Fighting or Dominance

[potnoodle94]

Hi all

I am a new Degu lover but i am pretty clued up about them and their behavior, but this is baffling me
Basically, my 2 Male Boys of 4months are fighting. It looks and sounds like fighting but i am not sure if they are just being dominant.
I put a new wheel in for them and they love it, except Oscar will not let Oreo in, but when Oreo does manage to get in he will always jump out before Oscar can get in and shove him out. So i took their wheel away from them to stop them from being scared of one another. After i put the wheel in Oreo started to get selfish with his food, so when Oscar went to get food he was boxed away by Oreo, i think this might be because Oscar bullied him about the wheel so he is doing the same with the food, so now i am feeding them separately, they seem to be okay with this. The same night i took the wheel out and fed them separately they started fighting, over nothing! They were squealing at echother and going for echothers faces, but they were not boxing. Oreo seemed to be going for Oscars face but Oscar was shoving his bum in his face so he could get at his face, but after a few seconds he would quickly retaliate at Oreos face and then move his bum again, this went on for a while and i could not stop it. i tried to separate them in the cage but they kept going back to eachother and fighting. Was this fighting and should i be worried? they dont do it as much since that one time but i am not sure what they are like at night. is there anything i can do?
Thank you in advance for any replies, it is much appreciated as i am only looking for the best for my babies. Thanks. x

[harpic01]

Hi Potnoodle94 - this sounds like your typical males getting to grips with whos top goo. My eldest two chilli and pepper did this pepper pushing Chilli over food and Chilli sticking his bum in his face - thats goo for bog off really. The important thing that ive learnt is not to pull them out of the cage unless it gets nasty as in cuts etc because they need to get this sorted out. Once the pecking order is sorted they will settle down - i put the boys food on different shelves so they dont fight over the food and that way they are getting it at the same time. Like children they have to learn to share and its hard to hear them falling out but unless it turns into war this is their way of getting sorted. How old are the goos - if they are young this is perfectly normal all part of the joys of growing up. Watch them seperate if they get nasty and keep them seperated for a couple of hours or over night and they will be fine - i use a fine spray of water when mine start - the shock of the spray seperates them and they are feeling so sorry for themselves they stop squabbling.

[potnoodle94]

Okay, well thank you for your help They have seemed to have calmed down now so i have put their wheel back in for them and now they are not interested in coming out, they love thier wheel too much. They seem to be getting along fine now, the odd push out of the wheel but they are sharing food again now yay!! Thanks again x

[w8152]

while laughing....

[moletteuk]

if the wheel becomes a problem you could get a second one.

[potnoodle94]

HAHAHA! mine do try and rund really fast while the other is in it but they soon realise that it doesnt work so they shove achother :/ but it is funny when i see oscar run from one end of the cage to another and jump in the wheel to scare Oreo so he jumps out and when he does he runs as fast as he can in the wheel, almost moving the cage if he went any faster, i think hes trying to prove something hahaha.

I cant believe that the wheels are so expensive it is anoying because im sure they would love another wheel but they have to wait :/ good luck with your cage and the babies you will have to put pictures up i would love to see

[ourdegu]

we've got the same concern with our two goos. Both are still juveniles (only 4/5 months old) however they constantly seem to be fighting. They will literally chase each other round the cage slapping and biting each other. It will quite often end in one being mounted, however it is such a racket and causes us a bit o concern that one is being hurt. There never seems to be any blood or cuts but they will often end up falling from a shelf onto the bottom of the cage. Is this normal for youngsters and just something we should keep an eye on?

We had thought it might be too much energy and a bit of boredom. Got them a couple of ball now and they love them. Have even used it to good effect when they have decided to try and make a run for it! Hoping to be able to make the pen at some point in next couple of weeks which we hope will also allow them to lose some energy and get them more integrated with us.

As for the cage, we have now put in a load of wooden shelves and strung pieces of sissal rope across it with the odd pringle tube strapped to roof for them to explore. Is there anything we could look at if its boredom related?