Getting a new chin...a few questions

[proudmom25]

I have been contemplating whether I should get another chin or not and was hoping some of you experienced chin owners could give me some insight into owning more than one. I currently have my almost 2yr old Allie. She is a great chin and is quite even tempered although she can get a little pissy if you bother her too much (it runs in the family...lol). She has never had a cagemate and has been alone all this time. I do make sure to spoil her rotten. But, at the same time, I would LOVE the opportunity to get another chin.

If I do decide to get another one, would it be best to get another female around the same age as Allie? Do you think Allie would be less willing to have a cagemate because she has been alone for this amount of time? If they end up not being compatible to live together, would it be fair to Allie to split her FN 142 in half to share with the other chin (she typically only uses the bottom since I got the metal pans)?

Also, I have seen the cagemate battle wound threads and wanted to know...if the chins are properly introduced over time and things are taken slowly what are the odds of this happening?

Any help or advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Megan]

If she will take another chin really depends on her personality. I just sold a kit to someone who had purchased an adult female from me last year, who has been alone almost her entire adult life. She took to the kit with little trouble.

I had a 5 year old male that wasn't with a cage mate since he was 2 years old (cage mate died; he hated everyone else) and then boom he accepted a rescue that I took in! He is now 9 years old, and happy as a clam with his rescue buddy.

Chin fights happen.. Just like two dogs/cats can be together for years and get into a squabble. I think some people just have worse luck then others; I haven't had much of a problem with bonded pairs breaking out into fights be it male/male female/female or male/female pairs.

I'd get another female, maybe a bit younger then she is. Most likely NOT a just weaned kit as it would be too small, but perhaps a kit that is a few months old and slightly larger and can stand up for herself, but wouldn't be too dominant yet.

As always, just be prepared that they may not get along and they'd possibly be separated. As for breaking down her FN? She'll be fine. Chins get over things fairly easy. and contrary to what many people try to convince others, they do not need HUGE cages to survive. She'll be fine in a slightly smaller cage

 

[Tagna]

I suck at intros and have 10 chins and 10 cages. Even though no one is together I do think they get a lot out of just having other chins to "talk" to. They watch one another, bark and are all happy together.

If you do get another chin you will have to have another cage for quarantine and you could keep that one if they didn't get along so you wouldn't have to break the FN down.

Good luck! Take things slow and just be prepared that they may not get along.

 

[mistywaterwoman]

Girls are usually (but not always) more accepting of a cage mate, so the odds are in your favor. And I was taught that the slower you go with introduction steps, the more true of a bond they form, and then it's usually a bond for life with females.

I had Tami living alone for over a year and she seemed kind of lonely to me. She was obsessed with watching my other pair of girls, and yet didn't want anything to do with them. (trios are HARD to intro!)

So I thought my best bet would be to get a younger chin that wouldn't challenge her for dominance, and maybe her feminine side would kick in and she would "mother" the younger chin, and it worked!! She was a bit annoyed by Evie at first, since Evie was so young and rambunctious, but I went really slow with the intros and eventually she started mothering her new baby sister. They have been happily paired for almost 2 years now!

Having everyone in Ferret Nations gives me peace of mind that if things do go badly down the road, I can easily separate them if necessary. My other pair of girls have been together for over 4 years, knock on wood. I think it helps to make sure they have 2 of everything in the cage, (except the wheel), and to make sure the cage is big enough that they can spend some time apart when they want to. That's another reason why I love the 2 levels of the Ferret Nations!