Trying to introduce two female chinchillas and they are fighting, is that normal?

[seahorse02]

I have 2 chinchillas that I am hoping to make cage mates my first female is 6 months old and the other is 3 yrs old both are very friendly. We have had them beside each other for a week now cages not to close though. Last night we let them out together in the livingroom to meet each other they mostly stayed away from each other but when they did get close my youngest one would like try to attack my older one. In total they started about 5 mini fights in about a 20 minute span and i kept just putting a barrier to break the fight. Is this normal when introducing chins? or does anyone have some suggestions to help me? Thank you

 

[Happened2me]

Yes this is very normal, and this my seem surprising but females are far more territorial and aggressive to other chins than the males. I would leave their cages close together for at least another week before introducing them again. You may have to repeat this process multiple times. It is often very hard to introduce 2 females that haven’t been raised together. And these chins may never get along. But don’t give up, be patient, but if after a month or so if they’re still not getting along you may want to either continue to keep them in separate cages or re-home one and get a neutered male instead. The likeliness of 2 females getting along are very low, 2 males would be ideal. But since your attached to at least one of your females you should get a neutered male because they are much more likely to get along.