Bust ups

[freakyl]

My degus just had an almighty bust up!! boogie is limping and bleeding under his arm and a few other places. and ringo's breathing is laboured and he also is bleeding under his eye and under his chin. they re not really going near each other i seperated them at first, but i knew it would only make it harder to put them back together later. i dont know what to do they r 2 males does any1 know what might bring on this behaviour? they have had their tiffs but neva like this before i have had them roughly 4 months now, is it because of sexual maturity? should i split them up permantly? i would really appreciate the advise thank you...

[ra]

Oh dear, I don't really know since I have two females. I know all pack/herd animals jockey for positions in the hierarchy. It usually settles though if the animal on the lower rung isn't happy they will battle again.

How are they doing now? I hope they have settled things and you'll have a long run of peace and harmony.

When my mares start going at one another for positions I always tell them settle with no vet calls!

I know it is their nature, but when each Degu has plenty of food and water, a good shelter and play toys why oh why do they have to vie with one another?

[Sunshinemeg]

How old are your degus?

Dont seperate them if you can help it, although if the fighting is prolonged, you may need to. It sounds to me very much as if they are deciding on dominance. I know it is really hard to have to watch, but let them work it out. Put some fun things in the cage, such as an empty egg box stuffed full of tissue. Just things to keep them busy rather than having a go at each other. They have to work things out, but need a bit pf breathing space as well.

Hang in there, from experience, if its dominance fighting it does settle down after a few days, and then they can lick their wounds. Just keep an eye out for serious injuries that may need attention.

[freakyl]

i m not sure of their age exactly i got them quite young they are probably about 5 or 6 months old, i had to section their cage off as one of my degus suffered a nasty slash just above his nose shortly after postin the last message. and i didnt want to risk it over night. They would fight and squeal then cuddle up on their nesting box but then a little while later they would start again. i dont understand, i gave them egg boxes as well with tissue paper as u suggested but this only resulted in fighting over who owned them! even when they were seperated they were still squealing at one another through the cage. I got them out together this morning on mutual territory so they could at least run away from one another i was intending to referee any fights they had because they need to decide upon dominance but i didnt want it to get to serious. unfortunately they had a viscious fight with rolling around on the floor and squealing (up until this point they had been jus sniffing n boxing with the occasional stand off.) and one of my degus ran off squealing holding his head in an odd position i was so worried at this point some serious damage had been done i split them immediately. my injured degu just sat in my arms making a gentle squeal it so hard to watch, and suffered a cut under his chin. i really dont know what to do its not fair to keep putting them together if this is going to happen, they just want to hurt n possibly kill eachother every time.

[Sunshinemeg]

hmmm

I have had both situations, one where a fight lasted a few days, then settled down, the other where they had to be permanently seperated.

I think if it was me, I would have them in seperate sections of the cage until the wounds healed, and then attempt to re-introduce them. This would give them time to calm down, recover from the current injuries, and then hopefully come back together.

I really hope it works out for you, I know how hard it is to have to watch and cope with, it has always left me more panicy than my degus I think!

good luck

[goofan]

I'm so sorry for you. I have recently endured a similar situation with my 3 girls that I got in August. They were a few months old at the time as well. You can look up my old posts.

My suggestions from what I've learned:
1) do not try to reintroduce until the injured one is completely healed.
2) keep the wound clean with a warm saline solution to keep it from healing over too quickly. They heal really fast and it tends to trap infection in. The vet also suggested a betadyne solution. We would soak a cotton ball and apply it to the wound for about 15 minutes 2-3 times a day. I cleared up a big infection in her back by doing that. I used the saline solution when she lost a chunk of her snout.
3) Keep the injured one out of the sandbath until the would has healed
4) switch their locations every day or so to keep their scents familiar to one another
5) when the injured one is better, let them share the same sandbath to further keep them familar with each other's scent.
6) wear thick leather gloves when tending the injured degu

I learned these things the hard and painful way. I hope you are able to reunite them. I was not able to bring the 3rd one back to the other 2. Every time I tried, she got more and more injured. I think it's turned her mean and distrustful towards them. So, she's now my lone degu at home with my cat. She's doing well. The other two are fine in my classroom.

Good luck to you. It's heartbreaking, I know. Hopefully all will work out in the end.

-Amy