Hi,

I recently took in 5 chinchillas and I am hoping that you guys can offer me some advise on housing them. I did a lot of research to the point of getting conflicting views on most things but felt confident I could offer them what they needed and work out the little things on an individual basis! Now I have a hurdle to get over before I can start because of the living arrangements...

This is what I can tell you: I have 2 pairs, 1 with a baby. Sooty and Sweep are the parents with a 2(?) week old baby, Charlie and Lola are the other pair and Charlie is Sooty and Sweep's son from last year. The pairs are currently in 2 seperate cages and, although they are larger cages than I expected, my aim is to get them in as large a cage as I can manage. My predicament involves the viability of having them all live together.

Can they all be housed together? Will having them neutered make it easier for them to live together? Will having them live together threaten the baby? Will I have to remove the baby once he is 8 weeks and potentially have another set up or can he stay?

Obviously my budget would much better suit 1 big cage rather than splitting it between several smaller so if I am looking at 3 seperate set ups money and space may not allow. I really don't want to have to put another chinchilla on the market and so if it is at all possible to keep them together I would appreciate any instruction.

Apologies for the length of the post but I am new to this and wanted to give enough info for somebody to feel they could help.

Thanks.

The males need to be seperated from the females asap although the females may already be pregnant. Good breeders do not leave different sex pairs together all of the time although it does not often occur to the general public to seperate them. Chinchillas have a major hereditary problem called Malloclusion where the root of a tooth may contoinue to grow and grow causing death eventually. Good breeders try to only breed from Chins whose history is known and then only from non-maloccluding lines. Malloclusion may sometimes be detected by an expert examining the jaw but more often that not an xray is required. The baby should be removed at 8 weeks if it is a male and can normally be placed with an adult male. He can then be rehomed at about 12 weeks old. If the males are neutered they will still need to be apart from the females for 6 weeks and even then, only one neutered male can be kept in a cage as they will still fight other neutered or un-neutered males in the same cage.

Just one cage will not be a possibility with more than one male for the reasons stated previously. I have 2 neutered males. One lives with 3 females and the other lives with 2 females. Introductions between chins who have never lived together before can also be fraught with difficulties unless you know how to do it. Here is a website to help you further. (It also has an excellent forum to join where they will help you further) Chinchilla World

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Thanks for the information. I did read about malloclusion along with a couple of other things and have managed to find a vet for exotics reasonably close so am planning on having them checked over just as soon as I can.

Sorry, I didn't think to say but I do not intend to breed from them, if that makes any difference.

I rescued a group of four chinchillas a couple of years ago which consisted of parents and their off-spring. Both males had been castrated, but they were constantly arguing and both were badly fur chewed. They were living in a cage no bigger than I would keep a pair in.

Once I separated them into pairs (male/female) the fur chewing ended.

I have always been able to keep several females together (with or without a male), but I was told 2 males should never be housed together near females. I have never tested out the theory so I can't say whether it's true or just another chinchilla myth (years ago I was told two females could not live together without killing each other)

John Hopewell makes cages to suit everyone's needs - and will even make them to your own requirements
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Malcolm

http://kirksandallchins.webs.com/index.htm

I appreciate your help. It is so hard to know what to do for the best. I am trying to learn, but when each article or book you read says something diiferent to the last it can become quite confusing!

Congratulations on your new additions

Sorry but you will not be able to keep 2 pairs together in one cage. For starters you would end up with females having kits every 111 days which can lead to all sorts of health problems for the poor females and their offspring Caroline has already mentioned one; malocclusion

I would suggest you phone around and find an exotic vet with experience of castrating males as a matter of urgency, you will probably find the females are already pregnant so your numbers could rise quite quickly in a few months .
After the males have had the op you need to keep them in a separate cage next to the female for a minimum of 8 weeks until they are no longer fertile.

You single male kit needs removing from mum at the age of 8 weeks, they have been known to mate with a female as young as 12 weeks so please dont take the risk of inbreeding.

There is alot of conflicting advise on the internet unless you know where to look. However you would be more than welcome at ChinsRus - Chinchilla rescue and forum where we have members with many years of experience of keeping chins .

Chins are adorable, inquisitive animals and once you have learnt more I am sure you will do the best by them

I have had chins for 12 1/2 yrs and rescued for 7yrs now so If I can help/answer any questions or steer you in the right direction please feel free to get in touch

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Chinchilla rescue and rehoming http://www.chinsrus.co.uk