Deguconvert's Detailed Introductions and Fighting Guide
Aug 10, 2013 10:14:13 GMT
yasmin, klbishop, and 4 more like this
Post by modteam on Aug 10, 2013 10:14:13 GMT
Introduction
It is not healthy or recommended for any degu to be left to live as a single degu. It is the very rare degu that really prefers to be alone, and most will become depressed and ill when left alone for too great a time, some even become neurotic and can develop very strange issues. Symptoms of a depressed or neurotic degu can involve lethargy, constantly moving in circles, development of a head tilt, the degu may remove large portions of their fur, can become aggressive with their owners and begin to attack at any approach, or may even take to self-mutilation. Often we hear from owners of solitary degus that they seem very happy alone and are always very happy to come out of the cage and interact with them. These are degus that are desperate for social contact. Lets face it, not one of us can have our degus out of the cage with us 24 hours of each and every day. We cannot give them the grooming that another degu can give (unless you don't mind getting your teeth full of hair). There are also other aspects of degu society we are unable to perform such as humping, boxing, their forms of communication both vocally and through body language, and their most comforting social activity . . . sleeping atop one another in a pile. These can only be supplied by other degus, and truly, if you want your degu to be all that it can be, he/she needs other degu companions to share life with. If you are able to find another little one or two of the same sex as the single degu to introduce to it, it will be best for you all. I would be remiss if I didn't also tell you that another option for a single male degu, would be to have him neutered and introduce him to a couple of young females, which can sometimes be the easier introduction.
Personalities
Introductions require a great commitment to patience, determination, and time. Males to males can be the most difficult of introductions take on, but there are female to female introductions that can be just as difficult if the females involved are strong alpha leaders. In fact, it is most helpful to you if you know your degu well and have already determined whether or not you are dealing with an alpha personality, or a more submissive omega personality. If you know this, then you can go searching for your new degu(s) with the intent of complimenting the personality of the degu you already have. Having just said that . . . I must also add that IF you have a lone degu that was the submissive underling prior to the loss of it's cage mate, do not be surprised IF it should suddenly decide that it would like to now be the alpha once you bring in a new degu. Not all submissive degus are actually submissive at heart . . . they have just accepted that the alpha in their community is stronger and the winner of the contest for the top degu position in their heirarchy.
Fighting and Heirarchy
The next thing to know and understand is that in the very social community of degus, there are heirarchal positions, and each and every member has their designated place. This is determined through boxing, humping (a frequent happening in the cage) and usually through fighting to some degree. This can be very distressing for us owners to see and most often we will put an end to it as quickly as we can. However we may do so to the detriment of the balance of power and peaceful co-existence in the cage. If the heirarchal standing of each degu in your cage/community is not settled, there will be continual fighting and unrest between them all. This can escalate to a frightful degree and may result in the deaths of one or more of your degus. So . . .you will need to be prepared to see them fight. This is a process that we are beginning to understand a little differently than we have in the past, and which is evolving into something new. We used to advise that they be parted quickly if the fighting began to look a bit scary, but it now seems that may be too soon to accomplish what needs to be done between the degus. Degus go through visible stages of irritation, if they happen slow enough to be recognized that is. Sniffing of bits, raising their bottoms up and pushing it into the face of the sniffer, tail waggling, grunting and loud tooth chattering, boxing/wrestling/ shoving SILENTLY which seems to be key (noisy boxing/wrestling/shoving is normal, fairly frequent, and is generally safe interaction between degus), kicking and aggressive chasing, rolling fur ball of death. Everything up to the "rolling fur ball of death" is still within acceptable parameters for their fight. The "FBOD" however, must be stopped as quickly as possible, as degus are known to cause great injury to each other during this full body clutch and bite fighting. With this in mind, know that there are things to do before you do any face to face time between the introductees, things which will hopefully help to diminish the intensity of the fighting you likely will see between them. Also . . . the greater the number of degus you wish to combine into a happy colony, the greater the difficulty of the introductory process. Such a goal as this requires a great deal of strategy and deep understanding of each of the degus you are hoping to bring together. Often, it is more observation of each and every introductory attempt that will give you your best clues as to what to try next, or pursue further. I have found that bringing these obeservations to the forum and asking for input is most helpful, and if nothing else can help to preserve your own sanity.
