Husband and wife

[JohhnyBishop]

Hi All,
Does this exist in the chinchilla world? I have a male chin who behaves like he is missing his wife.
Best regards

 

[Amethyst]

I would say not really, they do bond in a way, so they got along they will miss their cage mate if seperated but the would be the same if it was a male or female, their brother/sister, or parent. If you still have the female near by it could simply be she is in heat and he wants to get to her more then actually missing her. They are herd animals so in the wild you would have a male or two and a bunch of females, and sometimes the male(s) will leave and a new male will take over. Even when breeding it's generally set up as a male that is connected to a few female cages.

 

[JohhnyBishop]

Gotcha. I don't know if you have witness that but male father does take some of the parenthood duties e.g. he will cover the newborn with his body when mother is not around.

 

[Amethyst]

Gotcha. I don't know if you have witness that but male father does take some of the parenthood duties e.g. he will cover the newborn with his body when mother is not around.

No I haven't seen that, normally people remove the male sortly before birth (assuming they are intentionally breeding) so he doesn't breed the female again right away, but I have heard they will care for the kits. I also know some people do put the kits in the male's cage so he can watch them and keep them warm if they need to rotate the kits for feedings or to give the female a break.