kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 8, 2015 11:17:33 GMT
Help!! I have 2 sister degus ethel and doris,they have started fighting about 1 week ago but yesterday took a turn for the worst and doris was injured.i separated them coz she was bleeding and ethel wouldnt leave her alone! Ive cleaned her wounds the best I can coz they dont really like to be touched or held,but I dont know what to do next??they have a big cage so plenty of room but dont know what best to do. Please help!!
|
|
|
Post by klbishop on Feb 8, 2015 18:32:44 GMT
.. first big deep breath. where are you housing them at the moment- are they separate? are you definitely sure they are girls? my lot turned out to be boys and fight during mating season. can you try reintroducing them at a neutral area - like the bath where there are no distractions?
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Feb 8, 2015 18:39:50 GMT
Hello, Kayly and welcome to the forum. I am sorry that you find yourself with fighting degus, but to be honest, that is one of the more common reasons why people come to the forum for help. It is distressing and difficult, and even through it is usually not a simple road, finding others that have been there and can understand your feelings and encourage you is very helpful. We are here to do that.
Fighting can result from several different known issues, so let me ask you some questions that will hopefully help us to give you some suggestions.
What is the age of your two sisters? What size of cage do you have? Length, width, and height please. Does your cage have multiple full levels or do you have mostly ledges? Do you have a wheel in the cage? Do they both use the wheel? Do they fight over the wheel? Do they fight over the food dish? The water source? Do you use a sand bath for them, and does it cause conflict? Do you give them time out of the cage, and do they fight after being out?
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 9, 2015 21:29:49 GMT
Hi they will be 2 years old in march, ive had them since they were babies, the cage they were both in is height 50 inches, width 19inches,length30inches.the cage has multiple ledges made of wood. They have one wheel which ethel loves to go on but doris(the injured) likes to bite it which slows ethel down then they argue. They have one bowl of food which they do argue about but only when I first put it in.they never fight over the water bottle or chewing toys. I put a sand bath every couple of days but again no arguing. The only thing is I never get them out coz they are not tame, I can put my hand in the cage , stroke the for a few seconds then they run off! At the moment ive kept doris in a hamster cage away from ethel.
|
|
|
Post by saddlers on Feb 10, 2015 16:28:08 GMT
I would be tempted to bite the bullet and get two wheels and two feed bowls, whilst it may not be the trigger it will certainly remove some of the risk. If you do have to separate as well it allows you to make sure they have a wheel and bowl each. I also now leave my sand bath in the cage all the time, because of issues with the sand bath, I leave the sand in it so that their scents do not get confused and just sift out the debris and top up the dust when required. Whilst the cage may appear large it is quite narrow in terms of length. We recoomend cages of at least 1000mm wide (approx 40 inches), although we know that many stock cages are just under this at about 36 inches. The water bottle, wheel and dustbath are fairly quick fixes that can be done to see if you can at least get them back together first.
Many degus do not tolerate stroking, I have ten degus only 2 of them really tolerate being fussed. Th hamster cage is likely to stress one of the degus out, so I would be tempted to try and get them back together sooner rather than later. Have you tried a meet between them yet? It is worth getting a towel and a water spray ready just in case, but do not panic or use the spray unless they lock together. It is likely they will hump and even punch or kick, so try and let them go through that process without spraying them. If things seem to be escalating just give them a quick squirt and throw the towel over one of the degus. this will allow you to separate them without getting bitten. Degus also seem to be fascinated with tubes and it is a good way of getting them in and out of the cage, for some reason they cant resist walking into a dark tunnel
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Feb 10, 2015 17:11:32 GMT
Is your cage a wire cage? I wonder if you could change the orientation of it so that it is laying on the side, giving more length for surface/running area, rather than leaping/jumping/perching area?
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 10, 2015 19:02:58 GMT
Thank you everyone for the help and advise, I will go out tomorrow and get another wheel, would it be best for both wheels to be next to eachother or different places of the cage? And yes the cage is wire but I dont know if I could turn it on its side because of the cleaning tray at the bottom and also the doors.
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Feb 10, 2015 23:38:43 GMT
I would use different levels for each wheel.
