Is once aggressive always aggressive?

[Caroline]

I have a very nice little tov beige male who has behaved badly on two different occasions with two different chins. I should add that his sire was color champion in 06. The first time was with his previous owner who had rescued him off of Craigslist. I am now wondering if perhaps I contributed to that because the night before the attack I had moved another pair of chins into the cage right next to them? I had wanted to sell him but called off the sale which I wrote about in my last post.
So I am wondering if he should never be put with another female or is there a chance that next time will be fine? He had been with the previous female for over a month with no problems.

 

[Stackie]

IMO once a chin attacks another they don't get put with another, period. ESPECIALLY if it has happened twice.

 

[DaddyslilDimwit]

I have a female that was apparently not with any chins before I got her. I have had her for about a year now. She was ok with Honey after a while, but not with any other females I introduced her to. She has even had a spat with one of mine. People said that once she drew blood she was pretty much always gonna be a bad egg.

Well, She has been with the other 2 females for A WHILE now and they all get along GREAT! They cuddle and eat together. I only put them together when I am around though, just in case.

I guess what I am trying to say is... You have to get a feel for your INDIVIDUAL chin. Keep the intro period long and slow. You know your chin best.

 

[Riven]

Some chins just don't like other chins, and some chins just don't like certain other chins. My first question would be is he worth breeding?

 

[Lillybabe]

What I wonder is... how do you know that his sire was a color champion in 06? Didn't you say that you got him from a friend who got him from craigslist? Do you have papers on him and is he tagged? Not trying to be critical just know people say all sorts of crazy untrue things on craigslist. I also don't think just because his father is a show champion his kits will be as well. Has he been to a show? Maybe get his fur quality checked out, etc. I didn't see other posts... but how old is he? I have heard that it is harder to pair older chins. I'd be wary about breeding him at best and keep a close eye on him. Have you bred other chins? I'd just do your homework and if you decide to try him with other females anyway have a very slow intro period and keep a close eye on them when they are together.

 

[qtpie61282]

I had issues with one of my Ryersons Sapphire males.....each time I would put a female next to him in a separate cage, he displayed serious self mutilation behavior and what seemed like aggression towards the side of his cage where the female was.
For years I would go back and forth with him, moving him away from them until his tail healed, trying him again later one, etc.
He finally was settled when we moved all the chins and him to another room.

But I received one of my large standard sapphire girls back and wanted to see if i couldn't breed her with this male. I put her in the FN cage next to him, and after two days he started to display the same behavior he had before.
But not as bad.

I noticed that the behavior he exhibited was almost like a barrier issue. Like he was frustrated that he couldn't get into the cage with her.
After a while of just the cages being near each other, I put him in her cage.
They did great!!! He showed no aggression, no frustration and no more self mutilation.


I know he never attacked another chin before like yours but I thought maybe this info would help slightly.
All chins are different and yours might just need a special one to be with. But I don't know if I would risk it since there is a history of attacks. Unless you can supervise every interaction the chin has with another chin and never leave them unattended.

 

[qtpie61282]

I agree with Lillybabe as well.....if the chin is from craigslist, I would be very hesitant to breed it unless it was from a breeder with a pedigree and history.

 

[Caroline]

I have his papers. He is a very nice looking Beige TOV. I had him checked out by Sue Irvin of Viking Chinchillas, who bred his mother, before I bought him. He has good colour, and a nice pelt.

 

[Caroline]

He will be two this coming Tuesday. I will post a recent photo of him right away.

 

[Caroline]

There is a recent photo of him in my albums. It wouldn't post to this thread.

 

[Stackie]

The beige tov in your album doesn't look that great for breeding IMO, no offense. He looks very orange and his veiling is not that good at all. Definitely not worth risking the health of females...I don't see how being a "good quality" male would make it okay to risk putting him with other chins if he's aggressive, anyway. What's the use if your female gets torn apart.

 

[Caroline]

What I wonder is... how do you know that his sire was a color champion in 06? Didn't you say that you got him from a friend who got him from craigslist? Do you have papers on him and is he tagged? Not trying to be critical just know people say all sorts of crazy untrue things on craigslist. I also don't think just because his father is a show champion his kits will be as well. Has he been to a show? Maybe get his fur quality checked out, etc. I didn't see other posts... but how old is he? I have heard that it is harder to pair older chins. I'd be wary about breeding him at best and keep a close eye on him. Have you bred other chins? I'd just do your homework and if you decide to try him with other females anyway have a very slow intro period and keep a close eye on them when they are together.

As for whether or not any chin would produce show quality kits is a gamble. You breed the best that you have and hope for the best, that is genetics for you. I bred one of the top German Shepherds in Canada out of a female who didn't have the best conformation. One of the top U.S. show judges ever said he was just as good as the German Shepherd he had put Best in Show at Westmister. It is all a gamble.

 

[Caroline]

The beige tov in your album doesn't look that great for breeding IMO, no offense. He looks very orange and his veiling is not that good at all. Definitely not worth risking the health of females...I don't see how being a "good quality" male would make it okay to risk putting him with other chins if he's aggressive, anyway. What's the use if your female gets torn apart.

I was curious because I wasn't sure whether or not it was stress of putting other chins next to him or not that caused him to react like that.

 

[RDZCRanch]

From those pictures, he is off color, lacks veiling and his fur is soft, especially over the hips. For a three year old his color isn't horrible, but it's not something I would use unless I knew he was exceptional when he was younger based off how he placed at show.

I don't think he is "worth" a female's life. As a breeder, the number one priority is to keep your animals as safe and healthy as possible and then you can focus on breeding quality animals. So for me, I would not keep him and I would sell him with a disclaimer that he has attacked two previous cagemates.

None of my breeding males has ever attacked another chinchilla. It would not be tolerated since my females do the work of carrying, birthing and rearing the kits.

 

[Caroline]

Ok, question answered. Now I just need to be patient, find him a good home, free up a cage and then get a really nice standard from Craners in September.

 

[Snickers]

I had someone's female chin at my house that had kits with him before. She said the female attacked one of her males then killed another one. I told her that she could bring him over to breed back to him. She was hesitant because she didn't want him to be killed either. I said I would watch both of them and if there were any signs from her that she was going to attack him I would pull him out. She never attacked him but had 2 kits from him. I told her it was her 1st love. I believe the babies took 1st place.