Reintroducing 3 male degus

[safcamy]

Background: 3 male degus, bought from a pet shop (big mistake) they said they were girls as we wanted to introduce more to our 2 girls. We got them in April 2019 and the shop reckoned they were 4 months old, we think they may have been slightly older. The boys lived together until sept 2019 when they had a big bust up resulting in a trip to the vets with an eye injury (luckily wasnt serious). We had them neutered in oct 2019 as the vet advised the fights would only get worse.

Now: we have been trying to reintroduce them since November however were aware it may be more difficult with the 'breeding season' which seems to last forever and also had a set back when one injured his leg so was out of action for about 6-8 weeks.
With lockdown we have tried to make the most of getting them together every/every other day,however dont seem to be making any progress. More often than not things are getting heated very fast and they arent lasting longer than 10 mins together. However they do groom each other. They are currently in 3 separate cages next to each other and we swap them round every couple of days. We are starting to lose hope of ever getting them back together, so any advise from someone whos been in a similar situation would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
Amy

[savvy]

I'm sorry to hear you're having problems.

First of all, swapping their cages around may be making things worse as it will confuse them. Degus really hate any changes. It's better to swap a handful of substrate between their cages so they get used to each other scent again.

Also they are still in the adolescent phase so they are fighting for top position in their group. I think this may be the fighting your vet mentioned and it is perfectly normal and happens whether they be male, female, neutered or in tact. It's almost a rite of passage, but should settle down in time. Adolescence usually last from 6 months of age up until about 18 months of age so you still have a way to go.

Unless the fighting gets serious, you may need to just let them get on with it and sort it out between themselves. BUT separate if they start getting injured or into an FBOD.

I hope this helps, but please ask if there is anything you are unsure of and let us know how it goes.

[bouncy]

Hi,

Similar to Savvy. Degus are very territorial, so moving them around really will make them angry, especially as the natural alpha goo amongst them will definitely be claiming it ALL as his!

They are in their highly hormonal stage, which usually lasts until they are 18-24 months old. Neutering, unfortunately, won't make much difference with goos in the way it does with other animals. However, it may make things a little easier in the long run. If you can get two of the boys together, you may find that the third will happily live with the girls!

Now, let's take a step back. One of the main reasons degus of any sex start to fight is territory. A wild goo will potentially put claim to 1m2, which indicates how much of an issue the correct accommodation is. If their space is too small (in their minds), they will become very aggressive, regardless of whether they live, or have lived, together or not. Have a check of our cage size recommendations!

It may be that they won't want to be together under any circumstances until after their hormonal phase has passed, so please be careful not to build a grudge between the three boys. Degus are grudge experts, and can hold one indefinitely!

[deguconvert]

Hi Safcamy! Can you tell us what you are using for their individual cages? Are they in the Thickets cage?

If you like the idea suggested by Bouncy of introducing one of the boys to the two girls, I think it is prudent to also ask what size cage they live in. Three degus in a cage requires even more space, whether it is two girls and one boy, or all three boys.

Here our cage size recommendations thread ... deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9396/forums-cage-size-recommendations

[safcamy]

Thank you for all your advice. We didnt know about changing them in the cages being wrong, so are going to set up the big pet planet ferret cage tomorrow to act as the 3rd cage (i should clarify we were swapping them because we have a rubbish 3rd cage but this is coming out now) - all 3 are slightly different sizes due to what we can fit in the room. We have the pet planet ferret cage for the 2 girls, that is what we were told to get when we got them at the rspca. For the boys we picked up another of the same cage (https://www.petplanet.co.uk/p28577/rat_and_ferret_cage_by_petplanet.aspx) but after reading some other threads have decided we would try to combine that cage and our other big one together to give them enough space when they go in together.
I do quite like the idea of one being in with the girls, however they dont seem keen! Quite reassured that their age is playing a part in it too, hopefully in time they can get on again.

[safcamy]

Sorry had to google thickets cage! No they arent. We have a cozy pet rc01, pet planet corner cage and the one going up tomorrow is the pet planet ferret cage.