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 11, 2015 5:15:39 GMT
Oh ok thank you, im going to buy a new wheel today and rearrange there cage, put some new bits in it to hopfully stop them getting bored. I just hope they get on and dont fight...
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 11, 2015 20:07:27 GMT
Help?? Ive put them back together, put the new stuff in the cage and ethel wont leave doris alone!!! They havent locked but doris has another wound on her tail and is bleeding abit, doris seems to be ok she is on the wheel and ethel is at the bottom at the moment but she wont leave her alone, so I seperate them for good??
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 11, 2015 21:15:08 GMT
There is alot of boxing, kicking and squeaking going on but then they seperate for about 5 minutes then start again. Is this good sign?? She just wont leave her alone!!! Getting a little worried now!!!
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 11, 2015 23:30:27 GMT
Didnt know what to do so ive had to seperate them AGAIN! She wouldnt leave her alone!!doris was giving in but ethel just kept going it got to the point of a injured and shaken doris to hide under the wheel so I stepped in and seperated the cage. Im too scared to try and put them together again because I think ethel could do some serious injuries so I think friday evening(my early shift at work) will be spent dividing the cage into two!!
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Feb 12, 2015 17:10:34 GMT
Two possibilities that occur to me are that A. There is a personality conflict between them for whatever reason, but it may have to do with my next possibility. If it is a personality conflict, it can take a lot of work and a lot of time to help them get over it. Degus hold grudges. B. It has to do with your cage. They may be, or Ethel more specifically, feeling that it is too cramped. When I suggested that you could try turning your cage on the side, it is because you would then be making a long stretch of surface their floor level. That difference in running/living space is significant. If you were to cover the metal mesh with either lengths of wood, or squares of ceramic tile. Then if you could arrange a second level that would be super. However, knowing metal wire cages, it can be difficult to access the interior of the cage, and I realize this could be a huge difficulty for you. How are your finances, would they allow you to build a cage, or to get a second hand cage to add to your current cage?
I recommend that you look through our cages board, as there are several threads that display cages to give ideas, there is a thread that discusses our forum cage size recommendations, and there are helpful ideas for modifying wire cages.
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 12, 2015 21:26:09 GMT
Thanks for the help I will have a look at the cage on here but im so scared of putting them together again because doris is still injured and is very scared of any movements near the cage now.it was horrible watching doris getting beaten up
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Feb 13, 2015 2:52:24 GMT
I totally understand the stress you are feeling over things. Of course you need to let Doris heal, and you need to have some time to feel more calm again as well. Degus heal pretty quickly though, so in a weeks time you will see Doris pretty much over her injuries. Do keep them apart, but it won't hurt for you to be somewhat prepared for what you might do in the fairly near future. So . . . perhaps during that time you can look at the cages, read the threads, and pepper us with any questions you may have about your current cage and what can be done with it, or ideas for combining cages, or building one yourself. We are here to help.
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 13, 2015 19:02:33 GMT
If they continue to fight can they be seperated for good, are they ok to be on there own? They both seem ok at the minute while separate. , doris seems better and is on the wheel alot and ethel is active and eating well at the bottom of the cage...
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Feb 13, 2015 23:06:06 GMT
Long term separation is not recommended. For a time they will be OK, but they will begin to pine for companionship and can begin to have declining health.
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 18, 2015 13:53:48 GMT
|
|
kayly
Newborn Degu
Posts: 12
|
Post by kayly on Feb 18, 2015 13:55:51 GMT
This is the cage, any ideas on what I can do to it?I want to attempt to put them back together again??
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Feb 19, 2015 11:40:56 GMT
You could make the middle shelf a full area shelf. If you shuffle the heights that the shelves sit at, you might be able to squeeze in another good size shelf. I see the space in the alcove is a bit restricted, but you might be able to add and connect in another cage to the side. I think they might benefit from more hidey places, boxes, hammock type things, generally places to hang out.
I can't see how the doors are arranged, would it be possible to turn the cage on its side, like deguconvert suggests? Sizewise it looks possible. You would need to put in a floor and a full area shelf mid height, but that's not too tricky, the doors just need to be in a place that still gives you access.
|
|