Overly agressive chin :(

[Sarahelizabethjls]

My Fiancee and I got a chinchilla about 6 months ago. She was 1 1/2 at the time. She was not being taken care of, had minimal human interaction, insufficient food, was living in her dust bath, and didn't even have a name (we have since named her Nala). We have rehabilitated her since then and she has a very healthy diet and plenty of play time. About a month ago we noticed she was constantly trying to get out of her cage. She chews the bars on her cage, and would even nibble our fingers if we opened her cage to pet her. When she is out of the cage she is much nicer, but still doesn't like to be pet. We thought that it might help keep her occupied if we got her a friend, so we got a chin from the local pet store. Luna is much calmer and less active than Nala. They don't mind eachother through the cages, but in close quarters Nala gets extremely aggressive and will attack Luna. We have slowed down the introduction process, but now nalas aggression has gotten so terrible that she even draws blood when she bites my fiancée or me. She is getting worse and we have no idea what to do. PLEASE HELP! I love her and don't want to have to get rid of her!

 

[Stackie]

Does she have a wheel in her cage and plenty of toys? The wheel especially can help her blow off some steam. I have found chins who get a lot of playtime will throw fits when they aren't let out when they want. I had one that broke his teeth chewing on the cage bars because he wanted out all the time. I cut out playtimes and he took the hint eventually, and stopped chewing on the bars.

As for her aggression towards the other chin, it's common. Since she attacks the other chin, I would not attempt introductions any further. I had one chin who was fine with others, then out of the blue attacked and killed his cage mate. From that day on, anything that even resembled a chin would send him into a fury. I had to keep my other chins out of his sight to prevent him from freaking out.

She is probably biting you and your fiance because you brought the newcomer in. I would keep the new chin in a completely separate area of the house and give her some time to see if that calms her down. Make sure you wash your hands between handling them, as the scent of the other chin on you could cause her aggression towards you.

 

[LYChinchillas]

Some chinchillas simply will not get along. That's just the way it is, and it's normal. It is unfortunate, but the safest thing to do is separate them and let them live happy lives apart. Such a shame, too! I have had the same thing happen when I brought in a very docile young ebony... my two mosaic girls share a cage wall (custom cage, no chance of them seeing or touching each other) and they were attempting to verbally abuse her for nearly a month. Since then, they've quieted but if they were to smell her on me, they'll start biting in an angry frenzy. Luckily, the ebony is totally in her own world has less than no idea what's going on - lol!