Degu Fight - HELP!

[datagirly2k]

Hey,
I'm hope for some advice on my the situation I have with my degus. In March we adopted 2 male degus from the local SPCA/Humane society. At the humane society they were originally caged together but when we went to pick them up they were in two separate cages (which i'm wondering if this was a sign). We hung out with them there for a bit and they seemed scared of course but okay with each other, not that we had much experience with Degus then.
For 3 months they seemed to get along, i think just the usual food spat and dominance issues, a bit of boxing, (this was especially if my bf or I took them out and played with them) but no major issues.
Then in July, I think i made a dumb mistake. I took them to work (I work at a daycare) and the kids got to see them and i held the goos while the kids pet them. The thing was is they were behaving super well! Better than usual, not really acting scared or angry and just doing what they normally would do at home and even grooming each other and sleeping.
That night i took them home, put them back in there big cage and gave them their dust bath, etc. An hour or so later we heard some loud bangs and squeaks. We rushed over and there was blood trails all over in one spot and the boys were yelling at each other. I picked up Smorzle because he had a HUGE gash on his nose and cheek. I was worried so we called the vet, but we couldn't get him in that night so we went the next day with just him. I cleaned his nose with salt water and we separated them. Sporks also had a gash on his tail that I cleaned. Vet told us Smorzle was fine, but gave us some meds for him that i gave to him for the prescribed week.
So i kept them separated and made a wire mesh divider to separate them in their smaller cage (1 1/2 wide by 3 foot long by 1 1/2 foot tall). Unfortunately, every time they saw each other they freaked out and grunted and squeaked and Sporks even tried to get at (and hurt?) Smorzle through the mesh. I even tried swapping them sides everyday, but they just could not seem to get use to each other.
I got tired of them doing this and that cage was just too small so i ended up dividing their larger cage (2' x 4' x 4' tall) laterally so that now Smorzle is on the top and Sporks on the bottom. They seem okay with this and Sporks has even gotten more human friendly. I even tried to reintroduce them a couple times (in neutral territory) but they just fight and box and yell, i get scared so i don't want to do it for long, especially since one time when my boyfriend told me to just leave them alone Sporks ripped up Smorzles throat while boxing (it was bad )
It's just weird cuz, there's one spot they go to in their cage if i open the door where they can stick their heads out and see each other and if i put my hand there there they'll sit (on their own respective sides) and GROOM eachother, super cute and they don't fight, but again if i try to bring them OUT to see each other they just fight!!!
Please HELP! I don't know what to do, do i just leave them as is? Do i just need to have more patience and keep trying to integrate them? Is there a better way to do this? I'm worried because it's so much better for them to be in a group, but they just don't seem to get along! And now Smorzle is somewhat being destructive...
Sorry for the super long note, thanks to anyway who reads all the way through!

[marracraighead]

I am posting to let you know I did read all the way through but I am still trying to intro my 4 girls with 6 months of trying the swapping and all. I know the veterans will deff have a few comments and suggestions for ya these guys are a great group and super helpful I wish you the best and sending yours babies my girls love and hugs I hope you can get this sorted out because I think they do need each other please keep us informed

[deguconvert]

I'm not really sure what to tell you. With a history that is suggested by the separation you saw in the SPCA, as well as their more recent trouble, there is a somewhat greater potential that getting them back together will be less successful. However, I will not say impossible. It will demand a great deal more determination on your part, as well as patience and time. I will follow that up with, you need to know your own limitations, and if you get to a point where you just feel that there is no more going forward in your attempts to reunite them, then give yourself the grace you need to call it quits.

Can you tell me what kind of destructive behaviors you are seeing from Smorzle? What things have you done with them to introduce them back to each other? Have you had them next to each other in the cages . . . wait, they are up and down now, aren't they. So, how do you monitor them when you have them in the neutral area for a meet?

[datagirly2k]

marracraighead : Thanks for the motivation! Good luck with yours as well!
deguconvert: Thanks for the advice!
Smorzle's destructive behaviour is chewing and destroying parts of his cage, and for some reason he always finds a spot where he can barely get a foot or a tail through, does so and it gets bit by sporks - he know this happens everytime but he does it anyway... LIke i said i had them in a cage where they could see eachother but this just got them riled up, so now i only do that once a week while i clean their big cage and usually for a while before or after i clean their cage i would put them in our front room like i did when they weren't fighting and i just watch them and if they start fighting i separate them immediately. Today i tried putting them in the bath tub together as a more neutral zone, and at first they were doing well just sniffing and kinda grooming / grabbing eachother, but they they started boxing, i grabbed a towel and covered them, and kept doing that every time they boxed, but it got to the point where that's all they were doing. Lame. So i gathered them up and put them back in their newly cleaned cage in which Smorzle is ripping all the newspaper he can get a hold of to shredds and Sporks i believe is sleeping. Haha!