Importance of Adequate Cage Size
I'm going to suggest at this point that you have a look at the cage size recommendations that we follow on our forum. These are important recommendations as degus are animals whose nature is to be on the move all the time , so they need lots of running surfaces (not just wheels) on which to live and move about. Degus that are being kept in a cage that is too small will display behavioral changes such as over grooming and removing fur to the point of baldness, bar chewing, lethargy, destruction of cage accessories, unusual aggression/moodiness toward the owner, and increased fighting that is becoming more aggressive and violent. Space, and lots of it, is crucial to the overall well being and health of our degus, many forum members report that when they increase cage size their degus show a vastly increased range of behaviour. It is also a very important factor toward successfully concluding your introductory process. If the cage you put all of your newly and happily introduced degus into is too small, or even a little crowded for them, they will begin to be testy with one another, and the bonds so newly formed may quickly be badly broken. So, very carefully consider the cage you are planning on using for your combined number of degus, using the CARA recommendations seriously.
If you would like inspiration or help with improving the running surface space in your current cage or guidance on making or buying a new cage, please ask on the forum. Many commercial cages can be improved or added to quite easily, or we will try to advise if a replacement is recommended. We always try to give honest, but kindly, advice and ideas to try to help you make a success of your introduction endeavors and your cage.
Procedure
Time is often the most important ingredient to introductions, but is nearly equaled by the need for patience and determination. Initially you will require two cages to house the different degus you are introducing side by side, unless you have a large cage that can be divided inside and allow for safe interactions through the mesh barrier.
Placing the cages next to each other is important because they need to get used to the sight, smell, and presense of the other degu(s). Often you can see them start out aggressive and gradually wind down until they are either ignoring the other(s) or sleeping next to each other through the divide. The latter result is the best one you can hope for. However this can take weeks or months to see accomplished. If the excitement and aggression of any of the degus is extreme or does not reduce over a week or so, you may need to increase the distance between the cages or install a visual barrier between the unfamiliar degus for a while. After a few day of the degus being able to see and smell each other you can start taking a handful of their soiled substrate and placing it over the substrate of the opposite cage. This will help them get even more familiar with the scent of the other, and is important for giving them a lot of information about the other which is contained in chemical cues found in their urine and feces.
We encourage you to have your degus share the same bathing sands.
Research which has recently come to light, which endorses the practice of sharing the bathing sand between your degus.
"Octodon also use chemical communication.When introduced to a novel enclosure, degus often urinate and display an anogenital drag. Following contact with the scent of a strange or known con-specific, degus scent-mark the substrate. During scent marking, degus deposit more urine marks over the urine of same-sexed individuals. The odor of a con-specific may stimulate further scent-marking. In the wild,preferred sand bathing sites are saturated with urine and anal gland secretions, resulting in a common scent among group members.[2]"
We can hypothesized that the reason for pet degu using sandbath location as litter box is that they need to do scent marking.
[1] Edwards, M. S. (2009). Nutrition and Behavior of Degus (Octodon degus). Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice, 12(2), 237–253. doi:10.1016/j.cvex.2009.01.003
[2] Kleiman DG. Patterns of behaviour in Hystricomorph rodents. Symp Zool Soc
Lond 1974;34:171–209
With this in mind, we highly recommend that you daily share the same bathing sand between ALL degus that you desire to introduce! You need to do this for a period of at least a 7 - 14 days, and you must NOT change or renew the bathing sands. Let it get very soiled. The more "chemical" information that is deposited in the sand, from both urine and anal glands, and shared on the coats of each degu, the more they will recognize each other as part of their colony. This will further promote your efforts to introduce and bond your degus to each other.
However the question of hierarchy must still be settled between them. Please continue to read through the guide for more information.
