New Chinparent!

[Sarah419]

I recently bought two male chinchillas from some people online. They had bought them for their children but didn't want them anymore. I'm not for sure if they got everything that they needed nutritionally or emotionally. I'm trying to learn everything and make them as happy as possible. So any information is helpful. They are a father and a son. (That's what I was told) I'm curious about with them both being male if they are okay to be in the same cage. It seems that the baby is always picking on the dad. They have a large cage so I don't think space is the problem but I could be wrong. Also it seems the dad is, for a lack of a better word, molting. It looks like he could possibly be loosing some hair in patches. I have read that they need certain vitamins and minerals. Could that be Why he Is loosing hair? I was also curious on how to tell the sex of them. It looks the baby could be trying to mount the dad. I thought it could possibly be a dominance thing or maybe the dad could be a female since I'm just going off of what the previous owners told me. Any information or point in the right direction would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Amethyst]

Your best bet for info is doing a search on the forum here for whatever you are looking for. Most questions have already be answers several times so you can get more answers off multiple threads to most things. Then ask specific questions if you can't find the answer or need clarification on something. For basics chins need fresh clean water (filtered of bottled) in a water bottle, a good quality pellet only food (mazuri, oxbow, tradition, to name a few), and unlimited hay. They are of similar intelligence to a parrot, so need daily interaction and toys to keep from getting bored. They also need to chew all the time so need plenty to chew on too. Cage size should be minimum 2'x2'x3' for a pair, but bigger is always better to allow them their own space.

As for losing patches of fur it could be fur slips, a chin's natural defense when threatened or scared is to shed clumps of fur. If you could post pics that can help too, other issue can be simply shedding or fur biting depending on what it looks like. Being two males doesn't make any difference as to whether they will get along or not, it's personality not sex that matters there. Not all chins like company, you'll have to make sure they aren't fighting, chins can and will fight to the death so need to be separated if fighting. Fur slips caused in the cage when it's just them is a bad sign, it normally indicates fighting. How old are the chins? Chins go through puberty around 6 months old, and can be as temperamental as a human teen during that time. It's not uncommon for fights to happen if you end up with two dominate chins trying to decide who is boss. Sometimes it does happen that previously bonded pairs end up not wanting to be cage mates anymore and need to be separated, especially when one or both goes through puberty (though sometimes it's for no apparent reason).
For sexing the chins check out this link http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16956 If you are still confused try to post a pic and we can help.

 

[Chinmama]

The dad could just be shedding. Marble looks horrible right now with little tufts of hair sticking out everywhere. If it's shedding, you shouldn't be able to see any patches of skin exposed. The new hair just grows in and pushes the old hair out.