mix up your chins?

[Spazzie416]

not really a "new owner" question, but i didnt know where else to put this.

just somethng i've wondered... for all those chin owners out there who own a pair or trio of chins with multiples of the same color in the same cage (i.e. a pair of standard grays together).... do you ever confuse them? or mix them up? how do you tell them apart? LOL

i have 2 grays and 1 extra dark ebony, but my grays are in separate cages. i am always a lil worried that if they were together i 'd have a hard time telling who was who.....

 

[chinchillalover0927]

you learn to tell them apart, my boyfriend has a cage with 2 standards and 1 beige and i can glance and get the two standards rite, its like kids, you just learn

 

[Ash]

You learn the differences in them. Shapes, personality, etc. I have two grays in the same cage, and had three at one time. I could tell them apart because Smokie was darker than Squirt, and Hash was smaller than them both.

 

[mishellyshel]

sometimes they just have subtle differences, like a more rounded head or larger ears or a whiter belly. but after that you go by personality. some are skittish some more friendly.

 

[lauralynne]

Sometimes it helps to trim the tail of one or use a sharpie on the ear.

 

[Sycamore Chins]

I'm gone at school 9 months out of the year, but if you were to release all 6 of my adult standards I could tell them all apart. I can also tell you who at least one of the parents are of my juvenile standards just by looking at them.
You learn to recognize subtle differences as they age. The biggest tell for me is the shape of their head and their ears (shape, holes, notches).
Now my mom cares for the chins year-round, but doesn't have the passion as I do with my animals. If I rearrange cages or set up new pairs/trios she gets confused and I have to draw a diagram of the cages, and trim tails of certain animals.

 

[GorillaJTA]

I have 2 standards in the same cage. While I sometimes get them mixed up in low light, I can tell them apart because one has a slightly different fur texture and is lighter than the other. One also has a bigger head, while the other has beige highlights on his tail. They also have completely different personalities. It is just a matter of knowing your chins.

 

[starleomach]

I can tell the difference you just get to know each animal and minor differences like Jade has a wrinkled tip to her ear etc., I do however have a tatoo kit I got for christmas and so that if anything happens to me my breeders will have their numbers in their ears so others can tell the difference too.

 

[Chintastic!]

I have 3 standards, 2 **** beiges, 2 hetero beiges and 2 ebonies. If they all got out I dont think I would have any problems telling them apart. The only ones I confuse sometimes are the ebonies. They are brothers and for the first few weeks I had no idea which was which. Now I know that one is much more timid and likes to sleep a tube while the other one popcorns like mad when ever I open the cage. It just takes time to notice the subtle differences sometime.

 

[Mikayla]

Sometimes it helps to trim the tail of one or use a sharpie on the ear.

I do that with my hamsters :]

 

[Chin_Up_Sunshine]

When I got my boys, the previous owner said she couldn't tell them apart unless they were both together at the same time. You start to notice little things. I could tell them apart in a snap in about 2 days. Really sit down and look at them. For example, Riku is VERY obviously darker than the other. His "brother", Toki, is also HUGE in comparison. Plus, again, they have different personalities and act differently around the cage. Riku is more energetic and jittery. Toki is all about food, really....I just give him some hay and he's interested in whatever I'm doing.