Introducing a young male to an older female

[sewillia]

So i just have a couple quick questions on how i should handle this situation. I bought a female chinchilla a little over a year ago and she's been great. Still a bit skittish, but overall pretty used to me.. But lately i've been really busy with work/school that i haven't spent too much time with her, or as much as i'd like to anyways.
For her play times, for instance, i put her in a room(chin-safe) by herself for a while (1-2 hours-sometimes longer) and only spend anywhere from 10-30 minutes with her. (now i understand that i do give her a long playtime but i feel like it'd be nice to get out of a couped up cage for a few hours.)

So, now the reason why i post this is because i went ahead and bought a new chinchilla "Tazz" (male- around 4 months old) today for her to get along with. i've been reading on how to introduce the two and i have them both in separate cages to cease any fighting that may occur. (i feel like my female, Puma, will get territorial) So with them being in separate cages i have their cages at a close but far enough distance to avoid any contact between the two. - and surprisingly throughout the course of the night they barely seemed to even notice each other. at one point they did though and all they did was sniff through the bars of the cage, showing no hostility as of yet.

So what i was planning on doing was to introduce them slowly to each other, and i know its going to take a while for them to get used to each other but with their age difference should i consider anything? I'm not ready for kits at the moment- i was thinking somewhere down the road. How should i handle this? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tunes]

If you put them together, whether YOU are ready for kits or not, they will have them. A 4 month old is perfectly capable of impregnating an adult female. There should be a lot more thought to putting a male and a female together other than just getting an opposite sex chin for company.

I'm curious though, if you already don't have time to take care of one chin and give her the time you feel she needs, why would you think it would be easier with two or with a litter of kits that might need hand feeding every 2 hours around the clock?

 

[Dreamlite]

I agree with tune, why did you get a male? Male+female=babies. If you don't have time for 1 chin how will you have time for kits? Same sex pairs get along just as well. Just cause you don't spend a lot of time with your female doesn't mean she is lonely. Many chins are happy without play times or cagemates. Please rethink introducing her with your male. Breeding is a big deal. Where did you get both of your chins? If they are not pedigreed and shown then breeding is a bad idea.

 

[starleomach]

I agree if you do not have time for one chinchilla you do ot have time for babies and they will breed

 

[Godofgods]

i did the same thing sewilla. Introd my guy to girl for companionship. And as my 3 babies will attest to... Male+female=babies!