Introducing a new chin

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frisky860

frisky860

Chrisy
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Messages
88
Location
Aurora, IL
Hi guys. I have one chin now who is 1 year old. I will be getting a new chin (few months younger than my chin now) in about 2 weeks. My chin has been housed alone since I got him but I though a friend would be nice for him. How should I go about introducing them? I read about the quarantine and the small cage inside the big one. But should I keep them seperated right away? Or should I put them in a playpen first so they can meet and see how that goes? Or should I start them off in the same cage? I'm just not sure what order to do things in. I'd love to hear your opinions and strategies you guys used. Just not sure where to start with it! thanks in advance guys! :thumbsup:
 
Congratulations! Quarantine means that the chins should not be in contact or in the same room even for 30 days. You will need to wash your hands between cage visits and if you hold the chins you would theoretically need to change clothing, etc...A strict quarantine is very difficult to maintain but it is in your chinchillas best interest to try your best :)). After quarantine is over then I try playtime together. You would not want to cage them together until you know they will get along. You will get a feel for how they like/dislike each other right away but you will want to take it slowly even if they seem to like each other. They may never get along, however, and you will have to have to be prepared to have separate cages indefinitely. You should have a back up cage in any case as two chinchillas that have lived together for years could suddenly not like their cagemate.
 
So keep him quarantined for 30 days. Then introduce them during playtime. And after a while if that is going well, then I should try putting them together in the same cage? I think I can handle that. I know it's a long process but I'm up for the challenege!

Parkerspetchins said:
Congratulations! Quarantine means that the chins should not be in contact or in the same room even for 30 days. You will need to wash your hands between cage visits and if you hold the chins you would theoretically need to change clothing, etc...A strict quarantine is very difficult to maintain but it is in your chinchillas best interest to try your best :)). After quarantine is over then I try playtime together. You would not want to cage them together until you know they will get along. You will get a feel for how they like/dislike each other right away but you will want to take it slowly even if they seem to like each other. They may never get along, however, and you will have to have to be prepared to have separate cages indefinitely. You should have a back up cage in any case as two chinchillas that have lived together for years could suddenly not like their cagemate.
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GahhItsLee said:
Let us all know how it goes
Im looking into getting my little guy a friend too but im worried they wont like eachother
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I think you need to wait longer and see how your chin adjusts to you and your home first before you bring another chin into the picture. Having him for only a few weeks will not allow him enough time to settle himself in. I've had mine for a year now and we are just starting to really "click".
 
Hmmm he seems to like me and be comfortable with me more so than alot of other peoples chinchillas... Like alot of people say there chins dont really like attention or to be held and they dont play on them really mine loves being on me and lets me hold him and often comes to the door
 
GahhItsLee said:
Hmmm he seems to like me and be comfortable with me more so than alot of other peoples chinchillas... Like alot of people say there chins dont really like attention or to be held and they dont play on them really mine loves being on me and lets me hold him and often comes to the door
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my chin acted the same way since day one, but I knew he didn't totally trust me. He still liked his space and would hide out in the back of his cage. Now he runs to the front of the cage when I get home and waits for me to scratch and pet him. He still is not big on being held, but this is normal for chins. And just because he jumps on you, doesn't mean he loves you. chins like to jump and play, and you are simply something he can launch off of. I don't force my chin to do anything he doesn't want to.... Prolly why he likes me so much now.
 
Ok guys, It's been a month and Marley, the new chin, is doing wonderfully. I think I am going to introduce the 2 chins together in play time sometime this week. When I normally let them play, I attach my play pen to each cage (seperately) and just open the door so they can run out and play at their own will. Izzy, my first chin, loves this and its what i've been doing for a year now.

So when I introduce them for the first time, should I connect the playpen up to Izzy's cage like normal and put Marley in the pen with him? Or should I just put the pen in the middle of the room, not connected to any cage, and let them play in it there?

The second seems more logical to me since it would be a more "neutral" play area for both of them since it won't be connected to anyones cage. However, when I pull the pen away from izzy's cage and lock him outa his cage (usually when I need to clean it), he gets kinda scared and doesn't even play. He just hides in the pop box and tries to run to his cage, even tho he can't get to it.

So I'm worried if I just put the pen up in the middle of the room, Izzy will not act his "normal" self during play time because he will be ansy about not being able to get in his cage and it will affect how he might react towards a new chin in the pen with him. As opposed to how he would react towards a new chin in the pen with him while he still has access to his cage.

Any suggestions or tips?
 
Personally I've had the best results when I tried out a neutral playtime. Is it possible you can move their playpen to a different room? One that neither chinchilla has been in? That way their scents aren't lingering around and they can start fresh. You may want to try them with cages side by side first though. This way you can see how they react to each other over a period of time and they can get used to seeing/being near one another without actually being able to touch each other.
 
