Rescued degus keep squeaking!

[petlover]

Hey all, I have 2 male degus (brothers) I rescued them from a woman who seemed to think it was ok to treat them like hamsters.... She never let them out of their cage, fed them fruit and veg that they should not have etc, basically she did no research and her excuse was she didn't have the time!!!! Ok rant over, they are now very very timid degus due to not being handled but will eat out of my hand they are only 6 months old or so but for the past few weeks they have been fighting or squeaking very loudly constantly....they usually get on so well and I am worried to see them like this. It's not dangerous fighting (they don't bite each other) but it's like they can't tolerate each other at the moment? Has anyone else had male degus act like this? X 

[ntg]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I'm sorry your boys had such a rough start to life.

What is the fighting like? Do they stand on their hind legs pushing at each other while making a warbling noise? As it could just be play fighting.

If they're six months old then there is a good chance the increased fighting is due to them hitting adolescence, and are trying to establish their hierarchy. As long as the fighting stays fairly friendly I wouldn't worry, and be aware that it often looks worse than it is. What you need to keep an eye out for in particular is them rolling around in a tight ball, where you need to separate them quickly, using a spray bottle on a stream setting and a towel for your own safety.

Other factors for fighting include cage size, as small cages can cause stress between the group. Can you tell us what cage/the dimensions of your cage as well as any shelves you have in?

As far as the squeeking goes, it could be one of a few things. First thing I would check is that both are actually male using the sexing guide deguworld.proboards.com/thread/13070 Other causes could be a stressor such as building work, moving house, a new pet to name a few that cause them to be on edge, and start alarm calling.

[petlover]

Hi, I've seen them when the play fight and this is different, one will jump on the other, the other will run away and the constant squeaking starts, I hear them squabbling and Loud noises coming from the cage but when I go in to see what's going on they both stop they also squeak very very loudly at each other, not the chirping sound they make but really squeaking. The cage is one from pets at home, when I got the degus (they came with the cage) I went to double check that it was suitable and they said it was, I think it's 100cm across, 50 cm wide and 70 cm high or something like that, I have two shelves in there one that runs the length of the cage and one which is quite small on the side. I just had to get them a new type of food, still pellets but not the same as I can't find the ones I got before anywhere! Could this contribute? They are both definately male, and they haven't been moved since I got them as I know it can upset them, I heard that it's mating season for them could that be something to do with it?

[ntg]

Ah, the Thickets cage. Unfortunately it is on the small side for our cage recommendations for two degus. Some sites say different things but we try and keep our info as up to date as possible. What we usually recommend is seeing if there are any second-hand thickets cages on gumtree/preloved/ebay and joining two, preferably three, together. I know the Thickets cage might seem huge for two degus, but consider that they normally run up to 9 miles a day in the wild, so being restricted to such a small space can cause a lot of frustrations for them. Other cage options include making a diy cage or modding something like a liberta explorer or aventura cage.

The mating season could also be contributing, we seem to be having a slight outbreak of fights at the moment. Perhaps the combination of the season, cage size and hitting puberty is causing them to have a strong urge to fight.

[moletteuk]

Absolutely do have a think about increasing cage size, it can make an enormous difference to how they behave and get along.

Food can indeed by a big spark for arguments. If they aren't too happy about the new food, this could increase tensions. Have you seen our food charts which also have a few tips for feeding, like seperate bowls at opposite ends of the cage? deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17365/commercial-food-chart

Do they get playtime out of the cage? This can be good for allowing them to let off some steam and also to allow you to interact and have fun with them.