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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2017 10:47:12 GMT
They need to be able to interact really.
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Post by sonataarctica89 on Jul 10, 2017 10:48:51 GMT
So let them do the teeth chatter thing. Also looking at them now gizmo is very destructive and pretty much wants to destroy everything including paper and tissues for no reason
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Post by misscatafer on Jul 10, 2017 11:00:31 GMT
They are degus -destroying is what they do best! it is complete healthy, normal behaviour and anything you give to a degu, expect it to end up being chewed to nothingness. They need lots of things to chew all day long to keep them occupied and keep their teeth down.
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Post by sonataarctica89 on Jul 10, 2017 11:04:14 GMT
They are degus -destroying is what they do best! it is complete healthy, normal behaviour and anything you give to a degu, expect it to end up being chewed to nothingness. They need lots of things to chew all day long to keep them occupied and keep their teeth down. See this only happened after the fight, he does around destroying it and 'kicking' it for no reason as to if he wants to fight it. I know they are destructive they destroyed a new wooden house window in under 10mins XD
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Post by misscatafer on Jul 10, 2017 11:08:01 GMT
He's probably just playing, I find once mine choose something to destroy they can be quite persistent with it and kick the item onto different levels of the cage etc.
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Post by sonataarctica89 on Jul 10, 2017 11:11:00 GMT
Could be, maybe I read it wrong seeing he started it only after the fighting and generally when they are being aggressive towards each other, though I'm gunna leave them side by side now and let them get it out of there system hopefully (fingers crossed)
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Post by sonataarctica89 on Jul 10, 2017 12:55:52 GMT
Would this information be of any help they are unrelated and about 5months old. One is an agouti morph and the other is a pied
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2017 13:01:06 GMT
Were they together in the petshop?
They'll be fighting for dominance as they're adolescence until they're 18 months.
I think if we go through things slowly.
Improving their living space needs to come first; to rule that out of blame. Then we can take it from there.
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Post by sonataarctica89 on Jul 10, 2017 13:21:25 GMT
Yep they were together at the pet shop and they had no issues between them
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Post by bouncy on Jul 10, 2017 15:17:53 GMT
How many food bowls and water bottles do you have? Mine go for it when I put their seed bowl in - Spidey rules. You might find two bowls in different parts of the cage or scatter feeding (no bowl, just scatter across the floors) will help. With the latter, if they're on different floors, they'll be too focused on finding food scoffing to get aggressive.
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Post by bouncy on Jul 10, 2017 15:20:38 GMT
Iif they've only become unsettled since you got them home, then I would say it's the change in surroundings that's the biggest factor. Where is your cage? Room, floor or table, Windows, doors, traffic (human and motor) etc.
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Post by moletteuk on Jul 10, 2017 16:00:46 GMT
There are general rules and ideas and ways things usually go in certain situations regarding degu society and relationships and then there is the personality element and the nuances of behaviour that you have to watch and figure out for yourself, perhaps with a little guidance or discussion with us.
So, the main things that you can do that are in your power to influence are cage size and making sure there are two of everything that they could fight over and understanding about territory and how that is very important to some degus and linked with dominance behaviour. Also scents can be important to territory and social bonds, so only do partial cleanouts and spot clean as much as you can.
If they aren't brothers and possibly haven't been living together too long and not so well bonded and indeed could have personality preference issues on top of the puberty hormonal issues that degus suffer from 4 to 18 months, you could have some work infront of you to get them to live happily together.
Watch them as much as you can until you gain confidence in picking up their moods, try and see the world from their point of view to try to understand what they are thinking.
If they are acting crazy agitated when the cages are close, then it might be worth moving the cages just far enough apart that they calm down. At the moment we want to minimise this incident so they forget about it quicker. This might happen by keeping them as close as possible so they can 'discuss' it and clear the air quicker, but equally it might happen quicker if you move them apart so they cool off quicker. There often is no right and wrong and to a degree you have to go with your gut instinct. Generally people tend to panic and separate too early when allowing some fighting might have cleared the air sooner and got them in harmony sooner, but you always have to balance this with the extra risk of injury.
