The chinchillas

At present, I have two chins in my life: Spank, a standard, and Monkey, a beige, 2 year old brothers.

I found these guys at my local Pets at Home - a little sign stickied above the chins there said '2 males for rehoming out back, ready in a week' or words to that effect. Unfortunately I had my new housemate with me - her favourite animals are chinchillas. What do you know? A week later...

They are lovely boys, they really are - very inquisitive and they love their treats. Sadly their brotherly love did not last; shortly after I got my first degu girls, Monkey decided he did not like Spank anymore and attacked him rather badly. Poor Spank had a bald back and still has a lot of scars and a ghole in his ears. They've been separate since, and Monkey has today gone in to be castrated in the hopes of calming his aggression a touch so I can find him a new friend. Spank has been a darling all the way through - he never so much as squeaked a word against his brother to defend himself, just hid or took the attack without moving. At the moment he's living with two of my degu girls (the other two are being introduced at the mo, they are newish), but he will get a new friend too soon.

Both boys - and all my goos - live in a newly custom-built, fitted cage at the end of my kitchen - floor to ceiling, four cages all of roughly 4ft x 4ft x 22". The build was inspired by Lemur, my irritating, infuriating, lovely little escapee goo who insisted on sitting on top of the old cages where I couldn't get her. Her escapades have cost her half a tail so far so for her safety and my sanity, the Chingoo Mansion was created. Pictures will follow!

But I digress. At present, all is calm; once Monkey's hormones are in check I will be on the lookout for a new friend, assuming he still hates his brother (as he most likely will). In the meantime, I have offered to start fostering some chin boys for a nearby rescue; I have a large cage spare so I can help out some chins in need, and I might just find the ideal companions for S&M in the process.