Paranoid owner- introducing chinchillas?

[Caitlin3219]

I've had my boy Buddy for about 8 months now, he's a little over a year old. He's always been very curious, if he's in his play pen and one of my friendly cats come near the pen, he always runs over to the cat (he's held back by the pen of course) and acts like he just wants to play.

So, we recently got him a brother (Meeko) who is 10 weeks old. We've slowly been getting the two to smell each other, doing things such as swapping their blankets, letting buddy sniff Meeko's cage, etc. Meeko has always reacted by making tiny happy squeaks, though I haven't heard Buddy make a sound yet.

So earlier today while buddy was having his play time, I let him go up to Meeko's cage to sniff him. They both went up to the wire on the cage and started sniffing at each other's noses. It seemed like Buddy was either biting the wire, or nipping at Meeko. Meeko never squeaked like he was in pain, didn't draw blood, and didn't even run away from Buddy, he would just jump then go back to sniffing his nose.

Is this okay behavior? I don't want Buddy to be hurting Meeko, and buddy had repeatedly done this every time I tried to get them to meet. Can someone help me out?? Maybe have a better way to get them to meet??

 

[tunes]

Try clipping off Buddy's whiskers. make them short, leave maybe half an inch. Be sure you have him held securely while you do this and point the scissors away from his eyes. I keep a pair of short, blunt child scissors here just for doing this. I have no idea why, but when I have a difficult intro with males, this seems to knock the aggression right out of them. See what happens after you do that. I would not, however, introduce Meeko until he is older. Right now, Buddy could seriously hurt him because of the size/age difference. Let them meet each other through the bars, put their cages up next to each other, maybe try play time together when Meeko is 3 or 4 months old, but only supervised with you in the area where you can pull them apart instantly.

Not all chins want or need a buddy. Chins who have been alone for long periods can be harder to introduce to a cage mate. You can try to introduce them, but just keep in mind that there is no guarantee it will ever take.

 

[Caitlin3219]

Thank you so much! I will try doing that, and will hold off on letting them meet until Meeko is older.

 

[Godofgods]

I generally dont recommend holding one chin up to the bars of anothers cage. That can often make the caged chin become territorial and aggressive. Even when placing two cages next to each other you should leave a good 6 inches between them because they have been know to do harm even through the bars. - When it comes time for face to face meeting, a neutral area is best.

also fyi; please dont let a cat near your chin. Even through bars, a cat could swipe at a chin. It only takes one swipe to kill a chin. Or a cat can pass along parasites like pasteurella that might cause a cat or rabbit no harm but could be fatal to a chin.

 

[Caitlin3219]

Thank you for your concern! My cat was de-clawed when we got her, but even so, whenever I see that she wanders in the room when he is playing I quickly shoo her off and close the door. I just noticed he would always perk up when she came in the door.