My best advice is do some reading so you are familiar with how these things can go and spend time watching your degus so you can get inside their heads asap. Oh another thing is try to win them over to you so they like and respect you, and then you have a chance at being part of the heirarchy and influencing their behaviour by telling them off, or supporting the stronger one as dominant by feeding first etc.
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Post by sonataarctica89 on Jul 10, 2017 16:12:17 GMT
Thanks it's not much but brought them a cuddle toy mouse and both seemed to calm down towards each other and us at that nothing seeking attention from us and the toys, they were trying to interact between the cages but seeing it's a foot injury they aren't close enough to touch either. As for trying to bond and get in the hierarchy that's what we have been trying. Making them go to sleep at the same time (well we cover them up and go in the other room) pretending to eat a treat first before they get a chance and joining in playing with fingers trying to get them to fight my hand. Best part is although gizmo was semi asleep he allowed me to rub his head through the cage which has never happened.
I'm starting go think it maybe more just unsettled and nervous around us which has caused it. They do have 2 of everything besides a wheel as gizmo is 100% not interested unless stripe is moving it. Never made an attempt to get on it he prefers trying to catch it and bite it.
The cage has wheels and is up against a wall with a picture, it's in the front room which has a main road but none of the rooms get much quieter.
We have also allowed them to fight but only separated after the foot injury from them going into a furball, they won't be physically together until the medicine has been done for the full 7 days so to minimize it getting targeted again and was also recommended to do that by the vet
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Post by moletteuk on Jul 10, 2017 16:30:33 GMT
OK, great, that sounds like you are getting your head into degu mode really well A new home and new cage and new people can be very unsettling for degus. When I had had mine about a year, we moved them from one side of the room to the other and it took them about 6 weeks to get over the move, some degus are just like that. Others will forget they love each other and turn to fighting at the slightest unsettled feeling too. Sometimes these settling/ confusion/ new territory issues aren't so bad for them to get over, so fingers crossed. I think if they are going to be apart for a week you might as well keep them far enough apart to be calm and gradually work on bridging the gap over the next couple of days.
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Post by deguconvert on Jul 10, 2017 18:24:09 GMT
Hello Sonataactica89! Welcome to the forum, and to the rather crazy and frenetic world of degus. Until things calm with your degus and you have acclimated to the vast amount of information and learning there is about degus, it can feel like everything is topsy turvy. We all love our degus, but also readily admit that they are a lot of work, expensive to maintain, and can be difficult to puzzle out. I think that you have not only taken on two males that are right in the start of adolescence, which is full of drama, but you have two that are keen on top degu position and will not easily surrender their ambition. As well, while the pet store told you that they have been together, they likely have not told you how long they were together, nor how stable the introduction has been. As well, pet store staff doesn't make it a point to observe their animal stock, so they probably have no clue! Have a good read through our introduction guides. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17619/deguconverts-detailed-introductions-fighting-guidedeguworld.proboards.com/thread/17618/introductions-fighting-quick-guide
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Post by sonataarctica89 on Jul 10, 2017 19:29:59 GMT
Apparently the pet store had never had a problem with them fighting, but that could be that there was 2 non dominate ones in there as well so they had people to "push" around, but now there is just them two
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Post by deguconvert on Jul 10, 2017 19:32:06 GMT
It is rather stunning how dramatically the loss of two cage mates can change the way that the remaining two degus react to each other. I expect that if you were to contact the store you got them from, they would likely tell you that the remaining two have been fighting as well.
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Post by sonataarctica89 on Jul 10, 2017 20:58:12 GMT
Apparently they were more relaxed, also is it normal for a degu to act like a dog hold his tail and spinning
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Post by bouncy on Jul 10, 2017 21:04:33 GMT
I now have an extreme vision of a goo chasing its tail, catching it, but not realising it's only still trying to get away because he's still himself running!
I must admit that I've never come across this before.
And apologies, I assumed you bought a pair of goos, rather than taking two from a group of four. If your two are the most dominant two, it doesn't surprise me the other two are more chilled. They're probably thinking "yay, those bossy gits have gone! Let's chill! Can you be bothered to sort out who's boss between us, or shall we just take turns? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
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Post by sonataarctica89 on Jul 10, 2017 21:21:18 GMT
That's the exact response we both thought when they told us the others are more relaxed and yay sat here now and they are talking to each other and not being hostile
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