Thinking about getting another chin!

[cuppidsarrows]

So I have a friend who is giving away his baby chins and I would like to get a cage mate for my chinchilla. I obviously want a girl because I could not handle potential breeding, at the moment. I was just wondering if they would get along, I know that there is always a possibility that they will hate each other and I would have to keep two cages which I'm fine doing because I have a lot of space in that room. But do they normally get along? And does age matter at all, I mean would they be more likely to get along the younger they are? If i do get another one how would I go about integrating them to one cage?

 

[Twilight Chinchillas]

It's always easier when they are babies. It also depends on the animal. I have some very laid back and gentle girls that often wean other female kits with no problems, while others wouldn't be trusted. There are no real quarantees with intros.
Personally I prefer to do intros in the morning, after they have been up all night, and hopefully are exhausted! I put them in a neutral cage, with everything scrubbed down, so no scent of each other, and then put a dust bath inside. I've had pretty good luck this way. Sometimes I have to moosh them together in a small carrier to intermingle their scents onto each other. Do keep in mind this isn't always a guarantee to work either. So having a second cage handy like you mentioned is a good idea.
How old is the chin you already have?

 

[CerLynn]

As long as you're prepared to house them separately if necessary, I don't see a problem (and you will need to house them separately to begin with for the 30-day quarantine period - they will need to kept in separate rooms and you'll need to wash between any contact). There's no real "formula" for picking chins that get along - age may or may not make a difference, since every chin is different. I'm not sure if it applies to girls as much as boys, but I recall hearing that they may need to rework their dominance issues as/after they go through puberty, which may be a factor if the new girl is very young.

There are a few ways to do introductions. The typical method is a gradual one, where you start by putting the cages in the same room and gradually move them closer to each other over the period of a couple weeks. Once they're settled there, you can try cage switching - having them live in each others cage for a few days at a time, which will get them used to the scents. You can then try playtime together - if that goes well for a week or two, they're likely ready to be in a cage together for short (supervised) periods of time - which you can then work up the time. Other methods include "smooshing," in which you place them in a very small cage/carrier for a short period of time (they'll be so close that they cannot really fight and end up bonding instead - this can be risky though), as well as cage-in-cage, where you place one (usually the dominant one) in a small cage/carrier with food/water in the larger cage with the other chin, and leave overnight.

Good luck!

 

[cuppidsarrows]

The that I have is about 2 or 3 months, but I'm not 100% on that because I bought her from the pet store that my boyfriend works at. But they got her at 7 weeks and I bought her about 2 weeks after they received her and have had her for a while now. Thanks for the ideas hopefully my boyfriend is up for having another chin who wouldn't! haha and hopefully it will workout

 

[cuppidsarrows]

2 or 3 months on top of the 8 weeks so about 6 months or so

 

[stampinchick]

Since they would both be so young, hopefulyy it will go smoothly for you. I would really be prepared with a spare cage, even if they seem to be getting along well. You know how those female puberty hormones can be