Help! Introduction of New Chin- going good or bad?

[NalaTheChin]

Hello. I was wondering if this is introduction is going well or not. I please do not want any replies. I am very nervous and I do not want any of my chins to get hurt and I am looking for advice. I have been in the process of introducing for 3 months. I have a female chinchilla Nala who is 2. I have had her for almost 2 years. Someone needed to re home a male chinchilla (Chewbacca , age 2) and I decided to take him in hopes to get Nala a buddy. I work at a Vet clinic and am going to have Chewbacca neutered if they get along. If they don't get along, I do not want to put him through that (unless as a last resort to see if that helps the introduction). I know how fast they can mate- but in this case they have not gotten close.
I quarantined Chewy for the first month then put their cages near each other, slowly putting them together until they are 6inches apart. They don't mind this at all. We will take them out every day and hold them letting them see each other (about 18inches away) for 10 seconds. Then we let one sniff each other butts, then put their butts together to form trust. They both do great with this. They only have an issue if their faces get close enough to where their whiskers touch. We have tried play time in a neutral area three times. Every time is about the same until the last one. Nala will occasionally spray Chewbacca then run away. She also would follow him around calmly and he was okay with that. Once he turned to follow her she started making noises (not a bark) briefly and would spray him and run around like crazy. The second time- same thing. Third time- no spraying but she would start to quickly chase/ run after him and he seemed to get annoyed and had some fur slip. After stopping this on and off twice, we stopped the third time once chewy started to make the annoyed sounds. There was no blood shed. I wasn't sure if this is a sign of it's not going to work, or if we should keep trying.
I do not want to have to get rid of one:/. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Smidgeyy]

You should never get a second chin if you're not prepared to house them separately forever. Even if they would get along now, they can turn on each other down the road.

I don't recommend neutering just to cage him with a female. Neutering is hard on chins, I've heard stories where they have almost died due to infection and other post op issues. It's not worth risking their life, nor will it change him behaviorally. Chins are not like cats and dogs. Altering them just prevents them from breeding and that's it.

If they're having playtime together, your female could already be pregnant. It happens so fast that you can easily miss it.

Personally, I wouldn't be willing to risk my pets life by putting him through an unnecessary procedure and I would house them separately forever. If you want to try bonding, get one already neutered or get another of the same gender. Surgery is a lot more dangerous for small pets than it is for cats and dogs. Chins can live happily alone so I see no benefit to it.

 

[Amethyst]

You say you know how quickly they can mate, then why are you allowing any contact? Unless you are hovering over them the whole time they are out to prevent them getting near each other they can end up mating before you can stop it, hop on hop off and the deed is done. If they are allowed close enough to get to know each other then they are close enough to mate. You also want to make sure the cages are in fact 6 inches apart or more, or they can mate through the bars of the cage.

I agree with just keeping them separate, neutering really is not anything like with a cat or dog and is a more like a spay then a neuter and is very invasive. Assuming the male lives though the operation, which isn't a guarantee, are you prepared for possibly needing to do round the clock care? It's not uncommon for them to stop eating due to pain, so every couple hours 24/7 possibly for a couple weeks you need to be there to feed him. Assuming the chin leaves the surgery wound alone, and no infections occur, healing takes roughly a month, but you still have to wait another month after that (2 months total) before all the sperm is out of the system. So basically even if they were bonded, the 2 months apart will break that bond and you will have to start all over again. Neutering chins has no known health benefits, you risk the chin's life during and after surgery, and the male and female may never even get along anyway.

Another thing, I'm not sure what you mean by "let one sniff each other butts, then put their butts together to form trust." That is not how they form a bond, they are not dogs they don't sniff each other's butts, you are probably just confusing them. Normal bonding involves things like sniffing faces, touching noses, dominance mounting to figure out who is boss, grooming, dust baths together, following each other around and harmless (no fur slips, barking or spraying) tag like games during play.

 

[Chinobsessed]

I was going to reply to this, but Smidgeyy and Amethyst literally took the words out of my mouth. Or, in this case, keyboard?

 

[Cass C]

I neutered my male chinchilla and he almost died from an infection and was in the vet for 3 days before he could come home due to pulling on his stitches. I would caution against a spay or neuter unless there is a medical reason. Another problem with introducing them before hand is that they will still have to be separated while the male heals and recovers plans waiting for all the sperm to die. I had a brother sister pair that were bonded from the time I got them at 8 weeeks until I got the boy neutered at 6 months and then after the male recovered they hated each other and I had to do a reintroduction which took another month and I almost just kept them separated due to the fighting.