New cagemate?

[randro]

Should i get a new cagemate for kiwi? She is a female mosaic and im think another female would be good so she doesnt get to bored while im sleeping or at school.

For color i was thinking a ebony because i think it would be awsome to have a white and a black chin.

I currently have a ferret nation 142 cage and am in the process of filling with stuff.

Also kiwi is 3 months and i read somewhere that adult chins get along better with babies so i was wondering if i should get an adult chin.

 

[alli713]

It's really hit or miss if you'll be able to get another chin to get along with your current chin. Some chins don't like other chins.

Are you prepared to have two cages should they decide to not like each other? Or would you be willing to separate the FN cage so that they can stay separated if they don't like each other?

Most chins are fine on their own, it's not an absolute necessity to have a playmate. But some chins do like having a buddy, it just depends on the chin and you never really know until you try.

For me, out of the 5 chins I own, I've only had 2 successful intros out of the attempted 5 intros. And these were a mix of adults with babies and babies with babies.

 

[randro]

Yeah i would be willing to seperate the FN cage, and from your successful intros it sounds like a baby in the mix has been the key, does it help if they were raised with other chins at birth to 8 weeks?

 

[alli713]

The two successful intros I did have were a young chin with adult, yes. But I've also heard of successful intros with two babies, and even two adults. I think with younger chins it is a bit easier since they aren't used to living alone and may not have the dominance issues. The two babies that I had intro'd with the adults did not live with other young chins before I took them that I know of.

 

[EveningChin]

Alli713 is right its the luck of the draw. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I've only intro'd once and that was with two chins under 6 months and there were no hiccups. Since Kiwi is still so young I would get another baby. Let them age together...

 

[Cloverr]

My boyfriend purchased my chin from a petstore. My chin had a friend, but my boyfriend only bought the one. When I learned of it- I went to the store to ask questions; I know chins can grow quite depressed if they get seperated from their companion. They said that his friend was not raised with him, and that they origionally did not get along, but they grew to be friendly towards each other. Since their seperation, my chin has not shown any signs of depression, he is actually quite friendly, and we've been bonding quite well. Unfortunatly I do not know how old he is, the store my boyfriend purchased him from did not know

I mention all this with reason...
I've wondered about getting him another friend. Do you think that since he bonded well in the past, he would do so again? Or is it completely random? I just wonder if maybe since he was paired with a chin and it went well, maybe Buddy is a friendly chin? I'm simply throwing thoughts out there, would greatly appreciate the opinions of those with more chin-bonding experience. And yes, I do have room for an extra cage if they need to be housed seperately, I was just looking for some insight

 

[Ash]

It can be completely random. I have one female who was housed successfully with another female at the humane society. When I tried to pair her with other females, she was very aggressive.

Another member on here, Stackie, has had housing "issues" as well. Her chin, Smudge, was housed with another male at one point. When that male died, she couldn't get him to bond with other chinchillas for the longest time. She finally got Smudge to bond with another male, and then Smudge attacked his new cagemate who he was initially living perfectly fine with. It's all very very random... It makes sense to them though!

 

[randro]

THe only reason is that she looks a little depressed

 

[Mystic]

I have a mosaic male who is about 2.5 years old, and more recently I bought a **** ebony who is about 8 months old now. They were both housed with other male chinchillas at one point in time, but with my mosaic being the aggressor they just didn't get along. I only tried intro's for about a month and gave up because they both seemed stressed out.
I guess it just depends on the chinchillas and the time, patience and work you are willing to put into the introductions.