Fighting Degu's

[smux]

Having a female's tubes tied carries a greater risk than that of neutering a male because of the extra length of time they have to be under anaesthetic. Many vets are also not qualified to do this on a degu even if they say they are, and by qualified I mean they don't have the knowledge or the experience...although, saying that, I wonder if a female degu is different to other small animal females like males are to other small animal males. They probably are, so it would require a vet with degu experience and knowledge, and those exotic specialists don't come cheap.

Putting a degu on their own for a couple of days gives them time to reflect on how their life will be if they don't buck up their ideas, but it may make them realise how good it is to be a solitary degu and you don't want that so it should be a last resort and for no more than a few days. If it needs to be repeated, you can step up the punishment a little and cover their cage with a light cloth so they can't see anything around them either (if you do this, you should put a board on top of the cage that is slightly larger than the cage so the cloth isn't touching the cage at all and they can't nibble through it :-))

[deguconvert]

How old is Casey?

[Whizz]

@dc, Coco said Casey is around 8 months.

[Coco]

Casey is about 8 months old.

She has been out of the cage for a couple of days now. When Casey was last in the main cage, I noticed that Coco was being very protective of the others and kept following her everywhere she went and she kept pushing her away from them.

I tried to put Casey into the main cage again today. Casey went to the bottom of the cage and started running the wheel. One of the babies started to screech and Coco made her way down. She waited for Casey to stop running then Coco started to chase Casey around the cage and started to fight with her. Casey then came to the door (which I had left open) and wanted to get out. I could see she had been bitten so I took her out straight away.

I have spoken to a local vet who has got experience with speying and castrating degu's. However, I think that even if I did get Casey speyed the other's won't accept her back now, especially Coco. I think Coco see's Casey as a threat and just starts fighting with her.

Now that Casey is on her own I would like to get a couple of babies to integrate with her as I don't want her on her own for very long. Do you think I would have problems with doing this? She seemed to take to the other two OK so I'm hoping this will work out.

[deguconvert]

I'm inclined to think that she would be good with two female pups to bond with. It's really too bad that she and Coco have had a falling out. I wonder how Coco would respond to Casey if you were to have just the two of them out in a neutral area? Might be worth a try to see how it goes. Might tell us if it is a bit of hard feelings between them, or if it is the pups that are the source of conflict. Maybe Coco is kind of mothering them.

[linzimay]

Hello. I'm a new member to the site and picked this thread as it appears to be recent and I don't know how to start a new thread!

I have 3 beautiful boys: Alfie, Kev and Nev who I love to bits and although a long story, I've experienced fighting. To cut a long story short, Alfie (the oldest by approx. 6 months) isn't happy living with Kev and Nev anymore, even though I've had them neutered, and would be better in a separate cage. My question is ...... DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE OF A DEGU AND CHINCHILLA, (SAME SEX AND TEMPREMENT) LIVING/CO HABITING IN THE SAME CAGE? I'd really appreciate any help. Many Thanks. Linzi, from Leeds.

[nickymills30]

i wouldn't put a chin and goo together. A chin could easily kill a goo, and they both have different dietry needs. xx

[linzimay]

Thanks for your reply. I know about Chinchillas and Degus, behaviour and diet.....But i've been told that Degus will co-habit with other similar species and chins and rabbits are ok together. Don't no if this is correct, just wanted to know if anyone knows for definate or has experience. Many Thanks. Linzi.

[smux]

Cohabitation is fine, but imagine sharing a flat with a frenchman, a spaniard and a russian...all of whom speak only their own language and you only speak english. we humans would find a way past the language barrier, but it isn't as simple for a degu, chinchilla or rabbit and they're more likely to get annoyed than to understand what the other is trying to say...and we all know what angry rabbits, chinchillas and degus can do to each other.

The language barrier is just one aspect, rabbits need special food that would be bad for degus or chinchillas, medicated to protect against rabbit illnesses. Chinchilla food has sugars in that would be bad for a degu, and degu food is just plain nasty to the other two :-)

Not recommended, basically, especially ANY animal and a nocturnal animal like a chinchilla.

