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Post by degus123 on Dec 29, 2010 15:10:01 GMT
Had my 1 year old brothers for about 4 weeks now. Frankie has always seemed the dominent one of the pair, from what can be seen from their daily activity. Today about 11am Frankie started barking (first time I have heard any of them bark), and his penis was on show at first,. This barking went on for at least an hour,as per the usual I believe from sources online. However since then, both Frankie and Cyrus have been continually trying to mount each other, they only stop to eat/drink. Does anyone know if there is any meaning behind this? Cyrus is usually timid and shy and it's the first time I have seen him try and stand up to his brother.
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Post by degus123 on Dec 29, 2010 15:17:56 GMT
Typical I post that and they stop (least for now lol). Would still be interested on your thoughts. They are now cuddled up at the top of the cage
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Post by smux on Dec 29, 2010 15:50:48 GMT
It is normal for them to attempt to mount each other, dominance is a fluid thing and Cyrus might want to take the top spot from Frankie. Normally the dominant one will wrestle the attempt off and gain the advantage as a way to say "No, don't even bother trying, you wont dominate me" (I've seen a rather cute example of this with my Theresa and her babies...a baby would jump on her to dominate and she would bodyslam them to the ground in one swift movement to let them know she can't be dominated) but Frankie might not be as worried about losing his top spot as there's only two of them.
The barking, as you will probably know, is his mating bark and is a sign that his dominance ended with a "happy ending". It is common to hear this even with two males in a cage, but it is worth your time to check to make sure 100% that both of them are male (many guides posted online and in this forum) and also to check for a "plug" just below Frankie's urethral cone (you will know it if you see it). A plug would indicate that Frankie is female and has probably been impregnated, it's a way to ensure that no other males try to impregnate the female afterwards. Don't be worried that this is a possibility, you're just checking to be totally sure of it, I'd say it is unlikely...just worth being totally sure.
It's safe to assume that the mating bark was a threat to Cyrus and he wanted to take his chances at dominating, although I am only thinking logically rather than talking from facts and known instances :-)
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Post by degus123 on Dec 29, 2010 15:55:23 GMT
Thanks that was my thinking, they have restarted now. Will just double check they are both male (I am sure they are) but will double check for my own piece of mind.
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Post by degus123 on Dec 29, 2010 17:02:35 GMT
They are both male, gonna guess that Cyrus is trying to take control from his brother.
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Post by puzzle29 on Dec 29, 2010 21:45:14 GMT
yes, degus often mount each other when they are fighting over the dominant male position. It was quite funny really, my degu Scribble was fighting for dominance with a guinea-pig, and tried to mount him, then got stuck on top of him! poor guinea-pig was tramatised
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Post by degus123 on Dec 29, 2010 22:30:13 GMT
was just curious, as Frankie always mounts Cyrus, almost once/twice daily. But today Frankie mounted him, and obviously had "a happy ending" to the event as he started barking. Then Cyrus for the first time since I have had them has spent most of the day chasing and mounting his brother. Was just curious and wondered if my thinking of that Cyrus may be contending for the dominent male role .
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