Hi all, I hope you guys don't mind me gatecrashing your forum for some advice. I've read practically everything I can find on introducing chins and chin behaviour and although I think I've got the basics there is a lot of conflicting and counter-intuitive advice out there. I'd appreciate it if someone a bit more experienced was able to take the time to read this and offer their thoughts:
My first chin, Zeus, was an adoption from a chain petstore - his cagemate died and the shop couldn't sell him after quite a few months so they put him up for adoption. The staff definitely cared but didn't handle him perfectly and didn't have enough time for him so he was a bit neglected. We take on rescue animals from time to time so we're used to odd behaviour (odder than neglected chainstore pets) but he is our first Chin.
We got him home and got a bit of trust going with him. We spent time in the day with him and although he still hates being picked up he is happy to sit on my head and groom me and seemed happy and pleased with his new home. We can't be with him all the time so we always hoped to get him a partner. He always seemed a bit lonely: we took the cat in once to try and remove some of the mystery from the room (to stop him trying to get in all the time) and Zeus just sat up, grabbed some food and tried to feed the cat through the bars of his cage!
So after about six months alone with us step forward Chin 2, Hades, who is about 14 weeks old. We got him from a registered breeder who advised just shoving them both in a neutral cage and letting them work it out themselves while staying on hand in case it went wrong. We decided not to do that. They both have their own cage currently at either end of their bedroom.
At playtime we let them both out in a room together and they were pretty much ok. They ignored each other for a bit, bathed and bounced around - then they started paying a bit of attention to each other. We had expected Zeus to be dominant and no surprises - he was although it was Hades who approached first. Zeus was very affectionate and followed Hades around a bit, groomed him and of course tried mounting. Hades was a little overwhelmed and (rather understandably) hid and squeaked disapproval. We gently steered Zeus away when we could see Hades getting crowded and then popped Hades back in his cage and let Zeus make his own way home.
Day 2 was the same again except with quicker contact, more grooming and more failed attempts at mounting with Hades shooting off like a bullet every time Zeus tried it. He would always happily come back though. After a while there was a loud protest a very brief scuffle and mutual grumbling - there was no blood or slipped fur but it looked to us like there had been an attempted bite. It was so quick we couldn't work out who it was but we separated them immediately.
Day 3 we let one out at a time. Zeus first and he did his usual tour of the room. then went to the other cage. The sniffed through the wire and made contact sounds at each other but after a while Hades became a bit restless and defensive of his area. We moved Zeus back from him and despite a few clever tries to get back to the cage he finished his runabout and went home.
Next we let Hades out. I made sure I paid loads of attention to Zeus when he was coming out and carried on talking to him. Zeus got a bit frustrated and was jumping around a lot. There was a bit of teeth chattering at me but mostly just bouncing, scrabbling at the cage door and contact noises.
Now here's the dodgy bit: my interpretation. I think that Zeus is actually very friendly but just a bit overwhelming. I don't know Hades well enough yet to say more than 'he doesn't like being pestered too much'.
Our plan, such as it is, is to let them out separately for another night or two in the hope that Hades gets a bit more confidence and Zeus calms down and then try joint playtime again. What worries me is that I might be completely misreading the situation or even actually turning them against each other by making them jealous. Does anyone have any thoughts they are able to share?
Thank you so much and sorry for the long post.
My first chin, Zeus, was an adoption from a chain petstore - his cagemate died and the shop couldn't sell him after quite a few months so they put him up for adoption. The staff definitely cared but didn't handle him perfectly and didn't have enough time for him so he was a bit neglected. We take on rescue animals from time to time so we're used to odd behaviour (odder than neglected chainstore pets) but he is our first Chin.
We got him home and got a bit of trust going with him. We spent time in the day with him and although he still hates being picked up he is happy to sit on my head and groom me and seemed happy and pleased with his new home. We can't be with him all the time so we always hoped to get him a partner. He always seemed a bit lonely: we took the cat in once to try and remove some of the mystery from the room (to stop him trying to get in all the time) and Zeus just sat up, grabbed some food and tried to feed the cat through the bars of his cage!
So after about six months alone with us step forward Chin 2, Hades, who is about 14 weeks old. We got him from a registered breeder who advised just shoving them both in a neutral cage and letting them work it out themselves while staying on hand in case it went wrong. We decided not to do that. They both have their own cage currently at either end of their bedroom.
At playtime we let them both out in a room together and they were pretty much ok. They ignored each other for a bit, bathed and bounced around - then they started paying a bit of attention to each other. We had expected Zeus to be dominant and no surprises - he was although it was Hades who approached first. Zeus was very affectionate and followed Hades around a bit, groomed him and of course tried mounting. Hades was a little overwhelmed and (rather understandably) hid and squeaked disapproval. We gently steered Zeus away when we could see Hades getting crowded and then popped Hades back in his cage and let Zeus make his own way home.
Day 2 was the same again except with quicker contact, more grooming and more failed attempts at mounting with Hades shooting off like a bullet every time Zeus tried it. He would always happily come back though. After a while there was a loud protest a very brief scuffle and mutual grumbling - there was no blood or slipped fur but it looked to us like there had been an attempted bite. It was so quick we couldn't work out who it was but we separated them immediately.
Day 3 we let one out at a time. Zeus first and he did his usual tour of the room. then went to the other cage. The sniffed through the wire and made contact sounds at each other but after a while Hades became a bit restless and defensive of his area. We moved Zeus back from him and despite a few clever tries to get back to the cage he finished his runabout and went home.
Next we let Hades out. I made sure I paid loads of attention to Zeus when he was coming out and carried on talking to him. Zeus got a bit frustrated and was jumping around a lot. There was a bit of teeth chattering at me but mostly just bouncing, scrabbling at the cage door and contact noises.
Now here's the dodgy bit: my interpretation. I think that Zeus is actually very friendly but just a bit overwhelming. I don't know Hades well enough yet to say more than 'he doesn't like being pestered too much'.
Our plan, such as it is, is to let them out separately for another night or two in the hope that Hades gets a bit more confidence and Zeus calms down and then try joint playtime again. What worries me is that I might be completely misreading the situation or even actually turning them against each other by making them jealous. Does anyone have any thoughts they are able to share?
Thank you so much and sorry for the long post.
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