Introduction Question

[littlepiper]

Hey everyone,

Yet again another question about my boys. About a month ago I got a male mosaic chinchilla (7 months) and after quarentine have started introducing him to my other two boys (7 months and 1 year). So far things haven't been nearly as easy as it was to introduce my first two. My new chinchilla is a pretty good little guy and respects the other ones boundries, but the biggest problem is with the other younger one.

The first 7 month old was not the dominant chin, and now it seems like he is fighting for top-chin position, but oldest chin is not giving that up and now there is scuffling between everyone (no blood or any inujuries, just a fair amount of fur loss).

I've searched the internet but there is no 'how to introduce 3 male chinchillas'. It's always about two. Besides the standard 'let them explore eachother cage, mask their scent with something' stuff, is there anything else I can do? How much fur loss is too much?

Thanks so much in advance!

P.S. Everyone has become incredibly vocal, with some sounds not even on the chinchilla noise website that people link to. Does anyone know what a high pitched chirp means? Not a warning, decoy or communication sound, and I'm stumped o.o

 

[littlepiper]

Sorry

Hey there,

I was just browsing through other posts and found many that are just like my question, so if anyone wouldnt mind reitterating that would be great.

Also, does anyone know how big a show cage should be and where to get one?

I realize that many people prefer the cage within a cage method, but what to do when you have two boys and a newbie, who do you put in the small cage?

Thanks,

piper

 

[RDZCRanch]

You put the new chinchilla into the show cage. The reason you aren't finding information on introductions for three males is because it's not recommended to introduce a third chinchilla to a bonded pair. It ruins the dynamics of the bonded pair and causes massive fighting to the point that you either end up with three chins completely separate or one male that got so aggressive he can't be with any other chins.

You can get a show cage from Ryerson's website. I don't have the link but it's been linked to several times in the past. I'm sure you could google their website as well. I believe it is $13 from them or somewhere around there.