introducing through playtime

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nonniemorris

Mummy to 3 mad chinnies!
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
102
Location
North Wales, UK
my new baby has been introduced to my gorgeous standard through the playtime method, 10 minutes here and there with intensive watching..

but i did notice the baby jump and sit on his back, he's done this a couple of times.. he's still pretty young so i was wondering is it just his playful age?
 
I can't help, but can I be a pain and ask how long you had their cages next to each other before giving them playtime together? Will be going through the same thing soon. :unsure:
 
It sounds like a dominance behavior. Chins will hump one another as a sign of dominance. It is normal, especially when introducing chins.
 
i thought you didnt want to intro during play time because theyre harder to catch if you have them out in the open in case something does happen??

im only asking because i have been trying different methods to intro my two boys and so far neither one of them is cooperating so i have kind of given up for a while. i planned on continuing to try becase there has only been barking and a little fighting and i thought i had been told that you could keep trying as long as nobody got seriously hurt but i may be wrong on that. just trying to see if there are other methods out there that i havent tried yet. thanks!
 
If you haven't tried cage within a cage method, you should try that one. If I ever have trouble introducing chins, I use that method and it works every time. Even with the most difficult chinchillas. It just takes diligence and the longest mine have lasted being brats is about 5 days.

To the OP, babies do strange things. Some just like to sit on top of adults like they can ride them. It could also be what Stacie mentioned, which is just the younger chin trying to assert dominance over the adult. Either way if there is no fur pulling or chasing, it sounds like they are doing fine. I don't recommend the playtime method. It's dangerous and an accident waiting to happen. We've heard too many failure stories from that method because playtime is not a low stress environment to be introducing two chinchillas.
 
If you haven't tried cage within a cage method, you should try that one. If I ever have trouble introducing chins, I use that method and it works every time. Even with the most difficult chinchillas. It just takes diligence and the longest mine have lasted being brats is about 5 days.

Could you explain what I'd need to do for the cage within a cage method please? I'd like to do everything properly...
Would a carrier work? And how long would I keep it in the cage for?

Thanks :)
 
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