Neutering/Spaying

[Ristarwen]

So, I have two male chinchillas and a female (in separate cages, of course). We have had a few very closely supervised co-ed playtimes, where they are all in a small area and both my boyfriend and I are there to observe and make sure nothing..."happens". The two males, ChickaChickah and Charley, are living together already, and I just got an FN 142 for them. We were thinking that because all three do get along pretty well (we've never had any fights or squabbles of any sort) and are really young (the boys are about 5 months old, and Suki is nearly a year), we could do full intros and put all three of them in the FN together. AFTER fixing either both of the boys or Suki.

What do you guys think? How many of you have a neutered male? A spayed female? At the vet school here (I go to Cornell, and it's the nearest exotics vet), a spay cost $175, and neutering would be $95 for each of them. It's still only an idea, but I'd like to see what you guys think.

 

[Chinniechantel]

There is no such think as co ed playtime, it is breeding. And if you have a girl and boy together already, who would they not get pregnant, I am confused. You cannot move fast enough to stop them, no one can. It literally takes .2 seconds, I am not exaggerating. Some people have luck neutering (you cannot spay a female unless she needs it, or I have never heard of anyone doing that) males, but I would not in this situation. Some die, and it is not worth it. Put the 2 boys in the top and the girl in the bottom. Simple as pie. Better than dead babies, trust me.

 

[Silverrose]

IMO, if there is no reason to spay/neuter the chinchilla, then don't do it. It is an unneccessary operation that may put more stress on the animal than it's worth. Like Chantel said, just keep the animals separated, even during playtimes! It should be pretty easy with an FN.

I have a spayed female, only because it was necessary as she had a prolapsed uterus. She was the sweetest, most loving chin before the operation, and my favorite lapchin. Her recovery was a bit difficult, but she is fine now. Her attitude however has completely changed. She is a total spitfire, and is quick to threaten to spray. I can no longer just hold her and cuddle with her, she kacks at me and squirms to no end. While the operation saved her life, my cuddly little baby went away...

 

[Chinniechantel]

Therese, that is what happened with my chins who was spayed...that is odd, I just thought she never forgave me...

 

[Stackie]

I agree with Therese, I do not believe in spaying/neutering a chinchilla unless it is necessary due to added stress and the possibility of complications.

 

[Sandi]

I know you said your 2 boys are in one cage and the female is separate in another cage but as Chinniechantel said they can breed superfast during playtime as this happened to me over 4 years ago. I was told the second chin that I bought from the same pet store was a male like my first chin from them and they were in seperate cages for over a month but playtime/intros were together. I knew that she had gotten pregnant during playtime because they were in separate cages but I will swear to you that I never saw it happen and I was with them the entire time. I did get my Whisker's neutered though and I was lucky that everything went well with the surgery BUT after she had the baby and after his surgery, she wanted nothing to do with him. Their first meeting after he recovered from the neutering she tried to attack/kill him, we were very lucky it wasn't deep wounds just superficial. I literally had to put their cages in separate rooms because if she could see him she would go nuts in her cage and I was afraid she would kill the baby.

 

[starleomach]

You also cannot put two males in with a female even if they are nuetered. They will fight to the death over the female they don't realize they are shooting blanks. I would immediatly stop the together play time as well it takes seconds you will not be able to separate them

 

[Ristarwen]

Okay, thank you for the info. No more co-ed playtimes.

And starleomach.... I didn't think they would feel any arousal nor the need to fight at all after neutering... Neutering removes the testicles, which produce testosterone, which drives sexual behavior and aggression. We learned this in Animal Reproduction and Development, and often castrating is used as a means to calm down rowdy males, such as horses. Once castrated, they stop going after mares and are much calmer and sweeter. I'm just curious, I thought remove the testes, remove bad behavior...have you experienced differently?

 

[Claire D]

And starleomach.... I didn't think they would feel any arousal nor the need to fight at all after neutering... Neutering removes the testicles, which produce testosterone, which drives sexual behavior and aggression. We learned this in Animal Reproduction and Development, and often castrating is used as a means to calm down rowdy males, such as horses. Once castrated, they stop going after mares and are much calmer and sweeter. I'm just curious, I thought remove the testes, remove bad behavior...have you experienced differently?

That may be true in many other species but, like many things chinchilla, it does not apply here.
In chinchillas the urge to mate and, therefore, the liklihood of aggression in the vicinity of females in oestrus remains. There are very few accounts of castration altering behaviour and castration is not performed for that reason in male chinchillas - chins are castrated to prevent fertilisation of ovum so that mixed pairs can live together or for medical reasons.
You will be hard pushed to find anyone who thinks that castrating a male chinchilla has made any difference to their behaviour - if there are then these are the exceptions and not the rule.

 

[starleomach]

I have a wonderful lady who has bought several chinchillas from me. She gets all the males nuetered so they don't have any babies with her females. She has said on several ocasions that they don't notice they can't have babies at all and still do the deed. I also know with our horses we have 3 geldings and a mare. none of the geldings know they are gelded I have also seen it in steers (cows) It does cut back on testosterone and can curb attitude a bit but the instinct and reaction to the way a female smells is still there in the bigger animals. I have never heard of castrating a chinchilla changing the personality any.

