Post by msinhore on Jul 17, 2024 23:27:59 GMT
Hello everyone,
This is my first post here. I've read many posts and learned a lot about various aspects of caring for my girls![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
I have three female degus. One of them arrived last November. I'm not sure about her exact age, but I believe she is around 2 years old. She is very calm and friendly with all the other degus. The second one came at the end of December and was approximately 2 months old at that time. After her arrival, it was very easy to introduce the two, and they became great friends. It was winter, which I think helped them bond.
I noticed they were always competing for dominance. After about three months, around April, the younger one, probably reaching adolescence, tried to take over as the leader and injured the older one’s front paw, leaving it raw. We treated the wound and isolated them within the same cage. This only worsened the situation, with the younger one always being nervous and the older one always making friendly sounds. They stayed like this for about a month.
We then acquired a larger cage, enriched the environment, and tried to reintroduce them. It worked for about two weeks. However, when we did a full cage clean in early June (I later learned this was not the right thing to do), the younger one attacked the older one again. The older one screamed desperately in fear. We isolated them again since the cage can be divided. Since then, we’ve attempted to reintroduce them several times without success. The younger one seems to hate the older one and wants no interaction.
The older one is very needy and seems to crave companionship. So, we adopted another degu. She has a completely different personality from the others. She loves humans (she is about 1 to 2 years old), enjoys playing and being petted, but if she sees any of the other degus, she goes straight to attack mode.
The other degus always make friendly sounds toward the newcomer, but she doesn’t want to engage. After two weeks, we tried to introduce them, and the newcomer attacked. We separated them, and now they have been in separate cages for two weeks.
The current situation is: all the degus are in separate spaces with no contact because there is a risk they might form a death ball. They all have completely different personalities. The youngest, about 7 months old, doesn’t like me and always seems scared (I am worried about this). The oldest is fine but feels lonely, and the newcomer enjoys playing with us but doesn’t want to interact with the other degus.
Does anyone have any advice for my situation?
Thank you in advance!
Marco
This is my first post here. I've read many posts and learned a lot about various aspects of caring for my girls
![:)](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
I have three female degus. One of them arrived last November. I'm not sure about her exact age, but I believe she is around 2 years old. She is very calm and friendly with all the other degus. The second one came at the end of December and was approximately 2 months old at that time. After her arrival, it was very easy to introduce the two, and they became great friends. It was winter, which I think helped them bond.
I noticed they were always competing for dominance. After about three months, around April, the younger one, probably reaching adolescence, tried to take over as the leader and injured the older one’s front paw, leaving it raw. We treated the wound and isolated them within the same cage. This only worsened the situation, with the younger one always being nervous and the older one always making friendly sounds. They stayed like this for about a month.
We then acquired a larger cage, enriched the environment, and tried to reintroduce them. It worked for about two weeks. However, when we did a full cage clean in early June (I later learned this was not the right thing to do), the younger one attacked the older one again. The older one screamed desperately in fear. We isolated them again since the cage can be divided. Since then, we’ve attempted to reintroduce them several times without success. The younger one seems to hate the older one and wants no interaction.
The older one is very needy and seems to crave companionship. So, we adopted another degu. She has a completely different personality from the others. She loves humans (she is about 1 to 2 years old), enjoys playing and being petted, but if she sees any of the other degus, she goes straight to attack mode.
The other degus always make friendly sounds toward the newcomer, but she doesn’t want to engage. After two weeks, we tried to introduce them, and the newcomer attacked. We separated them, and now they have been in separate cages for two weeks.
The current situation is: all the degus are in separate spaces with no contact because there is a risk they might form a death ball. They all have completely different personalities. The youngest, about 7 months old, doesn’t like me and always seems scared (I am worried about this). The oldest is fine but feels lonely, and the newcomer enjoys playing with us but doesn’t want to interact with the other degus.
Does anyone have any advice for my situation?
Thank you in advance!
Marco