Chipmunk cannibalism - normal or not?

[Sophie]

I've been keeping an unrelated male & female pair since early-mid June - both were eight weeks old when I got them, from breeders on opposite sides of the country. When I first got them, the male used to chase the female around, and so I got them a new cage, which was the territory of neither of them, and within a week they had settled down completely. About seven weeks ago, the female began to chase around and attack the male, and I nearly split them up - but then they calmed down again, and I've had no trouble since.

This morning, I went to feed them, and only one (the male) emerged from the nest box that they share. I rattled the treat box, and when the female didn't emerge, I got worried and opened up the nest box by sliding up the wooden plank at the end. There, I found the female dead - and half-eaten: all that was left of her was her tail, and her back legs.

Is this normal? I saw them both just two days ago, and have reasons to believe that at least she may have been ill this past week or so, but I was out most of yesterday, and when I came home again I didn't spend any time with them, as I had too many things to do. So the male chipmunk has eaten the female either last night, yesterday, or the late night before that. I don't know whether or not he killed her, or whether her potential-illness did. Help?

[Gilly]

Woooh! That must have been horrible to find her like that. I've read the Males eat new born baby chippies sometimes, but I never really thought they ate meat. Sorry about your loss.
Was you thinking of getting anymore? It's maybe best to get 2 females to keep him in his place.

[tarcus/Kevin]

Its possible she died before he ate her but don't count on it, did you feed them enough?
I ask this as most people I know adhere to a strict regime of feeding X amounts of food to their chips which personally I find is not altogether correct as they will forage continually especially during autumn and stash up for winter so i prefer to make sure they have more than enough within their cages (aviary) so that i could leave them alone for up to 72 hours knowing they would have enough to eat.
As for chips eating meat, I made the mistake once of putting some zebra finches in an aviary for safe keeping over night only to awaken in the morning to feathers and well fed chips.

[Doghouse135]

I suspect that she was ill and died, he then ate her.

Wild rodents eat others within the group that have died to avoid attracting predators to the area.  Guinea pigs do it frequently if one of their babies is sick or stillborn and many others do too.

I had a chip once that died and his brother bit him ferociously to try and rouse him - not realising he was dead.  We obviously took the dead chippie out before he got eaten but this is quite common.

Having said that, chippies that do not get on can fight to the death and it's a very fine line between letting them settle down together and taken one out before it gets out of hand.

I'm still relatively new to chippies, so hopefully one of the more experienced members of the forum can give you some more insight into what went wrong.

[Nate]

Sorry to read that Sophie , what a horrible thing to find. I tend to agree with tarcus on feeding, providing there is a varied diet it is hard to give a chipmunk too much food, in that mine never seem to binge on food (except worms if they could get to the tub). Most of their time is spent storing food, and pinching each others to store. When setting up a brand new aviary I think it's important to allow the chipmunks to build up good stores of food, especially for chipmunks kept outdoors.

It could have been a fight over food, or more likely in this case because the female fell ill.

Two of my females had a fight, with one losing the tip of her tail. The other female I found chewing on the lost tip of the others tail like she had a trophy. It's said in the wild they can catch and eat anything up to the size of a mouse.

I also think it's OK for them to be left on their own for a couple of days. I think if they are established in their home and you've had them a while, leaving them access to two of more water sources and plenty of food it should be OK. No one can watch their chipmunks every hour of the day, and a fight can only last a couple of minutes. When I go away I used to worry more about the person who I asked to check on them, as I don't know anyone else with chipmunk experience where I live, so now I prefer they are one their own. I think from what you describe in that things had settled down, it was safe to assume their were not going to be any serious fights between your two. Doghouse135 is right, it's a fine line we all tread, and no one can ever be 100% sure. The only thing an owner can do is provide them with the biggest aviary they can with as many hiding places and escape routes in the aviary. Steve's also right if you're thinking of replacing, it will probably have to be one of more females.

Sorry for your loss  Sophie, it is still very unusual so don't let it put you off or blame yourself.

[Milzer007]

This has also happened to me. I have lost a female and a male through cannibalism. I have made sure there is plenty of food and the aviary has plenty of escape routes and places to hide and stuff. Wish I knew why this has happened as I feel like I have done something wrong with their care.