shc1192
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2012
- Posts
- 42
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2012
- Messages
- 42
My boar Shadowfax is almost a year and a half old. A few months ago, we finally got him a cagemate named Brego! Brego is younger than Shadowfax. We quarantined, and then started doing introductions in a neutral area. They went great! There was some chattering and mounting but no fighting. After more successful introductions, we decided to try having them live together. Again, there was normal things, but no fights, and after a few days they got along fine.
Suddenly a couple weeks ago, they started fighting. They don't seem to be having any health problems as far as I can tell. However, Brego did hit 4 months old, which I read is basically puberty time and can cause issues.
At first I didn't separate them, as there was no bloodshed, but a couple days ago Brego bit Shadowfax on the lip and Shadow bled. :sad: I felt terrible! I held Shadowfax on a towel on my lap and cleaned his lip up. It wasn't very deep and he acted fine, but I still felt bad.
I separated them temporarily for a couple nights, and then today I gave them supervised floor time together in a neutral room while my dad washed and got all the smell out of everything in their cage. They seemed okay together, so I tested putting them in the cage. They slept next to each other for a while, and I gave them some veggies and they ate them side-by-side. They have chattered and chased each other twice, but other than that they've been fine. There has been no nipping or biting thus far, and no more blood. We were planning to expand their 8 sq ft cage and also add a loft this week, but I'm worried about doing it and then having to separate them permanently.
Do you think I should leave them together and see how it goes since things seem okay, or should I keep them separated still? Do you think expanding the cage might help? Could this just be puberty causing issues, since they previously got along fine?
Thanks!
Suddenly a couple weeks ago, they started fighting. They don't seem to be having any health problems as far as I can tell. However, Brego did hit 4 months old, which I read is basically puberty time and can cause issues.
At first I didn't separate them, as there was no bloodshed, but a couple days ago Brego bit Shadowfax on the lip and Shadow bled. :sad: I felt terrible! I held Shadowfax on a towel on my lap and cleaned his lip up. It wasn't very deep and he acted fine, but I still felt bad.
I separated them temporarily for a couple nights, and then today I gave them supervised floor time together in a neutral room while my dad washed and got all the smell out of everything in their cage. They seemed okay together, so I tested putting them in the cage. They slept next to each other for a while, and I gave them some veggies and they ate them side-by-side. They have chattered and chased each other twice, but other than that they've been fine. There has been no nipping or biting thus far, and no more blood. We were planning to expand their 8 sq ft cage and also add a loft this week, but I'm worried about doing it and then having to separate them permanently.
Do you think I should leave them together and see how it goes since things seem okay, or should I keep them separated still? Do you think expanding the cage might help? Could this just be puberty causing issues, since they previously got along fine?
Thanks!
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