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Post by gemmagreaves on Nov 5, 2009 11:54:40 GMT
Hi strange question, does anyone know if it is possible for 2 goos to genuinely HATE each other? Ive been introducing ursula and norman to levi maggi and co for a while now, jsut letting them run around the degu room and interact, ive been covering them and their sandbath in vanilla essence first. there was a bit of hostility and ursula began overgrooming her paws, again. she made them red-raw. yesterday they were out again and noone cared there were 'extras' so i cleaned out their cage and scrubbed it to get rid of any lingering goo smells. then i put all the goos in. it was too much for ursula bless her she wouldnt stop squeaking and looked terrified. norman ran off to eat and left her to it! Levi kept going up to ursula and attacking her, not just humping i mean the minute they were near each other there was a fur ball rolling about the cage. ursula got her ear bitten. i re-divided the cage temporarily using some mesh flooring and put ursula and norman and maggi and heidi in the top section as heidi and maggi didnt seem to upset ursula too much (they all slept in a goo pile lastnight cos i got up at 2am to check on them. but something was definitely going on between ursula and levi because levi kept attacking ursulas feet through the little bits of mesh floor, only ursulas, not normans! they calmed down so i left them overnight - checked on them at 2am but they were all asleep. but this morning there was lots of blood on the mesh and ursulas back paw toes are covered in dried blood. her front paw is also but part of one of her toes is missing. ive had her out and bathed them in very dilute savlon but they've healed already. all 4 of them have settled so well. so i have swapped them round so ursula etc are on the bottom of the cage now to prevent that happening again. i put spice in with them and she was fine, ursula got a bit unsettled but a dried piece of carrot later and all was fine. i picked levi up and put her to the bars of the cage next to ursula and they went mad at each other. i was hoping in a couple of days i can put nutmeg and levi in with the others and re-open the cage to all of them but im starting to wonder if this will be possible! do you think if i put nutmeg in and leave levi on her own for a bit to calm down and think about what shes done it might make her nice? im confused as to why its only them 2 that have a problem. and im worried about ursula and why she looks so terrified when theres other goos about when all other goos are inquisitive!
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 5, 2009 23:34:53 GMT
It is definitely possible for two degus to have a hate on for each other . . . or for one to decide that it absolutely cannot stand the other. It definitely sounds like Levi has taken that kind of stand against Ursula. Is Ursula still showing signs of fear with the other degus around? I don't think it would hurt Levi at all to be one her own for a while. It can make a huge difference in how receptive they are to other degus, but she may need to be in a separate room from all the other degus, and she may need to be there for several weeks. There are occasionally degus that for the most part, or even completely, LOATHE all other degus and only want to be alone. They seem to be totally healthy and happy all on their own. If you are able to house Levi alone for a while, I would definitely do that. Just keep a good eye on her, and take note of what kind of impact it is having on her emotions and health.
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Post by gemmagreaves on Nov 6, 2009 16:24:47 GMT
levi was absolutely loving the company of heidi and maggi, spice and nutmeg before the introduction and when i put her in with all including ursula she just ignored them all, even norman, and went straight for ursula. i thought if i left them at it for a while they would eventually sort out their differences but with ursula sat in her wheel, making the 'hiccup' squeak, levi just kept circling her and ursula would strike out and then levi would attack and then ursula would jump back in her wheel and it went on and on so i ended it after half an hour cos i didnt want to upset ursula too much. i even put levi in a different part of the cage but she seeked ursula out, it was like she was lookign for her - sniffing about and following the scent until she reached her!
i went in this morning and levi was just in the top section of the cage last night and she looked miserable as hell. in fact, she looked so miserable i had to put little nutmeg in with her and she cheered up straight away. ursula's gnawed the tops of her paws even more overnight but she was settled this morning, eating with maggi and then she snuggled with norman. i just cant believe hers and levis behaviour!
ursulas levis mum! they should know better! im wondering if i coat them all in vanilla essence again in a few days and reintroduce them all int eh degu room rather than in their cage do you think theres a chance they could 'forget' their previous hatred?
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Post by gemmagreaves on Nov 6, 2009 16:38:20 GMT
just after reading your post in facial expressions i'd just like to add that when ursula was squeakign (the deranged hiccup squeak) yesterday for 2 hours, when i picked her up she was limp and just narrowed her eyes and lay in my arms for 15 minutes while i stroked her and calmed her down. maybe levi sent some strange signals to her that scared her so much before she got attacked?
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 6, 2009 20:38:54 GMT
It certainly sounds like that! It is a really weird situation alright. I would never have thought that a daughter would be so murderous toward her mother like that . . . but all that you describe of Levi certainly sounds like she has a big hate on for her. I don't know that you will be able to work around this. Levi certainly needs companionship, but I don't think you should keep trying to put her in with Ursula and Norman. I understand your desire to have them all together in a great big happy goo family . . . but you might have to keep them in two groups. If Ursula is chewing her feet raw out of her anxiety, she might get worse rather than better. Have you considered the possibility that Ursula and Norman are best with just the two of them?
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