Once they have had time to accept that there are other degus around, you can begin to do face to face introductions in a neutral zone. As a general guide this might be after about two weeks, but it is important to be guided by the behaviour of the degus, you are really waiting for mutual indifference or mild interest. Ideally the neutral area should be somewhere the degus are familiar with but do not consider their territory. It can be a good idea to allow all the degus bathe in the same dust just before the meeting, and make sure your neutral area is safe and secure, have a water spray bottle and towel on hand for breaking up any severe fighting, the rolling fur ball. Essentially you need to watch their behaviour as closely as possible and try to interpret their feelings towards each other. Obviously happy signs like warbling, grooming, sitting near each other, sniffing without arguing, and any indifference or ignoring each other are all good signs. You need to be familiar with and aware of the increasing signs of irritation and aggression: sniffing of bottom, raising their bottoms up and pushing it into the face of the sniffer, tail waggling, grunting and loud tooth chattering, boxing, wrestling, shoving SILENTLY which seems to be key (noisy boxing/wrestling/shoving is normal, fairly frequent, and is generally safe interaction between degus), kicking and aggressive chasing, rolling fur ball of death. ***Any fighting up to that stage should be allowed to complete it's course unless you begin to see blood flow. Use the spray bottle to spray on them and surprise them apart, then toss the towel over one so that you may easily and quickly scoop it up.
You may need to have many meetings, and you want to have several very successful meetings with happy warbling, grooming & sitting together, before you venture to put them into a newly cleaned cage (but always with a couple handfuls of soiled substrate from both cages sprinkled over top the clean) together. Do not assume now, that all is going to be sweet and happy from this point on. Sometimes it can take a few months yet for all relationships that are now growing between the degus to be fully settled, particularly if any of the degus are still growing or going through puberty or their first winter/ breeding season. Again, try to allow the degus to work out their differences themselves by allowing fighting to take it’s course up to the point of the rolling fur ball of death. For this reason, it is advantageous to keep your water spray bottle and towel on hand beside the cage for a while after you've put all the introduced degus into the same cage. Don't let this discourage you from your introductory processes. Once they have bonded, they will be a joy to watch together, especially once they all sleep in a pile together.
Every introduction is completely unique to any other, it is most helpful if you can report your happenings here on the forum and get feedback and suggestions. It will also be of great encouragement to you.
It is not healthy or recommended for any degu to be left to live as a single degu. It is the very rare degu that really prefers to be alone, and most will become depressed and ill when left alone for too great a time, some even become neurotic and can develop very strange issues. Symptoms of a depressed or neurotic degu can involve lethargy, constantly moving in circles, development of a head tilt, the degu may remove large portions of their fur, can become aggressive with their owners and begin to attack at any approach, or may even take to self-mutilation. Often we hear from owners of solitary degus that they seem very happy alone and are always very happy to come out of the cage and interact with them. These are degus that are desperate for social contact. Lets face it, not one of us can have our degus out of the cage with us 24 hours of each and every day. We cannot give them the grooming that another degu can give (unless you don't mind getting your teeth full of hair). There are also other aspects of degu society we are unable to perform such as humping, boxing, their forms of communication both vocally and through body language, and their most comforting social activity . . . sleeping atop one another in a pile. These can only be supplied by other degus, and truly, if you want your degu to be all that it can be, he/she needs other degu companions to share life with. If you are able to find another little one or two of the same sex as the single degu to introduce to it, it will be best for you all. I would be remiss if I didn't also tell you that another option for a single male degu, would be to have him neutered and introduce him to a couple of young females, which can sometimes be the easier introduction.
Personalities
Introductions require a great commitment to patience, determination, and time. Males to males can be the most difficult of introductions take on, but there are female to female introductions that can be just as difficult if the females involved are strong alpha leaders. In fact, it is most helpful to you if you know your degu well and have already determined whether or not you are dealing with an alpha personality, or a more submissive omega personality. If you know this, then you can go searching for your new degu(s) with the intent of complimenting the personality of the degu you already have. Having just said that . . . I must also add that IF you have a lone degu that was the submissive underling prior to the loss of it's cage mate, do not be surprised IF it should suddenly decide that it would like to now be the alpha once you bring in a new degu. Not all submissive degus are actually submissive at heart . . . they have just accepted that the alpha in their community is stronger and the winner of the contest for the top degu position in their heirarchy.
