Introducing issues...please help

[Roxy]

Ok so we bought our first chinchilla Roxy about 3 weeks ago. Then last week we went and bought a second one Foxy. These two came from the same pet store and had been housed together so we figured it would be easier to introduce them. Well Foxy we definetely extemely nervous and was getting over stressed the first day or two. That we had them in there seperate cages and not too close. So we move Foxy to a different part of the room for her to learn to relax. She has since calmed down so she is not too over stressed constantly and is willing to come out and play.

So we just decide we would finally try to get them introduced during play time and see how they did. Right away it took them a few minutes to find each other and when they did Roxy started chasing Foxy around and we believe trying to hump her. Then they split up but within a minute did it again. You can tell Foxy definetely doesn't like this and she decide to run back in her cage. So we allowed her to relaxed. Finished up Roxy's playtime and then put her away before letting out Foxy again. We didn't see that Roxy was trying to bite at all but we don't want this to keep causing a lot of stress for Foxy, because she did start shedding hair after this. Can someone please help me on tips on how we can trying to get them to be ok with each other. I don't want them to physically hurt themselves and then never be able to be housed together. Thanks for any help.

 

[Ash]

First off, you need to make sure they are both females. Even though pet stores sell them as males or females, they don't always have them sexed correctly. Second, both chinchillas are extremely stressed from all the changes. You can't just take them apart, then try to throw them back together again. In pet stores, the animals usually "Bond" due to being so stressed out. Just because they got along there doesn't mean they will get along now in your home. Introductions can take a long time, if they ever get along.

For future reference, you need to observe quarantine when bringing a new chinchilla into your home, especially when it is from somewhere such as a pet store, even if it's the same pet store and they were housed together before. The chinchilla may appear healthy, but you never know what it's got going on that it could have picked up at the store. However, quarantine is a moot point now.

Give them both time to settle in and settle down. They're still adjusting to the new home and pattern of your house. Give them time to do that. After everyone's settled in and happy and fully relaxed and you are sure they are the SAME sex, then try introductions. Playtime is a good way to start introductions, and chasing/humping is normal, but if one chinchilla is obviously upset and super stressed by it, then you might want to rethink housing them together. Foxy may prefer to live alone.

 

[scamperlittletika]

It took our chins about 2-3 months in seperate cages about 5 meters apart until they finally decided to like each other. takes time!