Introducing a young chin to an older one?

[PinayTohDoh]

I have had my Standard male for a little over a year now, he has tantrums easily and appears to be okay living on his own but I can tell he gets lonely at times. So, a couple of days ago, I got another chin, an ebony hetero. He is only about 9 weeks old.

I have their cages next to each other -not too close though- and I did take them last night and switched them into each other's cages for a couple of hours before switching them back to try and get them used to each other's scents. Are there any tips as to how I can introduce them to each other? I noticed that when I held the ebony up to my standard's cage, my ebony was submissive and my standard tried nipping at him a little through the bars and proceeding to have a little tantrum. So, I am a little nervous especially considering my ebony is so small and I don't want them to fight.

 

[mknoblich1]

First, before you try to introduce them you should quarantine your new chin in a different room to make sure that he is not sick. Quarantine needs to be sone in a room seperate from your current chin. You also will need to wash your hands adter handling one chin and going to hqndle the other chin. Doesn't hurt to change your clothes either. If he is sick by keeping them in the same room and cage swapping your going to wind up with two sick chins

After the 30 day quarantine period you can place two cages next to one another with about a two inch gap so they can get used to each others smell but can't fight with each other through the cage bars. If you see any signs of aggression you should spread the cages apart farther until they behavior stops then start to move them closer together. Once they appear to be used to each other and are sleeping or lounging on the side of the cage close to one another you can move to the next phase. People have tried cage swapping, the smoosh method, giving them neutral area play time, putting them in the same cage with a divider so they can't get to one another, and cage in a cage method.

I used cage in a cage method recently which involves taking the more aggressive chin and putting them in a small cage inside of the large cage while the submissive chins is free to roam the large cage. When I did this with my girls it took 3 days for my more aggressive girl to settle down to me being comfortable to put them all together. Of course I had food and water in the small cage for her during that time.

When I did the cage in cage method I bought a brand new large cage and all new accessories for the new cage. Chins are territorial so it helps when no one claims any thing in the cage. You have to watch them like a hawk when you finally put them together. If anyone bites or bleeds you can never try to put them together again. This means you run the risk of having 2 chinchillas in 2 separate cages for the rest if their lives. Also keep in mind that even a bonded pair of chins can turn on each other years down the road so you will always need a second cage on hand just in case.

Whatever you do, you need to introduce slowly. Don't rush it or you may have an injured or even dead chin on your hands. Do lots of research and ask lots of questions.