Minimum cage size for two females after group separation

[danhalen]

Hello, I hope someone can help. I currently have 4 chinchillas - one male and three females (a mother and two offspring). The females are housed in a two-tier stacked cage with each tier measuring 2x2x3 that can be separated by a bared partition - the remaining 80% of the floor space is solid.

The mother and one of the offspring are very "clicky" indeed, and have been pretty much since the girls were born (I've had them since they were 8 weeks old,) whilst the other sibling is much more independent and seems to be quite content to be alone in her thoughts as it were.

A couple of nights ago I had a lot of trouble sleeping and went downstairs to watch a movie. I checked in on the girls and noticed that one of the siblings was hunched in a corner and appeared to be in a lot of discomfort. I took her to the vet the following day and we discovered that she had a pretty nasty wound on her inner thigh/groin, for which she was prescribed suitable antibiotics and painkillers - She has a further check up appointment on Monday evening.

At first we assumed that she must have injured herself in the cage, though I can't for the life of me figure out how - there certainly isn't any sign of blood on any of the fixtures. I then started to consider the possibility that she may have been attacked by one of the other females. Having said that, it seems like a very peculiar place to have been bitten and I can't see any blood at all on any of the other girls' muzzles - so it may be a red herring.

As aforementioned, the other two girls get on very well, and I've never witnessed any fighting between the three. I'll hear occasional grumblings and grouchy squeaks as one of the girls disturbs another whilst they are asleep but certainly no physical signs of fights such as missing fur or any other injuries.

I'm currently keeping the injured girl in the top tier of the set-up with very little substrate as to avoid getting the wound dirty and also so that I can observe as to whether any stomach issues develop due to the medication. The other two girls are being housed as normal in the lower tier and seem to be getting on fine. I've noticed the mother reaching through the bars of the partition a couple of times, to which the injured girl didn't take too kindly and would let out an annoyed squeak (I am unsure whether this is benign contact or a form of aggression) but so far everyone seems to be OK for the most part - the injured girl is healing nicely and is already moving around much, much better.

I'll try re-introducing once the vet has given the all clear but, for arguments sake, if it did transpire to be an inflicted wound rather than an accident, and the cages needed to be partitioned off permanently, would a single 2x2x3 tier be suitable for two VERY chummy females or would I need to invest in another cage altogether for the injured girl? I would worry about separating the injured female entirely as I would hate for her to get lonely. The male is housed alone but his cage is only 6 inches or so away from the one the females share - they often all communicate through the cage bars. There isn't room for a third cage in that part of the house so I would need to house the injured female in another location away from the other three.

Sorry for the rambling, it's been a long week and I am very tired.

All the best,
-Dan.

 

[Amethyst]

A 2'x2'x3' cage is fine for 1-2 chins. Bigger is always better but if they get along well it shouldn't be an problem, many people have two chins housed in that size cage without any issue.
Just because there is no blood doesn't mean it wasn't an attack, it's very possible they just cleaned up, one could have licked the other clean, after the attack. It's not uncommon for a three way bond to fail, you end up with two ganging up on one. Contrary to what seems to be said around nowadays chins can actually live perfectly fine as single chins, especially if they can still chat with others. Some chins even prefer being alone.
I'm not saying no to reintroducing them if you really want to, but maybe only as playmates. Since you can't rule out that it was an attack that caused the injury I wouldn't trust them unsupervised.

 

[danhalen]

Hi Amethyst, sorry about the late reply - things have been spectacularly busy this end. Thanks very much for your input, it's much appreciated. I did decide to separate them permanently in the end and things are going well.

The injured Chinchilla is making a very good recovery and is almost back to her old self - she seems to be fine in her own company and the other two don't appear to have been affected at all by the separation, so I would say all is well

 

[Cuddlebug]

I had a female attack another and create an injury just like what you described. It only took seconds and there was no forewarning. It happens when the two stand up to be bigger than the other. One can suddenly duck down to bite at the groin. I would not put the three back together again. the actions you have witnessed tell me that it was an attack and once blood is drawn, they will never make up again. They will always hate each other.