One aggressive, other lonely, no space for 3 cages

[sofirealmond]

Hi, I'm a first-time owner and I'm not sure what to do with my degus. I've heard that some males are very territorial and must be kept on their own and one of my degus, Sam, seems to be one of those cases. I've tried neutering and there were several attempts at reintroduction, but there were never any positive results, only chewed ears and bald patches. Sam seems to be just too territorial to live with another male and he seems to be content on his own anyway. As his vet suggested might happen at his age (about 3), fighting with males has become a learned behaviour that we can't fix. That's fine as long as he's happy, but his brother isn't.

Since I had to separate them, poor Max has been chewing the bars constantly in attempt to get to Sam. He has plenty of chew toys, a foraging toy, lots of cage accessories and playtime every day (moreso than his brother, because honestly, he's my favourite), but there's no substitute for another degu. It's gotten to the point where his teeth are about half the size they should be:
puu.sh/EJGPj/4440e683c7.jpg

Since they're both neutered and Max is very sociable, Max can be introduced to a female and they probably won't fight. And if that doesn't work, they could be in separate rooms.

Except, they can't. The problem is, I only have the space for two cages and I can only have those cages in my room. To have a third degu would mean I would have to keep it separate from its intended cagemate for a period of time, but there's nowhere in the house that I can do that. They're both terrified of my dog, so I can't have them downstairs and there's no other room upstairs where I could keep them. Plus, it would be torture for Sam to have a female in the room that he can't get to but Max can. It's looking like the only option to help Max is to rehome Sam, but I really don't want to do that because I love them both. Can anyone help me think of a solution to this? I'll rehome them if absolutely necessary because I want whatever's best for them, but I really don't want to.

Also, I don't know if this is relevant, but I adopted them both from a woman who got them from Pets At Home. This might be the reason Sam is so aggressive and can't live with other boys.

[savvy]

Oh dear! I'm sorry you've found yourself in this situation.

First of all, aggression is usually because of territory size, more than personality. Can you tell us what size cage you have and also what the layout is. Also, are you sure they are both boys?

I think your vet may have given you a little incorrect information, fighting is not a learned behaviour, and I suspect that this is about hierarchy within the group rather than just being a thug. Degus have a complex hierarchy system and each degus place within it is important. What you are witnessing could just be hierarchy fighting as they are in a new environment and everything is new to them. Can you describe what you are seeing when you say they are fighting? This will help us to tell you what's happening.

On the subject of getting a female cage mate, I can tell you from experience, I have 1 male and 1 female currently living side by side, and it's the girls who do the chasing!

If we know more about your routine with them, ie what, when and how you are feeding, what you have in their cages and where, we may be able to find a way for all of your degus to be happy without the need of rehoming.

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but degus are complex little guys and how their homes are set up, together with the right feeding is vital to their contentment.

If you do have anything you need to ask, please ask, there are no silly questions when it comes to degus.

[deguconvert]

Hello Sofirealmond, and welcome to the forum!!

I'm interested in the answers to the same questions as Savvy has asked, and I'm going to add a couple of my own.

How long have you had them?
How long have they been neutered?
What have you done to try and reintroduce them?
Were they together when you brought them into your home.

[deguconvert]

Just want you to know, I am not asking the above questions so that I can shoot you down. Knowing what you have already done helps us to know where you are at. Which helps us know if there are suggestions to make that will simply tweak what you've done, or suggestions to try a completely different direction. It will help us to know if you are fatigued by the re-introductory process and need a break. How long they have been neutered will determine how quickly you can look into females, if that is the route you prefer to follow. How long you have had them can help us determine if they are still adjusting to their new home, with all the new sights, sounds, environment, and people.

Cage size is a significant factor in degu contentment, and it is far more common to learn that you have been directed toward cages that are too small for degus than just right or too large. In fact . . . only once have I encountered an owner on here that had to reduce the cage size for the number of degus they had. The vast majority of the members that choose to share about their cage experiences here have all started with cages that were too small. We are very sensitive to the factors that go into changing up our cages. Finances, spacial limitations, family/flat mates are all very important considerations as well. While you could potentially hear us recommend a larger cage, we will not harass you about it, and will try to make suggestions that give you several potential options to consider as well as understanding that lots of things cannot be done without building a nest egg for that purpose first.

We really do want to help.