Male and female chins have been kept together

[Larix]

Hi,
A friend of mine had two chinchillas but had to give them away because she couldn't afford them anymore. I took them to make sure they went to a good home because no one else was interested.

My friend was keeping a male and female chin together for about a year, or so I was told. I have them both together, but I'm not ready for Chinchilla babies!!!

Can I separate them without a problem? Will they have bonded, and struggle being apart? Will one or both of them need a companion when I separate them? Any advice would be super helpful. Thank you!

 

[tunes]

I would immediately separate them. You can put their cages near each other so they can still see and talk to each other, but get them apart. Keep an eye on them. If they seem to be struggling being single, then you can think about getting another chin. But for right now, separate them and give them time to adjust to their new home and new situation. Many chins do just fine on their own. The other option would be to go to a chin experienced vet and have him castrated. Then they could stay together without worry.

 

[Amethyst]

If they have been living together for a year they have bonded, you can't house nonbonded chins together they would fight, but as said you can have them next to each other (at least 6 inches apart) and that should help, they wont be happy about it, especially at first, but they should adjust. Although they do tend to wait for conditions to be right to breed, once they feel the time is right breeding takes seconds, so it's very possible she is pregnant already. I would also make sure the female is in a kit safe cage (1/2" bar spacing and ideally single level) and count 120 days from the day you separate them. Normal gestation is 111 days but if there is still no kits after 120 days you know for sure.

As far as companions I would wait to see how they do alone, and wait to see if the female does have kits or not. If the female is pregnant you may be able to keep any female kits with her or any male kits may be able to be bonded with the male. Also getting additional chins could means additional cages, new chins should be quarantined from your current ones for 30 days, meaning different cage and different room. That allows any illness to show up before exposing your current chins and for the new chin to settle in. Not all chins get along though, so you could end up with the chin(s) not getting along and needing to be kept separate. If you go the route of neutering the male, you do need an experienced chinchilla vet, it's a risky surgery and not like a normal neuter, it's less risky then getting the female spayed but still a lot can go wrong. There is also a long recovery time, about 2 weeks to heal externally assuming no complications, but up to 8 weeks for all the sperm to be gone and it's safe to try to put them back together.