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Post by chris8brown on Jan 4, 2011 12:30:26 GMT
Hi... I bought two male degu's yesterday from pets at home and was just wondering about their behavior. At times they seem to get along fine and then they are fighting. I read that they make noise during this but every so often it is a high pitched squeal. I am wondering whether this is due to them just showing who is dominant or are they actually hurting each other ??
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Post by degus123 on Jan 4, 2011 12:46:39 GMT
It's a dominance thing, in any group there has to be a alpha male. It can look distressing at first, but unless they are drawing blood etc it's best to leave them fight it out, as breaking fights up can disrupt the "pecking order". But like I said, if blood etc is being drawn or neither is backing down then step in, to break them up (if you get to that stage) just blow gently at them or use a water spray. On the whole they fight almost daily (fairly short bursts) usually over food etc, or when mounting, even 2 males will do this. As you know they make lots of noises, for an explanation of each sound check out degutopia.
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Post by degus123 on Jan 4, 2011 12:48:07 GMT
You will also notice that not long after fighting they are back to cuddling up, this highlights that they are not fighting due to hate.
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Post by chris8brown on Jan 4, 2011 12:55:55 GMT
Ok...Thank you for clearing that up...Just was worrying me that they were hurting each other as soon as i got them .
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Post by smux on Jan 4, 2011 13:37:23 GMT
One thing not mentioned is that if they are under a year old they're in puberty and at this stage the fighting and dominance can be worse...they will get through it, and possibly you will too if you're lucky.
Just learn to patch them up and put them back in after giving them a bit of a cuddle :-)
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