 

[mercynursie]

I don't know about castrated chins, but I have a twenty eight year old quarter horse who was gelded before he was even a year old. He's a retired lawn mower with arthritis and I have to constantly give him supplements to keep him comfortable. But let me tell you, if he gets near a mare you'd think he was a teenager again. He perks up,prances and puts on a show and will attempt to mount her!!!:wink2:

 

[Chin_Pig]

i had a male neutered, he was sweet before and after. he had done the deed multiple times before neutering and after he just got fat and lazy but he is still a sweetheart.

also he is the only chin my female got along with and i didn't want anymore babies from them (at the time i didn't know about the importance of pedigrees)

 

[iayla]

I've had a male dog neutered and years later still go after female dogs.... I've also seen it with guinea pigs, rabbits, even rats. They're still males, and will still fight for a female. They dont know that they cant produce, they just know there's a female within reach. I would assume it'd be similar with chinchillas, and wouldn't endanger my pets just to test that theory.
~Barb~

 

[nibblesmama]

Seriously you guys...

Ya know...people come here for information. This is a GOOD thing - education is the best training. Some of the 'natives' and 'experts' on this board are quick to jump in and tell us what we 'newbies' are doing wrong and do it in a very harsh and upsetting manner. Opinions are good, barking at people and how they are doing things not by YOUR book is just going to push them away and the critters will suffer because while you do have valuable information to share, the delivery is bad and no one's going to listen. Just food for thought. :chillpill:

Anyhow, like everyone else I have an OPINION - and take it for what it is, it's not going to hurt my feelings if anyone doesn't agree.
My Dale was taken in for a neuter and we found he was already neutered - woohoo for me and my wallet! He's a doll and he's 10 yrs old. I haven't had any issues with him. He loves Nibbles like they've been together forever and is not much of a cuddler, but will sit and hang for a few minutes.
It's your chinnie and your decision. My vet has neutered many chinnies and has never had an issue. He said they wake up and don't really know and go on. I did ask if he's ever had two fight over a female after neutering (he owns 5) and he said no. So everyone has different stories and different opinions. YOU know your chinnies best, go with your gut and do what you feel is best.

 

[ABBY W.]

I didn't think they would feel any arousal nor the need to fight at all after neutering... Neutering removes the testicles, which produce testosterone, which drives sexual behavior and aggression. We learned this in Animal Reproduction and Development, and often castrating is used as a means to calm down rowdy males, such as horses. Once castrated, they stop going after mares and are much calmer and sweeter. I'm just curious, I thought remove the testes, remove bad behavior...have you experienced differently?

This is not entirely true. Even when neutered, most male mammals will still act on their instincts to mate. Male dogs who have been neutered will still mate with females when they are in heat, they just can't impregnate them, ditto with male cats. Chinchillas are no different. A male will still attempt to mate with a female in estrus, which can be dangerous as she may fight his advances, and he will still fight with another male to gain mating rights.

Nibblesmama...huh? Who was jumping on who?

You should know that chinchillas do not do well under anesthesia, it is more risky than for other mammals, because anesthesia can affect their respiratory system and their ability to regulate body temperature. So, my rule is never to allow surgery on a chinchilla unless it is absolutely necessary. I know people who have had neuters done on their chins, and that's fine. I just figure, why take the risk? If I had a pair that was very well-bonded and was afraid to separate them, then I would consider it. But since your chins are already living separately, it would seem like purely your preference for them to be together.

 

[tunes]

Nibblesmama - You are way out of line. Nobody in this thread has been anything but informative. There was not a single bit of harshness in this thread. Opinions were asked for and they were given. End of story.

We have rules against self-policing. Please review the FAQ's to be sure you understand what they are.

 

[Easterpiggy]

I personally have learned a lot. I wouldnt have thought that they still have the urge. I actully think that is kinda comical

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

Sorry to be so late seeing this, and perhaps you've made your decision, but I always like to jump in and relate my experience with neutering.

I have had 3 males neutered, all by Dr. Kevin Fizgerald, of Animal Planet fame. He is an Exotic specialist and knows what he's doing and recommended it in all 3 instances.

When Mr. Whiskers and Baby were first introduced and accepted/bonded with each other, they lived together happily for over a year. One day I came home from work and found Baby badly beaten and basically bald on most of his back.

At that time, we went immediately to the vet and Dr. Fitzgerald said that bonded males can still turn on each other even after living together for years with no problems. He suggested having them both neutered to reduce the testosterone levels and see if that solved the problem.

Well, since they both went through it together, they recovered together and were glad to have each other with whom to snuggle. They both had only minor complications from the surgery and as I jokingly say, they spent most of their time snuggling and grooming each other, baking pies and sharing recipes!!!

When Baby died, I decided to get Mr. Whiskers another buddy. The Snuggler did fine with him, since he was a baby and Whiskers was neutered, until The Snuggler reached puberty. He started challenging Whiskers, and I recognized the signs of trouble brewing.

I didn't waste a second making an apointment to have The Snuggler neutered as well. Dr. Fitzgerald agreed that was the best plan and uttered one of my all-time favorite quotes, "Man, those testicles are nothing but trouble!!!" I laughed and asked him if he was speaking from experience and he just smiled and chuckled!!!

Snuggler recovered without incident, and he and Whiskers are now the snuggling, grooming, pie baking, recipe sharing bonded pair of my dreams.

As we have seen recently on this forum, that can change in a moment, so it's important to always have an emergency cage available.

I remain ever vigilant for any signs of aggression on the part of either of them...

 

[nibblesmama]

"Man, those testicles are nothing but trouble!!!"

:laughitup: Kevin is a hoot! I've worked with him many times with my animal rescue, but don't use him for the chinnies.

There's always going to be that thing where they compete...it's nature. Agreed on the spare cage thing!!

 

[ticklechin]

I have a neutered male who goes as nuts when the female goes into heat as the rest of the males do, so he still has the urge.