So I have had my new chin Adaira since July and have had my other chin for almost 7-8 years before her. Because of the incredible age gap between the two I was never really pushy when it came to introductions. I've kept them in two seperate cages in the same room since after the quarentine (sp?). I have occasionally tried to let them have play time together, but I would never let them get too close, because I didn't want any injuries. Well I had recently got a FN and I wanted to see if they were compatible. So this is what I had done. I allowed them to have play time in a small area with me in it watching vigilantly. I always thought my oldest was the aggressor, but here it's the young one. My oldest would get on my shoulders to avoid her (she also just likes it up there too ^_^) and then I would chase her down. When they came in contact there was no really big fights or anything, just the occasional warning call, a kack, a test to see who was taller then Adaira would chase Hannah. I notice that Adaira had wanted to try to dominate Hannah. I'm not really sure if it's going well, although that was really the first time they had an extended period of time together. Any thoughts?
Introduction flop or success?
- Thread starter kayzer209
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I had also wanted to add that the FN has not been set up yet because I am waiting for the move to do that. My goal was to try and see if theyre compatible before the move before I attempt to put them in the same cage. I figured with the ride and the move that putting them in the same cage in new surroundings would final up the intro, but I don't want to push it.
Anfsurfer
Well-known member
From doing 2 introductions in my house, I don't think it's even possible to do an intro without one of them establishing dominance??? If you're looking for them to just suddenly live side by side in harmony one day I don't think it happens that way. I think they need to be able to interact, do their thing, and figure out what kind of relationship they're going to have. There may be some aggression...that's why you need to be there to intervene. They may never be friendly to each other. You'll never know until you let them interact.
With my first introduction they spent about 20 minutes of standing up and kacking and going in circles trying to mount each other. After that...they passed out together and napped. I never saw any fur flying or blood or anything so I just let them do whatever they needed to do. My point is until they're free to figure it out for themselves, you'll never know how they'll be together.
Have you read up on the different methods of doing introductions? There's a couple that would help you here. "Smooshing" and "Cage within a Cage" I believe would be helpful in moving things along.
With my first introduction they spent about 20 minutes of standing up and kacking and going in circles trying to mount each other. After that...they passed out together and napped. I never saw any fur flying or blood or anything so I just let them do whatever they needed to do. My point is until they're free to figure it out for themselves, you'll never know how they'll be together.
Have you read up on the different methods of doing introductions? There's a couple that would help you here. "Smooshing" and "Cage within a Cage" I believe would be helpful in moving things along.
Cuddlebug
Well-known member
It sounds like normal chinchilla interactions. They need to figure out who is the dominant chinchilla. Once they do, things should settle down. What you need to watch for is if there is any aggressive behaviors such as fur pulling and biting. Another thing to watch for is if one of them looks stressed out. If you see any of these things, then you will need to separate.
I did see some fur slipping, but no one actually went to grab fur and pull it out. They were showing their teeth at each other when I tried the cage within a cage. I've tried several methods, but I never really enforced any of them. How long would you carry out a certain method? Like do you just do it once and your chins are together or is it more of a repeated sort of thing like regularly trying to do it more and more each day?
Cuddlebug
Well-known member
As long as they are not trying to hurt each other, you can try to into them over and over again. How long did you try the cage in a cage method? You can leave the aggressive on in the smaller cage for a couple of hours. I just did one that took 4 hours, but now they are doing great. Before that, the male was trying to nip the females.
Anfsurfer
Well-known member
When I did "cage within a cage" introducing my last Chin to my existing two, I had the two in the cage and the newbie out. There was aggression shown in the inside cage! It took about three hours before they all pooped out and napped together through the carrier walls. Seems to be how it always works in this house. lol
So it seems that it doesn't take like an extended period of time for intros, but just a few hours. I never really tried for long, because I usually always stopped with the first kack. I was just worried and I've never done an intro before, so I just stopped before I really gave it a chance.
Cuddlebug
Well-known member
Intros can take a long time, depending on the method and the chinchillas that are involved. Regardless of the method used, you should always do intros when you are available to supervise for the first few days, just in case they go through a "honeymoon" period and decide a day or tow later that they don't want a cage mate.
