Looking for his mate: What to do?

[mk94]

My female chinchilla just died after having her for about 7 years. I found her dead in the nest box with her mate cuddled up with her. They have been together for almost as long as I have had them. I removed her body from the cage and now my male chinchilla is frantically looking for her. I'm worried about him, but I don't know how to make him feel better. I feel really guilty because I haven't been able to spend as much time with them lately, but they had each other so I was hoping they wouldn't be bothered by my absence too much. But now that he is alone, I don't want him to die of a broken heart (if that is possible). Any suggestions? I thought maybe he'd like a little stuffed animal, but I'm afraid he'll chew on it or something.

 

[tunes]

If he chews on it, take it away. Many people use cuddle buddies for their chins and it brings them great comfort.

You can make one yourself out of fleece and stuff it with fleece. People on here sell them through the classifieds. Or you can go to the baby section of the store and find one that doesn't have a lot of loose threads or plastic eyes and noses.

Claire D has a picture on here somewhere of an old timer she had who loved his stuffed sheep until the very end.

 

[mk94]

Okay, so just like a stuffed toy that's meant for babies? Maybe I can find something fuzzy, since she was fuzzy. I just feel so bad for him since he's spent the past 7 years with her. He's also pretty needy and he was always wanting to cuddle with her. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to introduce him to a new chinchilla, would it? I mean, he's getting up there in age too and I wouldn't want another chinchilla to suddenly be alone when he eventually died.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I always like to chime in with MY advice, since I had a bonded pair of neutered males in which one of them died suddenly and unexpectedly.

Since Baby died in my arms, and I of course was very upset and crying, sitting on the couch right in front of the cage, Mr. Whiskers could see that something was wrong. After a good, long cry, and a call to the vet to arrange to bring Baby's body in for a necropsy, I allowed Mr. Whiskers to come out and sit with me and sniff Baby as I told him what had happened.

I don't care if peoiple think that I'm crazy for anthropomorphizing my animals, but I SWEAR, I truly believe Mr. Whiskers was able to comprehend what I was telling him and that he understood that Baby was no longer with us.

Both of us were very depressed for some time, and I decided that we both needed another little chinnie to help us both recover. A few weeks later, My Little Snuggler joined us. After an appropriate quarantine and a VERRY slow introduction, Mr. Whiskers and The Snuggler are living very happily together as a bonded pair. It was necessary, however, to have The Snuggler neutered when he reached puberty, as he started picking on Whiskers.

As always, if you do get another friend for your male, you must have 2 cages available and plan for the possibility that they might NOT make a nice introduction and would have to live apart.

Give yourself a week or so to see how you and your boy do. And I'm serious, I think if you have some quality one-on-one time with him and explain what happened to his mate, it will help him.

I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[saphire]

Okay, so just like a stuffed toy that's meant for babies? Maybe I can find something fuzzy, since she was fuzzy.

Something fleecy or as tunes has mentionned a lamb type material .

I just feel so bad for him since he's spent the past 7 years with her. He's also pretty needy and he was always wanting to cuddle with her. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to introduce him to a new chinchilla, would it?

Introducing a new chin at this point I believe may be more stressful for him, maybe I'm wrong.
Surely same members will share their experiences of this kind.

Hope he's okay:

 

[Ashley]

It would be best if you could get one of the cuddle buddies made out of fleece specifically for chins, but for now you could use a stuffed animal without any plastic as long as he doesn't chew it. You could try to introduce another chin to him, but you can never tell if two chins will accept each other until you try. Just be ready to keep two cages if things don't work out. I don't think getting him a friend is absolutely necessary, but it's totally your call. Just try to spend some time with him, it will help both of you get over your loss. If you think he's lonely when you're not there you could also put some soft music or a tv on near his cage. Some chins enjoy the stimulation from different sounds.

I've very sorry for your loss, good luck with your boy.

 

[mk94]

I'm sure that he knew something was wrong since she wasn't moving or breathing. He probably sensed something was wrong right before she died. Animals are aware of those things, right? He just seemed so upset after I had removed her body from the cage. I held him for awhile, but I didn't think of telling him what happened. I just told him he was a good boy and I gave him a kiss on the head. He got a bunch of treats from my husband too. I checked on him when I got home from work today and he sprung out of the nest box to beg for a treat (he likes shredded wheat squares). I'll probably get him something to cuddle with, like a cuddle buddy. We have an extra cage, but I wouldn't want to end up with a new chinchilla that didn't like him (I don't think I'd have to worry about him not liking someone new, he's so passive about everything).

