Update on Fighting Goos

[goofan]

Merriwether, the injured one, is healing fairly well it seems. However, I did notice that she now has a big bump at the injury site on her back. She has a followup appointment on Monday. I'm hoping she's okay.

I have been trying some reintegration techniques but am not finding success yet. The 3 are housed in 2 cages side by side. The aggressor - who I'll now call Maleficent, tries to attack her through the cage! In fact, she has now turned on the other one, Flora, who's being house with her. I noticed that Flora has a small injury on her back as well.

I think, or my hope is, that Flora and Merriwether will be able to work it out. THey're doing the little "butt dance" of dominance where they bump each other around and make noises, but they've not found a peaceful solution yet. They don't fight to kill, unlike with Maleficent and Merriweather.

Since I had tried bringing Merriwether and Flora together yesterday, I found that Flora had been injured by Maleficent last night. So, today I put Merriwether and Flora together to work it out again in a neutral location and let them fuss about for awhile. When I put them up for the night, I decided to house them in the same big cage but divided. So now each goo has her own cube.

I'm very discouraged and sad at this time. I really am losing hope that the 3 will be able to get along again. I don't know what my options are at this point. They shouldn't be kept separate, but they're not integrating well.

Any thoughts?

[Sunshinemeg]

i understand the problems. I had to re-home one of my degus just over 8 months ago. charlie would not be friendly with marmalade. so much so that one would have died if we had forced them together. As marmalade had already been through so much, we decided Charlie had to go. in his new environment he settled in as boss right away, and his new owner sent me several emails and photos to let me see how well he was getting on.

Marmalade went back in with his original companion, and was joined by the two babies we now have.

Its sad, but occasionally, and I stress that it isnt that common, a couple of degus just wont get on no matter what. In the end, to reduce the tension, its easier to re-home the aggressor.

good luck, if you want more advice please ask, as i feel i have had to go through a similar situation.

meg ;D

[goofan]

More bad news...

I checked on them again today and the two, Flora and Merriwether who are being housed in the same big cage, but in divided spaces, are both showing an infection at the bite spots. They have these big bumps at the injury site and when pressed, it oozes pus and blood. So, I cleaned both wounds again with antiseptic (and got bit 2x pretty badly) and administered more oral antibiotic to both. I have an appt. with the vet on Monday.

On a more positive note, the two are chattering more and fighting less when together. I'm hoping we can house them together soon.

On a negative note, when I approached the cage of the aggressor, she growled at me?!

-Feeling sad and discouraged.

[Sunshinemeg]

Dont be too worried about the wounds. Gromit suffered a wound that sounds just like that a year or so ago. I held him wrapped up in a teatowel, and wiped the wound firmly with a tissue that was wet and then rung out. The wound vented lots of puss, so he was returned to the cage, and his companion, who had caused it, was so sorry he spent the rest of the day fussing over him and cleaning it up!

A good tip if you need to deal with a situation like that is to use a tea towel. as you can wrap them up in it to hold them firmly, and if they bite, as they are likely to do, its only the towel and not you!

It does sound like your single degu is overly aggressive. Talk to the vet about having her neutered. This could calm her down.

good luck, dont give up yet!

meg ;D

[diet otaku]

wow, i've never heard of degus growling at people... is it the same squeal they make when telling other degus to back off, or was it actual growling?

[goofan]

It was the noise they make to other goos to back off. It sounds like growling to me - like a cat.

Anyway, I went up to take care of them yesterday as well. I'm glad to report that the infections in both seem to be improved. No more oozing, the lumps are much smaller. Thankfully I still have their oral antibiotic. I've been administering it to both of them.

Unfortunately, the little buggers bit me again (even using the towel technique). Merriwether was agitated and I picked her up (scooping her like I'm supposed to), and she wanted down...got me 3 times - all 3 broke skin. She's getting more and more aggressive. I'm hoping that it's only related to her current state of health.

The cautionary good news is that I let Maleficent out and let her roam about for awhile and she played on the cage of the other two. They chattered up a storm (the good chatter) for about 2 hours while I alternated who got to roam about. So, that is an improvement over trying to attack through the cages!

I allowed Flora to visit Merriwether in her cube again, but this time, Flora went for her tail (seemingly gently, their normal nipping). Merriwether's tail seems to be very fragile as it continues to reopen at the slightest provocation. I'm hoping that she doesn't lose her tail. I am not sure how to treat it to keep it healthy.