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One thing to do when putting them in the same cage that has worked great for me is to make the cage a "new" cage. Clean it really well, get new toys and fleece goodies, rearrange the cage. Then stick them in it. By the time they're done exploring, both smells will be in the cage, and both will be tired and just flop over, usually together.
 
Well I won't be putting them into a cage together just yet. But when I do, I plan on doing an overhaul clean and everything on it, just like you said!

I'm gonna put them in playtime together first, and no I can't put the pen in a totally seperate room. :( My apartment is suuuuper tiny and it only has 2 rooms basically. So 1 chin is in the living room and the new chin is in my bedroom. But I do think I will just set the pen up in the middle of the living room so it isn't attached to either cage, and maybe I'll just sit in there with them. Izzy likes to play more when I do that.

Will sitting in the pen with them make it any better or worse do you think? I'm thinking it would help neutralize the situation because they both know me and would focus more on me than on the fact that there is another chin in the cage with them!
 
I think it would be better for you to sit in the playpen with them. That way you could break up any fights, should they occur. Good luck!
 
I hope it goes well for you! One note of caution though, you may want to have a pair of gloves or something on hand should they not get along. I tried a similar introduction once (I sat in the playpen with them), and got a pretty nasty bite when I stopped one chin from attacking the other. Hopefully it won't come to that for you though! :)
 
^^ Oh, I too got THE nastiest bite from sticking my bare hand between two fighting chins and my goodness the puncture was deep and the blood literally dripped from my hand it really hurt. I'm not talking about a nip on my nose that I got last night from one of my chins b/c he didn't want to be held anymore, it was a nasty bite. Leather gloves do come in handy at times when dealing with chins that you're not too sure about.
 
Mine probably wouldn't have been as bad, but I instinctively tried to pull away and he must have locked his jaw or something - he had a crazy grip on me. He'd bitten straight in, but I managed to tear skin when I tried to pull away. Hurt like crazy!
 
I'm not trying to interrupt your thread of anything. I just didn't want to make a new one on the same subject. I was just wondering exactly how do you know if one is attacking the other too much. When I was cleaning the FN one day, I decided to take the plastic pans out to really clean them and I left the hole open on purpose because I wanted to see how they would do with each other and the difference in the cage. Sedona jumped to the top to Phoenix but then when Phoenix went to sniff her she jumped down and then Phoenix jumped down too and then there was a standing toe to toe dominance/pee war. I plan on trying introductions soon but I just wanted to be completely sure on the signs that I should look out for. I was thinking about doing the small cage into a big cage but then I was thinking the playtime thing since they both have a lot of room to get away from each other. I have 5 days left of school then I'm done for the summer and that's when I was really going to start the introductions since I am home all the time then.
 
I was actually wondering the same thing, so I'm glad you asked :)

I put them together tonight in a pen in the middle of the room with 2 of everything and I sat in there with them wearing leather gloves. I was super nervous! haha

I don't think it went too bad either. No one got bit or hurt, except for losing hair from getting caught in a paw, teeth, or just from being nervous. There was chasing, but I expected that and the stand on their back feet with their noses practically touching type thing. I really couldn't tell who was the more dominant chin with the aggression, as they both took turns equally chasing each other. However, I think my new chin, Marley was a bit scared and tried to hide out more the whole time. But the second they got to nipping at each other i pushed them apart cuz I was scared they might go to far with it. I think I'll put them together again in a few days.

Also, how long should I let them play together? As long as I don't need to stop them if they are fighting, should I aim for an hour? Or just keep it short at 15 minutes or so?
 
I kept my intros short at first. Probably around 15-20 minutes. Some people have the rule when it comes to intros "no blood, no foul" but I personally seperated if I saw excessive amounts of hair being pull and/or excessive chasing. It really is your judgement call since most people will have a different view on what "excessive hair pulling" or "excessive chasing" means to them. Don't hesitate to seperate them if you feel they are getting too stressed out though.
 
Well if I can use the playpen then I am going to start intros tonight and I will see how it goes too. Quick question though, what do you do when one jumps on your shoulder and the other one is jumping on you to try to get the other one?That's when I was bit by Phoenix last time.
 
I don't want to jinx anything (knock on wood), but it seems the intro is going very well! :) The first time they met, there was very little chasing, no blood shed at all, and a bit of fur slipping. But it went well. Then the next couple of times there was a bit of chasing by the more dominant chin so I did the cage in a cage trick and that seemed to work well. As of right now I have the playpen set up and attached to the cage and 1 chin is in the cage and the other in the pen so they can be by each other for most of the day. I open the cage frequently and there hasn't been any chasing since this and las night they started grooming each other and today they are snuggling up on a ledge sleeping together :) I'm super excited, but I still won't let them sleep in the same cage together. I don't want to push anything. But I thought I'd just give everyone an update on the situation :)
 
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