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1

Q & A / Re: Dominance Fighting

« on: September 25, 2014, 09:57:15 PM »

Any timing/scheduling suggestions for separating them and reacquainting them? And should I seperate them tonight into the top and bottom halves? The second I let the ladder back down, the smaller one retreated back to the bath house and hasn't come back out. I'm worried that he'll be in there all night, bored and sad and stressed and I'm worried about this being a poor quality of life issue at this point, even though his cagemate has stopped chasing him.

2

Q & A / Re: Dominance Fighting

« on: September 25, 2014, 05:42:01 PM »

The cage itself is just separable top and bottom. One of these: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BGznDyXDL.jpg so no.

I'm making sure he's having time without the cagemate for food and water, and after a couple of hours putting the ladder back down to bring them back together.

3

Q & A / Re: Dominance Fighting

« on: September 25, 2014, 04:07:59 PM »

I've noticed that the fur loss isn't biting, it's pulling. I don't know if it was being pulled out by his cagemate or not or not.

Because he's taken shelter in the sand bath, he hasn't lost any more fur. But strangely enough, at one point yesterday he let his brother in with him, but not again since then. The angry vocalizations have stopped, too, but he's not coming out of the bath for much and still returns quickly when he does. We've been closing the cagemate away into the bottom half periodically and encouraged the bullied one to take the time to eat and drink. He's a lot more lethargic but I don't know if it's because of the stress and therefore lack of sleep or something else.

The cagemate sleeps and chills in the hideaway next to the bath so that he can be close. Right now it's just looking like the bullied one is still afraid he'll get chased again. He's allowed the cagemate close while eating but he spooked and ran back to the bath. I'm afraid he's built a complete distrust even if the cagemate has calmed down.

4

Q & A / Dominance Fighting

« on: September 25, 2014, 03:19:11 PM »

My two boys have within the past few days gone from best friends chasing each other playfully to chasing in fear, bounding around off the walls like bullets. I think that one of them may have hit puberty and the other hasn't (they may or may not be from the same litter. Pet stores.) and they have started dominance fighting.
 
The smaller one has been losing fur, assuming it's fur biting from stress. The chasing has gotten him to where he hides in the sand bath where his cagemate can't get to him. The bigger and more dominant one will come up to him, making quiet hoots/coos, like he is lonely, but the bullied one is making angrier noises in response, as if to tell him to get away. He'll leave, and come back again, as if to ask him to come out, and the cycle continues. The smaller one will rarely come out from the dust bath, if only to interact with me or if he knows his cagemate isn't around. It's breaking my heart. They were just fine a few days ago.
 
There's a lot of fur around to clean up, but no physical damage (no bleeding or bites) I can tell to the smaller one. I don't know if I need to separate them, keep them together, separate and try to reintroduce them, or what. The stress is obviously having an affect on the smaller one. His ears are back and he won't splay out comfortably to sleep like he used to. And the bigger one is lonely without him.
 
I've got the two halves of the cage ready to separate them if need be, but I really don't want to have to do it. Is this something they can work out? Do I just wait or will it permanently affect the smaller one's disposition? He's already running to safety every time his cagemate is around and rarely comes out from the bathhouse.