Aquaphobia
- #1
As some of you may know, I had a death in the fur-family. One of my chinchillas passed away from the same symptoms as her immediate family. They had been rescues and my first chins so it wasn't unexpected but devastating nonetheless.
That left her cagemate alone and with chinchillas that can be deadly. Chinchillas do grieve and if they were particularly close the one remaining may die by refusing to eat. So I made arrangements for a chinchilla play date at my friend's house and brought 2 of my own single chins; the newly "widowed" girl, Nugget, and one who was extremely difficult to pair in the first place but formed an incredibly strong bond with the mother of the chin who recently died named Coco. Coco really went downhill after that death but her personality makes it hard to find friends. She barks and sprays at almost all other chinchillas!
So, play date yesterday I took those 2 girls in separate carriers to my friend's house. Best case scenario for me would have been to get those two together. They did tolerate each other in the neutral territory but it was clear they would not be friends. There were 2 other girls running with them and Coco surprised me by running around seeming to enjoy the company of these two new chinchillas! Nugget tolerated them but reacted angrily to Coco getting too close and mostly just kept to herself.
One of those new girls is closely related to Nugget so at the end of a couple of hours I decided to take that one home since Nugget didn't outright reject her. I stayed up late to keep an eye on them and though there was no actual trouble it was clear that it was not a good match. I was afraid that I was going to have to return her to my friend in defeat but since Coco had shown some interest in her during the play date I tried to reintroduce them. Instantly Coco was up on her hind legs barking and spraying! OK, scratch that. But as I moved to put her back in with Nugget for the night I noticed Zoey looking oddly intent.
Now Zoey is also a single but one with a history of disliking all other chinchillas. I couldn't find anyone she liked and her last home had the same problem. She loves people though! I've never seen this look on her face before so I held the new girl up to the bars and Zoey didn't bark, instead she tried to lick!!!
So I introduced them! Sure enough Zoey went right to work grooming the head and ears of the new girl and that's a pretty sure sign of bonding and acceptance among chinchillas. I was shocked! I never even thought of taking Zoey to the play date because I expected trouble from her. I slept on the couch near the cage in case there was trouble in the night but things seem to be going well and I've never seen Zoey so happy
This is why I'm getting grey hairs...
That left her cagemate alone and with chinchillas that can be deadly. Chinchillas do grieve and if they were particularly close the one remaining may die by refusing to eat. So I made arrangements for a chinchilla play date at my friend's house and brought 2 of my own single chins; the newly "widowed" girl, Nugget, and one who was extremely difficult to pair in the first place but formed an incredibly strong bond with the mother of the chin who recently died named Coco. Coco really went downhill after that death but her personality makes it hard to find friends. She barks and sprays at almost all other chinchillas!
So, play date yesterday I took those 2 girls in separate carriers to my friend's house. Best case scenario for me would have been to get those two together. They did tolerate each other in the neutral territory but it was clear they would not be friends. There were 2 other girls running with them and Coco surprised me by running around seeming to enjoy the company of these two new chinchillas! Nugget tolerated them but reacted angrily to Coco getting too close and mostly just kept to herself.
One of those new girls is closely related to Nugget so at the end of a couple of hours I decided to take that one home since Nugget didn't outright reject her. I stayed up late to keep an eye on them and though there was no actual trouble it was clear that it was not a good match. I was afraid that I was going to have to return her to my friend in defeat but since Coco had shown some interest in her during the play date I tried to reintroduce them. Instantly Coco was up on her hind legs barking and spraying! OK, scratch that. But as I moved to put her back in with Nugget for the night I noticed Zoey looking oddly intent.
Now Zoey is also a single but one with a history of disliking all other chinchillas. I couldn't find anyone she liked and her last home had the same problem. She loves people though! I've never seen this look on her face before so I held the new girl up to the bars and Zoey didn't bark, instead she tried to lick!!!
So I introduced them! Sure enough Zoey went right to work grooming the head and ears of the new girl and that's a pretty sure sign of bonding and acceptance among chinchillas. I was shocked! I never even thought of taking Zoey to the play date because I expected trouble from her. I slept on the couch near the cage in case there was trouble in the night but things seem to be going well and I've never seen Zoey so happy
This is why I'm getting grey hairs...
