New Chin Owner :)

[AleyFamily]

Hello! My name is Kelly and I just acquired chinchilla's last night! They are the cutest things. One is Zack and the other is Cody, I am a new chin owner and I don't know the tech name for there color. I will take pics and post them later. The boys are between 3-4yrs old and are not that social. I don't think that the person that I got them from spent a lot of time with them or have them out of the cage that much. I am pretty familiar with smaller animals (guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets) I have always had a lot of animals. I was told that they use to be cage mates but then one of the chins started to pull the others hair out. Do you think that it would be a good idea to try to put them back together after a couple of weeks with letting them get to know each other through the cages? They are currently eating Oxbow. They will let me pet them but they make a noise when I do.

Is there any tips to helping get them more socialized?

 

[Kalandra]

Welcome to the forum. I have no tips for you as I am from the hedgehog side, but until someone posts to give you tips, read through the new owners section or do some searches. There is a lot of information on here.

 

[Bethany2386]

It is not a good idea to try to put them back together. I always read on here that once they start fighting, they probably will not stop. Oxbow what? Hay or food or both? They need a good pellet and fresh hay or hay cubes. Just make sure it's only pellets with no extras added. Those are bad foods.

You need to be paitent with them. Chins have an amazing memory. Talk to them in a quiet tone. Do not try to hold them yet. You can pet them if they let you. But just take your time with them. It sounds like they did not have a good life before.

Congrats on your new chins! They are amazing!!!

 

[Brittany]

Do you think that it would be a good idea to try to put them back together after a couple of weeks with letting them get to know each other through the cages?

Welcome to the forum! I've read that if it's just hair pulling there may be a chance to get them to re-bond, however if they drew blood then the friendship is over permanently. I personally had a very bad experience with two boys who were bonded and then ended up fighting at the chin-rescue. When we brought them home we tried to re-bond them and one ended up killing the other. These were our first chins and we were very inexperienced at the time. We've learned a lot from reading this forum, and we now have 3 happy healthy chinnies =) Anyways, if my chins were fighting I wouldn't try to force them to live together. After what I've seen it just isn't worth it to me. Depending on how your boys adjust to their new life there could be potential for joint out-of-cage play time. All of my chins live in separate cages that are right next to each other. The girls share play time and even though they live alone they all seem content because they have ample amounts of chin and human contact.

Congrats on adopting your babies! I love hearing about needy animals finding their forever homes! Give them time and let them warm up to you slowly!! Try hand feeding them healthy snacks like plain cheerios, oats (non-instant), or plain shredded-wheat. At first they'll probably snatch the treat and run away but eventually you might get them to allow you to pet them, they may even climb into your hands. Just make sure you don't over treat them or they'll get sick and/or stop eating. A couple pieces of a snack per week should be ok. We give ours about 1/4 a cheerio a day for good behavior, so it only ends up equaling 2 cheerios per week roughly (sometimes it's hard to resist when they put on their cute faces and start begging).

 

[AleyFamily]

Sorry it was Oxbow Chinchilla Delight, they were also giving them Oxbow Timothy hay.

I am going to switch the hay, we have a pony and horse and I just don't see spending that much on hay when I can buy a bale of timothy for $7.00.

I haven't tried to pick them up yet, I did have one jump on me yesterday though!!!

 

[AleyFamily]

I've read that if it's just hair pulling there may be a chance to get them to re-bond, however if they drew blood then the friendship is over permanently.

When I let them out of the cage, I have been doing it one at a time, they nuzzle each other through the cage. No biting or anything just nuzzling so I hope that that means that with the right amount of time and patient they will be able to be together one day. If not oh well it isn't hat big of a deal.

 

[Brittany]

That is promising! Good luck!

 

[AleyFamily]

How do you post pics?

 

[Bethany2386]

THAT is promising! But don't be shocked if they do fight. I would start them out with playtime together. See how they react for awhile.

I am not sure about the food. Does it have dried pieces of fruit and veggies in it? If so, throw it out. It's no good. And timothy hay bales are fine. Oxbow is expensive. If you read on here there are different types of food that you can get that are much better for your chins. Personally, I use Tradition Chinchilla Feed. I have to get it from a Hubbard feed dealer, but I can get a 50lb bag of feed for 14.00. To me, even if I wasted 25lbs, it's still cheaper than the pet store crap food. Trust me, you will read time and time again how not to trust everything in a pet store that is advertised for chins. I am glad you came to this forum. I know it definately helped me.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask questions here. There are SOOOO many knowledgeable people here!

 

[AleyFamily]

Cody:

Zack:

What colors are they?

 

[Stackie]

The pics are small, but Cody looks like a beige and Zack looks like a black velvet. Cuties!

 

[AleyFamily]

OOPS Brittney I was wrong it is Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe, No dried fruit or veggies just pellets.

 

[AleyFamily]

The pics are small, but Cody looks like a beige and Zack looks like a black velvet. Cuties!

Is this better

Zack:

Cody:

These were the best pics I could get at the time, I am sure once I can hold them I can get some better ones. Cody has a whiteish color on is underside as well.

 

[Stackie]

Much better! I still say they're the colors I previously said. Both have white bellies, right?

 

[AleyFamily]

Much better! I still say they're the colors I previously said. Both have white bellies, right?

Yes they do. Sorry about the small pics. Another forum I use doesn't allow anything bigger then thumbnails.

 

[Brittany]

Yep if they both have white bellies they are beige and black velvet =) Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe is a really good food, that's what my babies eat.

 

[Stackie]

Yes they do. Sorry about the small pics. Another forum I use doesn't allow anything bigger then thumbnails.

Since they both have white bellies, they are for sure a black velvet and a beige.

No problem about the small pics! We love chinnie pics so much here, we don't mind bigger pictures

 

[mishellyshel]

there are adorable. they look just like my 2.........Snickers & Oreo
be patient with them and they will come around. they probably were not paid very much attention to and they just need to get used to all the love you are about to give!

see my boys here:
http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10538

 

[AleyFamily]

there are adorable. they look just like my 2.........Snickers & Oreo
be patient with them and they will come around. they probably were not paid very much attention to and they just need to get used to all the love you are about to give!

see my boys here:
http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10538

They do look alot like your 2 boys.

 

[Bethany2386]

They are super cute. That's good that their food is pellet only! Congrats again! I am so glad that you got these boys!