Fighting and Heirarchy
The next thing to know and understand is that in the very social community of degus, there are heirarchal positions, and each and every member has their designated place. This is determined through boxing, humping (a frequent happening in the cage) and usually through fighting to some degree. This can be very distressing for us owners to see and most often we will put an end to it as quickly as we can. However we may do so to the detriment of the balance of power and peaceful co-existence in the cage. If the heirarchal standing of each degu in your cage/community is not settled, there will be continual fighting and unrest between them all. This can escalate to a frightful degree and may result in the deaths of one or more of your degus. So . . .you will need to be prepared to see them fight. This is a process that we are beginning to understand a little differently than we have in the past, and which is evolving into something new. We used to advise that they be parted quickly if the fighting began to look a bit scary, but it now seems that may be too soon to accomplish what needs to be done between the degus. Degus go through visible stages of irritation, if they happen slow enough to be recognized that is. Sniffing of bits, raising their bottoms up and pushing it into the face of the sniffer, tail waggling, grunting and loud tooth chattering, boxing/wrestling/ shoving SILENTLY which seems to be key (noisy boxing/wrestling/shoving is normal, fairly frequent, and is generally safe interaction between degus), kicking and aggressive chasing, rolling fur ball of death. Everything up to the "rolling fur ball of death" is still within acceptable parameters for their fight. The "FBOD" however, must be stopped as quickly as possible, as degus are known to cause great injury to each other during this full body clutch and bite fighting. With this in mind, know that there are things to do before you do any face to face time between the introductees, things which will hopefully help to diminish the intensity of the fighting you likely will see between them. Also . . . the greater the number of degus you wish to combine into a happy colony, the greater the difficulty of the introductory process. Such a goal as this requires a great deal of strategy and deep understanding of each of the degus you are hoping to bring together. Often, it is more observation of each and every introductory attempt that will give you your best clues as to what to try next, or pursue further. I have found that bringing these obeservations to the forum and asking for input is most helpful, and if nothing else can help to preserve your own sanity.
Importance of Adequate Cage Size
I'm going to suggest at this point that you have a look at the cage size recommendations that we follow on our forum. These are important recommendations as degus are animals whose nature is to be on the move all the time , so they need lots of running surfaces (not just wheels) on which to live and move about. Degus that are being kept in a cage that is too small will display behavioral changes such as over grooming and removing fur to the point of baldness, bar chewing, lethargy, destruction of cage accessories, unusual aggression/moodiness toward the owner, and increased fighting that is becoming more aggressive and violent. Space, and lots of it, is crucial to the overall well being and health of our degus, many forum members report that when they increase cage size their degus show a vastly increased range of behaviour. It is also a very important factor toward successfully concluding your introductory process. If the cage you put all of your newly and happily introduced degus into is too small, or even a little crowded for them, they will begin to be testy with one another, and the bonds so newly formed may quickly be badly broken. So, very carefully consider the cage you are planning on using for your combined number of degus, using the CARA recommendations seriously.
If you would like inspiration or help with improving the running surface space in your current cage or guidance on making or buying a new cage, please ask on the forum. Many commercial cages can be improved or added to quite easily, or we will try to advise if a replacement is recommended. We always try to give honest, but kindly, advice and ideas to try to help you make a success of your introduction endeavors and your cage.
Procedure
Time is often the most important ingredient to introductions, but is nearly equaled by the need for patience and determination. Initially you will require two cages to house the different degus you are introducing side by side, unless you have a large cage that can be divided inside and allow for safe interactions through the mesh barrier.
Placing the cages next to each other is important because they need to get used to the sight, smell, and presense of the other degu(s). Often you can see them start out aggressive and gradually wind down until they are either ignoring the other(s) or sleeping next to each other through the divide. The latter result is the best one you can hope for. However this can take weeks or months to see accomplished. If the excitement and aggression of any of the degus is extreme or does not reduce over a week or so, you may need to increase the distance between the cages or install a visual barrier between the unfamiliar degus for a while. After a few day of the degus being able to see and smell each other you can start taking a handful of their soiled substrate and placing it over the substrate of the opposite cage. This will help them get even more familiar with the scent of the other, and is important for giving them a lot of information about the other which is contained in chemical cues found in their urine and feces.
