Chinchilla with a silkie-big no no or workable???

[danischi24]

I am getting a young chinchilla tomorrow & have a double story hutch (1/4 inch wire floor) with my 9 month old European bantam silkie pullet in it. Could I put them together as I would rather that neither stayed exclusively on the bottom story to get messed on by the other one? The chinchilla could go down to the bottom to avoid the silkie as she wont go down the ladder & lives on the top story. The hutch is about 3.3ft by just over half that & has 2 stories.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

I'm not sure. How big is your Silkie's top knot?! If she can't see well because of it, I would say it might work. Otherwise, she might view him/her as a rodent and chickens like to eat those!

 

[sanctuaryworker]

also with chinchillas you have to be very careful, they prefer the cold because of their thick coats and they will also fight to the death, and or kill other chinchillas, I dont know if that attitude will spread to chickens or not. Also chins need a very strict diet, so you will have to come up with a plan to keep him away from the chickens feed.

Just a few things to think about. Good Luck I love my chin!

 

[danischi24]

My biggest concern is whether the chinchilla will be aggressive to my silkie. She is a bit nuts & should leave it alone & it will be a youngster but I really need advice on how it will behave to her-I don't want to take unnecessary risks-she is my darling. It would be nicer for them both if they lived together space wise though.

 

[sanctuaryworker]

thats kind of what we went through we rescued our chinchilla about a year ago, and we were looking for another chinchi for him, but then when we did the research and learned how aggressive they are we decided to keep him by himself. He seems happy with that.

So I would be careful... just to be on the safe side for both of them.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Silkies are dumb enough, you could probably trick it. lol just watch them carefully for the first week.

 

[bigkford]

you also have to watch and make sure you do not get the chinchilla wet. They don't dry out and they mold. They have to have valcano dust to bath in. I have three myself

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:
For real? They don't dry? Ever? That is WEIRD! Like sloths being so slow they grow mold and stuff on them.

 

[bigkford]

Quote:
For real? They don't dry? Ever? That is WEIRD! Like sloths being so slow they grow mold and stuff on them.

Yes for real their hair is so fine and thick that air does not get done between the folicles and it actually grows mold in there. That is why they have to have the volcano dust to bath in. But they are well worth the investment. My kids take ours for walks and stuff. We also use them for school when they study animals in science class.

Kim

 

[SheriM]

I'm not so sure about that wire floor, either. I know a quarter inch is small, but chinnie's feet are really tiny and slender, and with the way they like to bounce around, getting a foot caught and breaking a leg could be a big issue.