Sweet Moments -- This was the rewarding experience of yesterday. I had pulled Merriwether out of the cage and placed her onto a table to attend to her tail (after I attended to my wounds from her bites before). I let her explore the table for awhile and encircled my arms so she could find a "retreat" when she got nervous (which she is quite often.) She would come into the circle, look out, explore, and run back into the circle. When she was finally acclimated, I placed her under a towel and held her down (gently) so that I could clean her tail with saline solution and assess the damage. After that was completed, I bunched the towel up a bit and she began to burrow. (she likes enclosed spaces) So, as she burrowed, I pulled the towel around and encircled my hands so it created a nest with an opening up top. The little thing just burrowed and turned, let me stroke her head, shoulders, back, behind the ears, etc. She eventually fell asleep while I was petting her face. She was so precious all curled up into a ball...sleeping. This totally made my day. I am hoping for more moments like these as she continues to heal.

-Cautiously optimistic

[ra]

I do hope things continue to improve for you. I can't imagine why they continue to be aggressive towards one another. Did you not say they were sisters?

Moments like you had with Merriweather can light up and entire day. Try not to be discouraged. It is difficult when there is so little written about communicating with your Degus to refer to.

[Sunshinemeg]

I second what Ra says, its those little moments that make it all worth while. Keep at it, you will make progress, but it will be slow. I suspect the attacks towards you are because they dont trust you. You were involved during the fights, so you may not be seen as safe. keep at it though.

By the way, why do you call them goos??

meg ;D

[goofan]

Well, I'm not sure what's going on now:

I've had them in 3 separate spaces now for about a week. Merriwether is still being targeted by Maleficent. I have not allowed her to mingle with the others at all while her tail is still healing, but they come up to her in her cage and pick a fight.

I've been treating Merriwether's back with a betadyne soak every day and giving her oral antibiotics 2x a day. This has almost eliminated the infection under her back wound. Her tail is still bumped and a little crooked, but doesn't seem to be getting worse. I'm keeping her away from the others primarily because of the tail fragility.

I have been letting Maleficent and Flora play together. They seem to be getting along well enough. However, I've noticed some interesting behavior in the past 2 days. Flora has been mounting Maleficent pretty aggressively. Now, I've seen them mount each other for dominance, etc., but this seems different. In addition, there was some strange sticky fluid that didn't look like urine. This prompted us to consider maybe we were given a male in our group of "sisters".

I've been trying to double check their sexes, but I'm kind of stumped. Flora's parts look odd to me. I don't see a great distance between the anus and the protrusion, however, the whole area looks larger and puffier than Maleficent and Merriwether. Is that an indication of a sex difference, or is Flora dealing with an itchy bum? I noticed that Maleficent and Merriwether both look similar - smaller openings, closer, etc.

I am not sure what to think. THey're supposedly only 5 months old. Aren't they still too young for this?

By the way, I call them goos because it's short for degu.

Oh, and Merriwether is becoming quite the spoiled little girl. She loves to cuddle now (and I love that!) She sleeps in my hands and lets me pamper her. I think she's happy with the attention.

[Sunshinemeg]

without actually seeing what you are describing, its hard to assess, if you could get photos, email them to me, and i can have a better evaluation! but you could be right in having a male in the group.

meg

[diet otaku]

the only way i have been able to distinguish males and females is that females have an extra opening between the anus and urethra. their urethra is right next to that opening, and that opening is right next to the anus. i have 2 males, and instead of a second opening there is simply a gap.

[goofan]

We tried to get photos of the privates tonight but were mostly unsuccessful. For some reason my camera didn't like focusing that close up. I did get some shots that are really cute, however.

I was looking really closely at the setup down below and noticed that the one who was doing the humping seems to have a 3rd opening between the anus and urethra that is puffy...I'm guessing she's in heat?

I'm noticing the maleficent, the one being humped, has a little area as well between the anus and urethra, but it's not puffy. Do they bleed when they're in season?

[Sunshinemeg]

I cant vouch for female degus as I have never had any. But when I had female Jerds I did notice occasional spots on the sawdust that was obviously from when one of them was in season, so I guess the same would apply with degu females.

meg ;D