Bullied Goo

[bouncy]

Over the last month or two, hormones have been ruling the clan. This wasn't helped by me bringing home Squidgygoo, who I've now removed from the equation  until things calm down. 

I'm a bit concerned about Scaredygoo. There's regular boxing and scrapping between him and Spidergoo, which I have started to intervene on if I'm there by putting my hand between them. Because Sillygoo just stays clear, he's still friends with both, but has also left the odd tuft of fur behind.

My concern is the effect it's had on Scaredygoo. He was previously my biggest goo, but has now become the lightest of my original three.  When one of the others jumps up to sit  in the wheel with him, he used to be able to get it going again. Now, he just scrambles up the side. If they start running, he just bales out.

Despite the initial weight loss, he's remained constant over the last couple of weeks at 238g. I think the weight loss has made him look a bit scrawny with his excess skin. There has been no change in his eating habits - he still eats anything and everything. There's no reduction in his activity level, and still happily runs around in the wheel, but he's just not as light on his feet as he was. His feet tend to drag a bit, rather than the pitter patter of paws that I used to hear. There's no evidence of any other illness.

Given his weight loss has stabilised, and he seems to be living a normal goo life, am I right to just put this down to stress/depression?

[uglibug]

He still seems a reasonably healthy weight, so I wouldn't worry too much. As long as he seems otherwise fine it may well be stress. Our alpha goos are always the biggest/heaviest in the cage so it may be a change in the group dynamic that has caused the changes.

[bouncy]

Thanks Uglibug. I was relatively comfortable with what was happening, but I sometimes look at him and worry. He really does look scrawny. I think part of it is the extra skin, so his für doesn't look as full and glossy. I'll just give him extra cuddles!

[moletteuk]

Do you know how heavy he was before, how much he has lost?

I can second Uglibug in saying that dominance is normally associated with heavier weight, so it could be wrapped up in that.

Can you see if feeding him extra for a week allows him to put a little weight on? I think this would be reassuring if you can figure out a way to do it, depends what your feeding routine is.

I think keep an eye on him generally.

[bouncy]

I've been keeping an eye on him, because he's lost just over 20g.

The boys have constant access to food, hay, and forage. I've tried giving him extra treats, but Spidergoo hears, and promptly takes it from him. Sillygoo then looks lost because he hasn't got anything, so all three end up having the same treat.

[moletteuk]

Yeah, they have a very strong sense of fair play lol! Maybe you could give Scaredy a higher calorie treat than the other two but of a similar size?

20g isn't too much, I think definitely within the realms of it being a heirarchy/ stress issue (rather than health issue).

[gracipet]

I've had issues with dominance in my four boys - The most dominant (Bugsy) likes to throw his weight around and put the others in their place from time to time! I have found their weight is closely related to their hierarchy in the group. I try and feed the smallest one (Stumpy) with supplementary Degu biscuits away from the others and try to do weekly weigh-ins to check their all ok!

[bouncy]

Double-checked my records - it's closer to 40g but, having allowed minimum sight of Squidgygoo over the last few days, I've not heard anything. Tonight, all of the three were out at the same time, and were fine. When Squidge came out, he could still jump up on the recycling bins, but I've pulled them away from the big cage about 20cm. Everyone has a look to squeak a casual "hi", then walk away again. As long as Squidgygoo shows no ill effects, I'll keep them like that until February.

[winic1]

If it seems he's not getting a fair chance at the food, set up one or two more food bowls, but on completely different levels, so that he can eat without the others seeing and therefore chasing him away. If he's lost not just weight but energy level and appearance also, he's not doing well, and may be undernourished from lack of access to the food, and stress.

My three new guys have finally learned what treats and goodies are, and one will not only steal a treat given to another first, but attack and chase them away from me, so I have to get at least four treats ready (in case I drop one) and pass them out, starting with the dominant George, but get all three given their treats in about half a second, or there's trouble.

They started fighting over the food bowl, too, so now there's three small ones on three different levels, and a fourth set up on the split part of the cage where George sits obsessed with Chester on the other side of the divide. When we refill or add extras, I start with the dominant bowl, then go down to the lower ones, and if George gets pushy, the other two now know to run down lower and find an unoccupied bowl to eat in peace. Sometimes two will share a bowl (not all three as bowls are now small), sometimes there's some stealing and shifting of bowls, but no one can control or guard all bowls at once and still eat, so everyone gets to eat in peace.

[bouncy]

Getting to food is no problem. There are already two bowls, plus hay, and you can usually find him sat in the middle of the forrage basket. He's also far from lethargic, and happily trots around in the wheel. He's tends to go at a steady pace, rather than a sprint like the others. Even with treats, there are no worries. Spidergoo usually gathers the nuts from me, but only because he's the bravest. He doesn't stop the others from eating them.

From what I've seen, Scaredygoo reacts badly to Spidergoo trying to mount him (only in the last few weeks), and that's enough to start a spat, even without Squidgygoo being around.

[deguconvert]

Dominance issues and teenhood commence. UGH!

[bouncy]

Yeah, that's what I concluded. Roll on the end of the season!