Something awful happened!

[tzr]

I accidently trapped one of my goos paws!!!! I feel awful - it was bleeding. I took him to the vets and he was cleaned up and given an anti-inflammatory and anti-biotic. I've got anti-biotics to give him for the next 5 days in liquid form.
Since we've come back, the dominant male won't leave him alone and they're fighting!!!! I hope they settle down.
Any suggestions? Have I done anything wrong to cause this or is it just cos he was away and smells a bit different now?

[Cherpi]

Do you not have a hamster cage he could put him in for a bit? Just until he's a little better, if he can't jump around properly then it'll be fine for him I think. It's best to separate them I guess.

[arumanii]

As you've guessed it is probably the smell causing his mate to attack as at the moment he'll smell like an intruder. If you can (gross as it seems) rub dirty bedding all over him (but miss out the injury area).

The other one may also be currently recognising him as weaker than usual, which can lead them to attack. This will stop as he gets stronger and recovers

[tzr]

Thanks for your replies ... they seem to have settled down a bit for now - I'm going to keep an eye on them. I got the vet to spray the injured one with a dye antiseptic so that I could tell the difference between them at a glance, as he has an identical brother. I didn't want to have to check his paw all the time to check which one needs the medicine. I tried to think ahead to make it easier but in fact I think I made it worse! I feel so terrible about his injury - I'm just glad it wasn't any worse.

[lorrainekuk]

Ahhh poor Goo, hope he mends quickly. Have just had a similar experience after Torres decided to jump too far and fractured his thigh. I was worried about strong goo picking on poorly goo so we did seperate them but let the good one visit for cuddles. They did have a session of fighting one of the days which bothered me as he made his paw bleed ( we think!) but they are reunited now and are so much happier. I would say perhaps seperate them for a couple of days but let them have access to each other if possible. Amazed me how much mined 'chatted' when apart - makes you realise how much they need each other.
Hope he mends quickly xx

[smux]

He will recover from the injury, and it is most likely that it is because he is injured and thus weak rather than him possibly being a stranger, although something might have caused the opposite to be true. Did the dye have a scent that might have caused him to think his brother was a stranger?

If you still have problems, hold them both so that the injured one's urethral cone (and scent areas) can be sniffed by the other one so he can recognise who he is with...obviously watch for any attempt to bite or attack him.

[tzr]

Thanks for all your advise - they seem fine now. Toffee the injured one did fight back so I think that helped. Although it was the worst fighting I've seen them do it really wasn't too bad - no injuries, thankfully. Poor little toffee wasn't too impressed with the antibiotics! He's moving around the cage ok (haven't had to confine him to a small area), swellings gone down quite a bit - so really glad I got a dye put on him!! Bit hard to tell them apart again!