Help?

jujubee · Mar 9, 2009

I just bought two chinchillas yesterday from a girl who had owned them, a male and a female, about 4 and 3 years old. She said that they weren't a breeding pair and they had never had babies, and she had been keeping them together. But I've only had them for two days now and I've already seen the male trying to mate with the female a few times. Should I be worried about this, or could he just be a little bit stressed out by his new surroundings? I also read that chins will do that just to show dominance, so I don't really know what I should do. I would hate to have to separate them because I wanted to get two so they could keep each other company, please help!

Parkerspetchins · Mar 9, 2009

If you want to keep them together then you will have to be prepared for everything that comes with breeding unless you want to have the male neutered (it is less dangerous than a spay and needs to be done by an experienced vet and it has risks of course). They would still need to be separated until the procedure has had time to heal so regardless you are looking at two cages for a while. When you have two chinchillas you should always have a back-up anyway in case they decide they no longer want to room together. The female may already be pregnant so be prepared for kits. Line up a competent exotics vet and have an Emergency vet at the ready since most problems seem to happen when the regular vets are closed or on holiday, and start saving up funds just in case. I would separate them unless you know their genetic history (are they related?) is clean of defects such as malocclusion and/or fur-chewing and then decide what you want to do from there.

arf2184 · Mar 9, 2009

How long did she have them together? 2-3 years at most if the female was proper breeding age when they were first introduced. Some chinchillas take years to breed. Just because they haven't (assuming what you were told is the truth), doesn't mean they won't. If you don't intend to breed, you will need to separate them or neuter him (research the risks and your vet first...I do not recommend neutering). It is possible that one is sterile/infertile, but you have no way of knowing for sure. Is that a risk you want to take?

Also some chins will not breed for whatever reason at one location, but will in their new home. Every chin that I've ever bought as a slow breeder has bred within a year for me (including ones that had not produced by 3-4 years of age).

If you do intend to keep them together and possibly breed, do your research and make sure you know what you're getting into.

Twilight Chinchillas · Mar 9, 2009

arf2184 said:
Also some chins will not breed for whatever reason at one location, but will in their new home. Every chin that I've ever bought as a slow breeder has bred within a year for me (including ones that had not produced by 3-4 years of age).

If you do intend to keep them together and possibly breed, do your research and make sure you know what you're getting into.

Hmm Alison, does this mean I can send my slow, non breeding girls up your way? LOL
I agree with Alison. There's already so much to learn just being a Chin owner vs all the other additional information you would need to be a successful breeder.

addictedtochins · Mar 9, 2009

Welcome to CnH, glad you are here! Ditto to the other posts, just wanted to add, you need to start doing hair ring checks at least once a month on the boy and two, are you sure the other is a girl? You can find out everything you need to know by searching on here. Feel free to ask questions too. Theresa

ErinB · Mar 9, 2009

Have you checked, are you sure you have a male and a female? Maybe you have two females or two males, that's why they haven't had babies. If they've been together for that long, more then likely they would have had a litter by now.

Unless the girl wasn't telling you the truth and A) Had the two together and was breeding them or B) Had them in seperate cages, I highly doubt she would be able to keep a male and a female chinchilla together without them mating.

I would deffinetly check the sexes of each and make sure you know what you have, and then respond accordingly. If you have a male and a female, i would seperate them unless you are prepared to have a litter of kits and all the problems that may come along with it.

(by the way, if they are a male and female she may already be pregnant, so keep a watchful eye on her and be prepared)