First time fighters

[jade86]

Hi there, my 2 girls have been fighting, one has an injury and I don’t know what to do.
It started a couple of hours ago, Hamish has been telling Hope to leave her alone, squaking, but then they started jumping up at each other and flying about the place.
Hamish has some blood on her beside her right nostril, she keeps doing wee chirps, but then she went down to Hope and started squaking again. They’ve been living with each other for about 14 months and this is the first time something has happened.
We’ve had to separate them overnight. Any advice here would be much appreciated, it’s just not like them, they normally get on well. We’re worried about them, and poor wee Hamish with her bloody nose

[deguconvert]

I'm so sorry, Jade86! It is so distressing when fighting breaks out! Can you update us on your girls? Their age at this time would be? Also . . . your cage is a . . .? Has there been any changes of late that might have altered the way they interact, such as maybe another new animal in your home? Construction in the neighborhood area that has changed the sounds coming into your home? New schedules for the people in your home? Cage location in the home changed? Sometimes they are impacted by small changes that we don't notice, but to them they are huge.

[jade86]

Thanks deguconvert, Hamish is about 2 and Hope is about a year and a half. They live in an xtrail and it’s not been moved recently, and there really hasn’t been any changes, apart from maybe the weather getting colder, would that affect them? I’ve kept them separated because we are both out all day at work and I don’t want to take the chance of letting them be together and start fighting again. They usually get on so well and it’s like this has just came out of nowhere!

[deguconvert]

Hamish is . . . female? I don't know what to think. It could be they have had a disagreement. At their ages they should be past the adolescent fighting that is most often not a problem beyond the age of 18. Have they ever had dominance fighting in the past? When you think about them, do you find it easy to know which of them is dominant?

[moletteuk]

Any change to cleaning regime, did you did a clean before the bust up? Any possible changes in their health? Do you weigh them regularly? I don't mean to worry you, I only mention health on the off chance that it's an issue. Temperature shouldn't be an issue.

You are probably right to be cautious while you aren't at home. Can you put them side by side to get an idea how they are feeling about each other now? If the signs are good you could try them together and watch them carefully during the evening while you are home.

[jade86]

Yeah Hamish is female lol sold as a male but gave birth to a single male pup 3 months after we got her, that was last May the pup was born, we called him Neo and he moved in with his dad in July and that’s when we brought Hope home with us
There’s never really been any dominance issues, they’ve always been the quiet ones, Hamish is quite timid and I think it’s rubbed off onto Hope. Sometimes Hamish might tell Hope to leave her alone but then it’s always been fine, Hope would just go play elsewhere, but last night Hamish kept telling Hope to get away from her but Hope just kept going back over to her and that’s when they started standing on back legs, using their arms and then flying about and falling off the levels!
There hasn’t been any changes to anything that I can think of, we’ve never been able to weigh them, their not tame unfortunately. See the setup we have is 2 xtrails, each xtrail has 2 goos, just now we have put a board over the halfway point so Hope is in the top half and Hamish is in the bottom half. Their both alone we’ve tried taking the board away tonight but Hamish just started squaking as soon as she saw Hope, so we’ve put the board back in place. I feel awful for them

[deguconvert]

There is strong potential that this is indeed to do with dominance. If there wasn't really a dominant one between them, then it is entirely possible that the Hope is pursuing that position and Hamish isn't willing to submit. She mightn't be totally stuck on being dominant, but isn't interested in the combative attitude that Hope might be feeling right now, either. She likes the status quo and Hope wants to change things up.

I'm sorry to say it, but they will not settle their current trouble without some fighting. There will likely be some bites and small injuries, which are really unpleasant for us, and for them, but more so for us as we hate so much to see it. They heal pretty well. Most fighting is acceptable, even though it stresses us owners out to see it. It also gives stress to the degus, but if we want them settled, it is part of the process. The only fighting you absolutely must stop is FBOD, which I think you know about.

Now, there is one more thing I would like to ask. In your Xtrail cage . . . have you converted the half levels into complete levels?

[moletteuk]

I think their age and the time of year is about right for them coming into heat, your description of Hope repeatedly hassling Hamish sounds familiar to mine in heat. Have you seen any reduced appetite, increased activity, more squealing, bum sniffing, tail wiggling and attempts at mounting? This would be easier to deal with as they will get used to it and it's only strong for 2 or 3 days. I could be completely wrong, if they calm down amazingly well in 2 or 3 days you will have a good idea.

[jade86]

Unfortunately no we haven’t changed the half levels into full levels yet but we are going to get it done. We’ve still got them separated, we have tried taking away the barrier but Hamish starts squaking and Hope goes over to her and they start fighting:( I think Hamish is quite happy on her own for now but I think Hope is starting to get a wee bit depressed, I feel awful for them and want to do the right thing, but I don’t really know what to do other than keeping them separated and seeing what their like with each other every now and again