[petluvr01]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any tips on introducing two males together? I just got a friend for my little boy, another boy, and they don't get along very well.
I have, multiple times, put them in a box with a fresh dust bath, and for about the first 5 min they r absolutley fine! They smell each other and wutnot and just chill. Then, all of a sudden, one of them will turn and attack the other! the first time this happened, the new one was very submissive and kept showing his rear, but this apparently meant nothing to my boy. But after that, everytime they have started fighting neither of them show submissive behavior and i have always ended up having to separate them. I let them fight for a little bit, hoping that they can work it out, but when i see the fur start flying, I take one out.

Now I got another girl at the same time for my girl, and they r being perfect angels about this! Although I haven't yet gotten them completley together in the same cage, they r really close to be best buddies! But my boys just wont cooperate!
Does anyone have any tips how i can get my boys to like each other?!?! I have tried the whole vanilla exxtract thing too, and that also didn't work

HELPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[FlickeringHope]

Well think about it, girls don't have to fight for the right to mate. Are the girls in the same room as the boys? That could be the issue...

 

[Sasami]

Males are more likely to fight when kept in the same room as females, sadly. It's also possible that you're moving too fast. You say that they're ok for the first few minutes, right? Then just keep them together for a few minutes at a time for now so they get used to each other without fighting .

 

[petluvr01]

yea they r in the same rooom, but i really have no other choice for that bc i have to keep them both in my rrom with the door closed, or else they will have the constant tormentation of 2 cats and two 4 year old twins as well as a 9 year old who would never leave them alone Maybe If i start to introduce them in a diff room where the females haven't been, maybe i could be more successful?

I have had them for just about 3 weeks, so i have been getting them used to each other very gradually I will start keeping the meetings short and sweet. Right now what I have been doing is swapping them in their cages, that is I put my boy in the new boys cage and vice versa for a while, that way their scents start to intermingle, hopefully! I have a dust bath that they have both been using, it doesn't look very pretty anymore though lol but it does have both of their scents in it. I am really hoping that they become friends! I hate to see them both lonley!

 

[Sasami]

Where do you introduce them? You want an area that's totally neutral, one where none of the degus go (or at least not usually).

 

[petluvr01]

well i thought of that, so i got a large box to put them in, I was going to do the bathtub, but that didn't seem like a clean idea lol

The box is medium size, big enough to give them room to get away from one another, but small enough so that they have to be around each other. And I put the dust bath right inside with them to use.

One thing that i have noticed though, is that my two new goos dont really seem to care about the dust bath. I mean they will roll once or twice, but that is it; whereas, my other two goos, as soon as they see the dust bath they go crazy and usually dont get out till i take it out or it is all gone. lol

 

[Sasami]

I've noticed that younger degus don't take as long dust baths so that may be the case with yours. Or at least that's how it is with mine .

 

[petluvr01]

hmm that could be.... all four of them are all around one yer old, so i am thinking that maybe the guy that i got them for never really gave them dust baths?
I was reading the degutopia site about introducing degus, and decided to try the method where u put them in the same cage and split in horizontally and leave them for a week. Boy was last night torture! The girls kept making noises through the bars, idk if they were good or bad noises, but they were sure loud. And the boys were a bit better, my boy didn't really seem to care at all about the other boy; whereas, the new boy kept trying to get to the other side and just kept sitting there sqeeking!!
But i am thinking that my girls were talking to each other? It didn't sound sreally mean when they were making noises, but it wasn't nice peaceful sounds either?

 

[petluvr01]

a bad turn for the worse!!! I had my two males in a large 20 gal tank divided in two by wire, and apparently, today while i was at school, one of them decided to slip through the top and got in to the other boy. they were in each others side when i fooound them. my orginal boy is hurt pretty bad there was quite a bbit if blood and his whol hind area and down part o fhis yail is all bloody. the other boy doesnn;t appear to be hurt that bad, just a bit of blood and spots here and there.

but apparently they left each other on good terms if they each went in to separate sides and they didn't fight to the death. So they must have come to some sort of agreement or decided who was top boss???

idkk wut to do from here???? does this mean that i will never be able to join them together and they wil both be lonely? im so lost right now! help please!!!

 

[Sasami]

I'm so sorry to hear that . I would take a break from introductions for a while to give them time to heal. And keep an eye on those wounds! He may need vet care.

 

[MikesDegues]

I have 5 male degues and 3 are living together as the father has been raised with the 2 sons, the other 2 are brothers but I have not been able to keep them in the same living area. Nathan and Jacob have to live seperate. I have tried them together several times and had the same thing happen as you. I find that males unless raised from birth can not be introduced to sharing living quarters. Poor Jacob has a torn ear from it, but they wont really be lonely as long as you give them plenty of attention...I hope your degue feels better soon.

 

[Sasami]

I find that males unless raised from birth can not be introduced to sharing living quarters.

That's actually not true, male degus can indeed be introduced with time, patience, and a large cage. Granted, some never learn to get along, but it's very possible! And much easier than introducing some other animals (it took me over a year to get two rabbits living together, and it was a male/female pair that had been fixed!).