Dust Baths and Dreams?

[ronnieandreggie]

Hi all!

Thank you so much for your advice last time regarding their fighting, I keep them in a much smaller area when I get them out now and they don't fight at all in that situation.

HOWEVER  Ronnie now starts a fight whenever they have a dust bath. I have tried putting it in the cage, and letting them have it one at a time. But Ronnie always gets angry at Reggie and squeaks at him, and more often than not it will lead to them physically fighting. Any ideas what to do? Wondering if Reggie loses his scent in the bath which makes Ronnie think he's a stranger?

Another question I have is, Ronnie seems to squeak in his sleep a lot. He often doesn't even open his eyes, and they are always two squeaks together repeated in quick succession. I got up once to see him roaming around the bottom of the cage with his eyes shut squeaking. I try to comfort him, and so does Reggie, but it's almost like we're not there. He settles after half an hour or so, sometimes longer.

Again thank you in advance!

Rach x

[savvy]

Do you leave the dust bath in permanently? They could be fighting over it because they're looking on it as a treat instead of a permanent fixture.

With regards to the squeaking, degus do dream but I haven't heard of one sleep walking before. Has anyone else got any experience of this?

[ronnieandreggie]

No I put it in every couple of days, so shall I put it in as part of their cage?

Yea it's certainly like he's dreaming but just worried it could be something else.

Thanks

[savvy]

I leave mine in all the time. If there's room in the cage you could get them one each.

[bouncy]

Awwwwwwwww a sleepwalking goo! My only concern is what he might do whilst asleep, especially if their nest is on an upper level. If there's the possibility of him falling through into the next level, perhaps just make sure it's a clean fall onto substrate.

[ronnieandreggie]

Awesome, thanks guys! x

[moletteuk]

It's really common for them to fight over dust baths that are only offered for short periods. You might have to be vigilant to get them beyond the fight when you first leave it in, it might not be straightforward but it probably is the best way to try to solve this. Let us know if you have any difficulty, you could always try two separate baths if the permanent bath causes more problems. Most of us that leave the bath in permanently sift the poos out now and then and only change the sand infrequently, depending on how badly they are using it as a toilet.

I don't have any experience of sleep walking degus, and I don't recall it cropping up before, but it does sound like that is what is happening. Good suggestion from Bouncy to have a think about cage safety, but apart from that it shouldn't cause a problem in itself.