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Miscellaneous |
Daisy & Baby DillAt the beginning of this year (2004) a 5 month old castrated chinchilla called Baby was looking for a home. Whilst I wasn't actively seeking another addition to my chinny family, he was in a rodent rescue near me and being castrated he sounded ideal as a friend for Daisy. Daisy came to me at 1 year old in 2003 from the breeder Lizz Benson she'd needed a caesarean when she had her first litter, could not be allowed to have further litters, so she needed a pet home. Daisy is a large chin with a super temperament and definitely a chin of character and attitude The advice is always to quarantine new chins no matter where they have come from, though the length of time, varies depending who you talk to from two to six weeks, my advisor suggested three weeks so Baby, now Baby Dill, had my small spare cage in the hallway for that period. I actually found this time useful, while acting quiet and coy when I opened the door to visit him I could hear him (and see the evidence) playing with his toys and racing round his cage so long as he thought I wasn't looking. I also found he got used to me as a friend (and food source). Quarantine over he joined us in my main room, I'd bought a new cage for them and decided to see how they would act on neutral territory. Daisy immediately pounced on him and although she showed no aggression I wasn't taking any chances, specially as she is twice his size, I popped her back in her cage and decided on the slow, cages side by side, method. In their cages they showed no aggression towards each other (I don't think Dill knows how to be aggressive) so we advanced to letting them out together. It was a stressful time, Daisy would chase and Dill run, sometimes he seemed to relish the chase sometimes I felt he got stressed and often I ended up putting one or other in their cage. I'd started off letting them out for runs daily then dropped that to two or three times a week to give Dill some quality play time without any hassle. I actually reached a point where I felt I was never going to get them together and was considering admitting defeat and replacing Daisy's old cage when we had a major breakthrough. Daisy came into season! Now she was very amenable to Dill and he seemed ignorant of the fact he was castrated. Suddenly we had Dill chasing Daisy and she was more than happy to be caught :) at going in time both headed for Dill's cage. They had a couple of hours together that night, the following night they were still best mates and I risked leaving them together in Dill's cage. End of story they have been the best of friends (and conspirators in trouble making) ever since   See Azure Chinchillas - how do I pair my chinchillas up? Update June 2006 - Sadly Dill left us in february after a short mystery illness Dill's turn for a vet visit |
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