RDZCRanch
RavenousDeadlyZombieChins
To me, the mutual playtime is one of the worst introduction methods. The chinchillas are already excited and sometimes afraid because they're out and about without the security of their cage. Add into that heightened state a brand new chinchilla and you will end up with chasing or fighting 75% of the time.
I know what chins can and cannot be placed together here. When new chinchillas are brought home they are usually caged with others until I decide what to do with them. If any one chinchilla causes problems in a group, it's usually because it's a dominant animal and I end up putting that one chin by itself. When I want to introduce it to any other chin, the whiskers come off and vanilla or vick's gets dabbed on the nose. By the time I'm done doing that, the problem chin is convinced I'm the devil and it almost died and it runs to seek out comfort from another chinchilla.
The cage within a cage method is a great way for introduction, but I've noticed that a lot of people give up on it too quickly. Sometimes, you have to rotate them between the cages for up to a week. If I have to do this, I put the show cage against the side and hang a water bottle for the chin in show cage and I put hay on the top of the show cage. I also have pellet dishes for show cages that I can hang in there with pellets. Being in a show cage is not cruel for a chinchilla...you're saving its life and the other chinchilla's life during introductions by not allowing them to get at each other.
ETA: Females are more hormonal, not territorial. The chances of them getting attitude and attacking are higher. When they're in heat, the smallest things will set them off so when introducing females into colonies and such, I always check if they're in heat. It's saved me a lot of trouble over the years.
I know what chins can and cannot be placed together here. When new chinchillas are brought home they are usually caged with others until I decide what to do with them. If any one chinchilla causes problems in a group, it's usually because it's a dominant animal and I end up putting that one chin by itself. When I want to introduce it to any other chin, the whiskers come off and vanilla or vick's gets dabbed on the nose. By the time I'm done doing that, the problem chin is convinced I'm the devil and it almost died and it runs to seek out comfort from another chinchilla.
The cage within a cage method is a great way for introduction, but I've noticed that a lot of people give up on it too quickly. Sometimes, you have to rotate them between the cages for up to a week. If I have to do this, I put the show cage against the side and hang a water bottle for the chin in show cage and I put hay on the top of the show cage. I also have pellet dishes for show cages that I can hang in there with pellets. Being in a show cage is not cruel for a chinchilla...you're saving its life and the other chinchilla's life during introductions by not allowing them to get at each other.
ETA: Females are more hormonal, not territorial. The chances of them getting attitude and attacking are higher. When they're in heat, the smallest things will set them off so when introducing females into colonies and such, I always check if they're in heat. It's saved me a lot of trouble over the years.
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