girl back in her cage.
However - rescue girl loves our guinea pig. They have play time together and seem to really enjoy running around together. Is it because they are different species and the chin doesn't feel threatened or scared?
Do you all have some chins who just don't like other chins? Do you think rescue girl is scared or feeling threatened by the other two?

 

[Riven]

Some chins just don't like other chins, at all. If she lived her whole life alone, then she's probably happy that way. Perhaps she had been with other chins in the past who were aggressive or mean to her, or perhaps she is being the aggressive one?

Sometimes some are just loaners!

 

[mistywaterwoman]

I would agree that if she seems that aggressive, she is probably not going to accept any other chin and is happy alone.

I also think it's a mistake to let her have playtime with the guinea pig. It's my personal policy to never mix species. They can't communicate, and the natural behaviour of one could accidentally spook the other. One could very easily injure the other without meaning to. And there is always the shared germ/bacteria angle. There are too many things that can be dormant in one species but deadly in another - although I haven't heard of anything specifically passed from guinea pigs, but better safe than sorry.

 

[jbcstratton]

I have a chin that used to be housed with other chins, one day she turned on her cage mate and to this day hates all other chins, even kits! I will never try to house her with another.

 

[starleomach]

Some will always need to be alone

 

[jess32247]

Some chins will always be single. If they lived by themselves there whole life, i highly doubt they would get along with another chin. Personally, i wouldnt put my chin throug the stess of bonding if I had another chin. I would let them live happily the way they want.

I agree with Mistywaterwomen, i would let your chin and piggie together at all.

 

[Chinchilla63]

Thank you for all the answers. It's probably best to leave her on her own. She gets lots of love and attention from her human family, and she doesn't need any more stress in her life.
I appreciate the comments about the chin/guinea pig playtime. I do supervise them the entire time they are out, and we are lucky enough to have a big area for them to run around in. They don't actually play "together"...more like parallel play. They are aware the other is there and every once in a while they sniff each other or end up in the same place for a few minutes.
I always have a few towels handy just in case someone does snap, and there's lots of space and hiding spots if someone is feeling threatened.
The germ issue is one I hadn't thought about. We've had the guinea pig (she's our only piggie) for 3 years and chinnie has been alone in a classroom for her whole 9 years, so they haven't picked up anything from another animal. I guess they could be carrying something dormant. They really miss each other if I take them out alone, the one who's out sits and wheeks or stares at the other's cage until we have them together.
Thanks for all the advice!
Lee