Is my only option to give away my aggresive Degu? - Paw Talk

Trine · #1 03-31-2009, 03:35 AM

Dear all. I have 4 male deguses. They usually live nicely together but every month one of them, the aggresive one starts attacking everyone. There have been blood in the cage a few times. Now it`s his monthly attack time. I have seperated him to his own cage and it is harmony for the others. I have had him in the seperate cage for two days now, and have tried to re-introduce them three times. After two minutes he starts attacking everyone again, throwing them into the walls and just goes crazy. He even jumped up and attacked my arm twice, he has never done that before. His name is the pitbull due to his nature

My issue is wether to keep him and make the other ones lifes a misery or pass him on to a new owner. He has lived all his life with his brothers and father and I can only imagine how awful and scary it must feel for him to have to move. I`m not sure if anyone will ever want to take him over aswel, due to his habit of biting and being aggresive

I`d hate for him to bite his new owner and get thrown into a wall as a reaction or something

Please give an advise if you have been i the same situation before. Thank you in advance for any replies.

Sincerely,

Trinity

Chinchi · #2 03-31-2009, 08:43 AM

Have you tried taking him to a vet during these attack times?
How about getting him neuterd (sp?) (not sure if this helps with degus, but it might be a solution).

Kendalle · #3 03-31-2009, 12:45 PM

another thing to understand is taking him out and putting him back in is making it worse more likely than better, as it makes him want to become the dominate one more and more

How big is your cage? Having a larger cage is an option or maybe your aggressive one with another one in a different cage.

Trine · #4 04-01-2009, 01:52 PM

I have not thought about that before, thank you... Him needing to be dominant over and over again, puh

I have the largest cage for sale in Norway, so there are many levels and chill out zones. I have tried having them seperated two and two, but he attacks each of them when they are in a cage with him

I have thought about neutering before, but I`ve heard that there is a serious fatal risk of doing it, so I`m not sure if I dear doing it. I`m getting pretty desperate now, as it is day 5 of his squeeking and terrorising, I`m going mad....

Kendalle · #5 04-01-2009, 09:54 PM

You may want to consider getting him neutered however there is no guarantee with that and there is a chance he won't make it, Or you could keep him as a lone degu, normally it isn't advised but sometimes it is the only way.

Chinchi · #6 04-01-2009, 10:14 PM

I know this seams a bit harsh, but if you actually have problems with him attacking you, euthenasia might be the only option.

MañasMom · #7 04-02-2009, 12:13 AM

My advice would be keep him in his own cage, but push the communal cage and his cage up against each other. (If the cages are mesh or wire - that way they can reach through and touch each other when and if they want.) This way he can have the company and physical touch of his family members, but they will be safe from his attacks. In this way, he won't truly be a "lone" Degu, because he will still be part of his family group - it just keeps everyone safe.

This is a pretty common solution for this kind of situation. I did it myself for years, and it worked out great. The girls would sleep back to back through their cages, snuggle, groom, the works. But no attacks or blood.

I've seen this done with a variety of small animals - guinea pigs, rabbits, etc. Just an idea, but it's workable for everyone, if you're ok with keeping 2 cages.

PS - a vet visit during his "attack" period is a great suggestion. I would start there, and then see where you need to go next.

Trine · #8 04-04-2009, 05:31 AM

Sadness... I reintroduced them the day before yesterday and the pitbull got beaten back, he hurt his eye. Yesterday when I woke up his eye was totaly closed by goo. Went to the wet and got meds, and his eye looked fine after some hours. Had him in solitary over the night. This morning I tried to reintroduce them again, as the pitbull made longing squeeks... Right into a fight with everyone. Now his jaw is hurt and bleeding

So I have given up on making them live together. I cannot have to cages since I use one of them while cleaning the big cage and I really don`t have that big of an appartment

So now my last option is neutering. I`ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Rgs,

Trinity,

Brighteyed · #9 06-29-2009, 10:50 AM

are the two cages you have currently big enough to provide propper living conditions? if they are i suggest simply getting a small plastic fish tank from you local pet store and putting them in there while cleaning. or you can put the agressive one in that cage while cleaning his then transfer the three into his cage while you clean there. then move everyone back into the cage they are supposed to be in. i dont know much about degues but i have had other rodents. i had a simmilar issue with my male rats not accepting a new companion so i kept two cages for awhile keeping them next to each other so they could reach through and eventually i was able to put all three into the same cage.

Trine · #10 07-04-2009, 05:23 AM

Thank you for your reply

It is no longer a problem since I neutered my agressive degu. It is now all harmony in the cage, one big happy family

bokuza · #11 07-04-2009, 04:43 PM

HA! thats awesome!

starstella92 · #12 07-18-2009, 11:16 AM

Aw, I'm glad he's no longer a meanie.

I'm actually currently having a problem with my male prairie dog not getting along with another. He's too young to neuter now, and I really don't want to get rid of the new little girl. I'm at a loss, I actually put up a for sale ad for her this morning. He just won't accept her.