[linzimay]

Many thanks for your reply. xx

[Coco]

Well, to give a brief update - I've already tried Coco and Casey on their own and it didn't work out once the other 3 went back in. So, Casey is now on her own and I won't be trying to re-introduce her again. I've decided not to get her speyed as I don't think that would help - Coco will not accept her back anyway. So, to-day I have brought two young girls and will do a very slow introduction with Casey. I hope she takes to them so she has company. Both the cages are close together so they can start smelling each other. I can't face getting Casey adopted, I'll miss her and feel guilty that I have given up on her so I've got two sets of girls now, not ideal but who said life with degu's was easy !! Will keep you posted on the new introduction. Any idea's for name for the new girls would be appreciated!

[Coco]

I've now tried introducing Casey to two new babies. I put them in the bath tub so they were on mutual ground. Casey immediately fluffed up and within a couple of minutes had attached one of the babies. I'm not allowing any more to get hurt so I took them out straight away.

I really don't want to get Casey adopted but I'm finding whatever I'm trying is not being successful. I'm seriously considering getting her speyed (luckily our local vet is experienced with this) and wondered if introducing her to a male would be better for her after that. I know of a lovely, very friendly male who is about 4 months old and is on his own so I'm thinking of trying to pair them up. Obviously I have worries if they don't get on, I'm left with two lonely goo's & three lots to look after!

Any further suggestions would be appreciated.

[smux]

As far as I understand it, spaying/neutering females for behavioural reasons is a waste of time compared to doing it to males. The reason it sorts male behaviour out is because of the testosterone levels and the drop in them that they have when they're neutered. Females don't have testosterone, it's a male thing, and getting a female spayed wouldn't have that same effect on their behaviours. Granted, it might stop their "monthlies" from causing mood swings and such, but on a day to day basis it'd mostly be unchanged.

Obviously I am talking based on logic in this case, this is not down to 100% fact and there may be some aspects I am missing. I only ever post THIS little "disclaimer" if I feel it is necessary, and in this case I might be wrong...logic is never flawed, but the facts behind the logic aren't always right :-)

Spaying the female so you can introduce a male...that's a good enough reason, however you already know the greater risk to a female compared to a male, right? The female has to be under longer for the process to be done, so there's a greater risk of death than with a male. Male and female pairs do get along, esp. if the female is the one whose bits have been manipulated so the male still has his urges :-)

Any idea what age the baby was? I've had the girlies attempt to attack a baby in the past, but I BELIEVE it wasn't actually an attempted attack and instead was just fallout from trying to attack one of her sisters. I am wondering if the baby was too old for it to work...3 months is definitely too old, 6-8 weeks (or 2 months) is probably the cutoff, as soon after weaning as possible, or before weaning if possible (as I mention in another thread, I am looking into ending weaning early as the babies are in great need by two lonely degus in two different parts of the UK.

[Coco]

Thanks for the info

The baby degus are about 10 weeks, old could be older.

Will probably talk to the vet some more before making a desicion, but it sounds like a good way to go with her!

Do you think that i would have more succcess with introducing a male than babies?

[smux]

10 weeks is, in my opinion, a little bit old to consider them babies...as I always say though regarding this, I am not sure of the exact age where another degu would consider them to be old enough to fend for themself. I would say consider a proper introduction now with these babies, go the whole process of introduction for a month or so and see how it goes...do you have the spare cage or cage space to do a proper introduction? Splitting the cage should be enough, you just skip the bit about moving the cages closer :-)

If you fail to introduce the babies, you've lost out on nothing and you can still get her neutered and get a male for her to be introduced to (which may go the same way, I should point out :-P)...if you succeed, you've saved the vets bills and having to get a new male AND keeping the babies in a separate cage.

[Coco]

As i was scared that the babies were going to get hurt I have reintroduced them to their original group so I no longer have them.

Need to get set up for a long introduction as only got a criter 1 and 2 spare, then i can try again.

Im going to ask a stupid question do you need to still have a long introdution time if they are 6 weeks old

[smux]

Getting babies will POSSIBLY (usually) allow you to introduce them directly to the degu without an introduction...there's an inbuilt "NO" on attacking babies, probably because they're scared mum will rip them to shreds even if they've not seen her. In my opinion though, it is deferring the problem to later because once the baby is old enough to fend for themselves then trouble can start...of course, introductions means that they get to know each other, so maybe this won't happen once they have been together a few weeks and know each other fine.