We encourage you to have your degus share the same bathing sands.
Research which has recently come to light, which endorses the practice of sharing the bathing sand between your degus.
"Octodon also use chemical communication.When introduced to a novel enclosure, degus often urinate and display an anogenital drag. Following contact with the scent of a strange or known con-specific, degus scent-mark the substrate. During scent marking, degus deposit more urine marks over the urine of same-sexed individuals. The odor of a con-specific may stimulate further scent-marking. In the wild,preferred sand bathing sites are saturated with urine and anal gland secretions, resulting in a common scent among group members.[2]"
We can hypothesized that the reason for pet degu using sandbath location as litter box is that they need to do scent marking.
[1] Edwards, M. S. (2009). Nutrition and Behavior of Degus (Octodon degus). Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice, 12(2), 237–253. doi:10.1016/j.cvex.2009.01.003
[2] Kleiman DG. Patterns of behaviour in Hystricomorph rodents. Symp Zool Soc
Lond 1974;34:171–209
With this in mind, we highly recommend that you daily share the same bathing sand between ALL degus that you desire to introduce! You need to do this for a period of at least a 7 - 14 days, and you must NOT change or renew the bathing sands. Let it get very soiled. The more "chemical" information that is deposited in the sand, from both urine and anal glands, and shared on the coats of each degu, the more they will recognize each other as part of their colony. This will further promote your efforts to introduce and bond your degus to each other.
However the question of hierarchy must still be settled between them. Please continue to read through the guide for more information.
Once they have had time to accept that there are other degus around, you can begin to do face to face introductions in a neutral zone. As a general guide this might be after about two weeks, but it is important to be guided by the behaviour of the degus, you are really waiting for mutual indifference or mild interest. Ideally the neutral area should be somewhere the degus are familiar with but do not consider their territory. It can be a good idea to allow all the degus bathe in the same dust just before the meeting, and make sure your neutral area is safe and secure, have a water spray bottle and towel on hand for breaking up any severe fighting, the rolling fur ball. Essentially you need to watch their behaviour as closely as possible and try to interpret their feelings towards each other. Obviously happy signs like warbling, grooming, sitting near each other, sniffing without arguing, and any indifference or ignoring each other are all good signs. You need to be familiar with and aware of the increasing signs of irritation and aggression: sniffing of bottom, raising their bottoms up and pushing it into the face of the sniffer, tail waggling, grunting and loud tooth chattering, boxing, wrestling, shoving SILENTLY which seems to be key (noisy boxing/wrestling/shoving is normal, fairly frequent, and is generally safe interaction between degus), kicking and aggressive chasing, rolling fur ball of death. ***Any fighting up to that stage should be allowed to complete it's course unless you begin to see blood flow. Use the spray bottle to spray on them and surprise them apart, then toss the towel over one so that you may easily and quickly scoop it up.
You may need to have many meetings, and you want to have several very successful meetings with happy warbling, grooming & sitting together, before you venture to put them into a newly cleaned cage (but always with a couple handfuls of soiled substrate from both cages sprinkled over top the clean) together. Do not assume now, that all is going to be sweet and happy from this point on. Sometimes it can take a few months yet for all relationships that are now growing between the degus to be fully settled, particularly if any of the degus are still growing or going through puberty or their first winter/ breeding season. Again, try to allow the degus to work out their differences themselves by allowing fighting to take it’s course up to the point of the rolling fur ball of death. For this reason, it is advantageous to keep your water spray bottle and towel on hand beside the cage for a while after you've put all the introduced degus into the same cage. Don't let this discourage you from your introductory processes. Once they have bonded, they will be a joy to watch together, especially once they all sleep in a pile together.
Every introduction is completely unique to any other, it is most helpful if you can report your happenings here on the forum and get feedback and suggestions. It will also be of great encouragement to you.