Thank you everyone for voicing your support. I was so shocked to find her dead in the nest box. I have no idea why she died and she seemed fine the day before. I know that she was getting old, but you'd still think that she would have shown some sign of being sick.

 

[Jovi]

How old was she? You mentioned they were together for 7 years but didn't say if she was 7. If so 7 isn't old for a chinchilla. They can live 15-20 years. My chinchilla just lost his cage mate after being together since babies for 6 years and he was very sad. I spent a lot of extra time with him after and got him some new toys and tubes in his cage to distract him and keep him busy. Fells like he has gotten much closer to me but i still miss seeing them snuggle and knowing they were together when i wasn't there. I decided to get him a new buddy for him and because i just felt so sad everytime i looked at him alone in that big cage. So sorry for your loss and i feel so bad for your poor little guy. Make sure he is eating and drinking still. I hope you can spend more time with him... it should help him a bit.

 

[mk94]

Jovi - I'm not sure how old she was, but she wasn't a baby when I got her. I was told that the average lifespan was about 10 years or so. That's surprising to hear that they can live up to 20 years. That makes me question now why she might have died. I can't take her body to the vet to have it examined though. This is going to sound really strange, but the vet that we normally took them to mysteriously closed down a few months ago. The place is all boarded up and there's not sign indicating that they moved. Maybe it was the bad economy or something. Anyway, they were the only place in town that specialized in small animals and exotics.
Any ideas on what could have happened to her?

 

[mk94]

Okay, I went to the pet store and picked out a couple of things. Let me know what you think. I got a stuffed banana toy that is intended for rabbits. It says on the package that it is made of rabbit-safe materials and that it is appropriate for use with other small animals. I also got a fleecy stuffed pig dog toy. I thought maybe I could removed the stuffing and fill it with something else. Do either of these sound okay?

 

[Spoof]

You can leave the stuffing in, just put them in and watch. If he goes for the stuffing then pull it out but it's unlikely at his age.

 

[mk94]

Okay, I'll see which one he likes. I looked at baby toys too, but they all had plastic "beans" inside of them. I didn't think that that would be a good idea.

 

[mk94]

UPDATE:
I placed the pig inside his nestbox earlier today and I have been checking on him periodically. Every time I have a look, he's always somewhere other than inside his nestbox. BUT, each time I looked, the pig had been moved. He's obviously messing with it every now and then. But I don't know if he actually likes it or not. I guess I'll just keep checking up on him to see if he's ever sleeping with it.

 

[mk94]

Okay, yesterday I found him cuddling with Mr Pig. But then today I found Mr Pig sitting face down on the bottom of the cage. Hehe... do you think maybe they had a fight? There doesn't appear to be any chewing going on, but I question whether or not he really likes it or if it is offering him any sort of comfort. I guess I could always put the stuffed banana in there.

 

[saphire]

Don't really know... but he must be playing with it or something since it changes places...I would still wait a couple of days to see if he warms up to it.

 

[Brittney]

Bryson's raccoon is in a new spot every morning. Some mornings it's inside his wheel, sometimes he has it near the hay rack, and this morning it was inside of his tube. He plays with it all the time. Pouncing on it, and taking it to the top and dropping it and watching it fall.

 

[Jovi]

Hehe... same thing happened to me when i gave Rocket his cuddle buddy. I found it tossed down the shelves and i questioned if he liked it or not. I have seen him next to it so i honestly think he is playing with it and likes pushing it around. I also had gotten a fleece pillow someone so nicely made for me and Rocket actually pulled it into his hidey house and seems to enjoy sleeping cuddled on that more than the cuddle buddy. But I would guess yours is playing with it.

 

[Harleychin]

Here's Orin making sure his cuddle buddy knows who's the boss!

 

[Brittney]

Ok, so I was kinda not buying the whole "chins mate with their cuddle buddy" thing. But I guess Bryson has gotten to that age. Last night while I was watching TV in bed, I saw Bryson attacking his raccoon and then proceeded to mount it and have his way with the poor thing. :err: I was kind of disturbed, and needless to say, raccoon is in the wash currently, and Bryson is now cuddling with a chew block for the time being. Guess this is the new step in Bryson's life.... I think we might need to have a talk :laughitup:

 

[saphire]

Brittney, he's finally warmin up..:0)

Harleychin, yap! he's the boss loll