Aggression

[chinniecrew]

Is it possible for a male to be triggered by female in heat in another cage and beat up on his own female cagemate?

I went in to check out my chins this morning and found out that Dash had beaten up on Lisbon. They had been getting along fine. There is a female nearby that I suspect is due to give birth within the next week or so. This is the second time in 2 months that I've had a male had beaten up on his female after they had been getting along fine and I've had pregnant females nearby.

 

[Claire D]

Yes it is a possibility.
The male tries to mate with his female who is not in full oestrus, she rejects him, & fighting breaks out. Sometimes this results in fur loss & injuries. In extreme cases it can result in fatalities.

As a matter of interest, do you use single cages for your breeding pairs or poly/divided cages with collared females?

 

[chinniecrew]

I use single cages.

 

[Claire D]

Sorry to ask another question - do you have a retreat in the cages?

If your males are getting aggressive when another female goes into oestrus then it is definitely worth having somewhere that the females can defend and retreat into if necessary.

 

[chinniecrew]

No, please, ask questions.

The more information I can get for the benefit of my chinny kids, the better.

The cage has shelves and a mounted wooden tunnel open at both ends. Should I get hidey houses with only one opening? I guess I always worried that a chin may be hiding in there hurt and I wound't know because I couldn't get it out, so I preferred tunnels open at both ends.

 

[tunes]

Most hidey houses have no bottom. Even if a chin was hurt in there, it wouldn't matter. You would just lift it off. I have houses in all my cages, just in case someone needs to hide. If I have several animals in a cage, I'll frequently have two houses (depending on the size of the cage). I've also started throwing jelly or pickle jars in the breeders cages as well for the kits to hide in. I've seen people do this for years, but never felt the need until one of my little ones got squished a couple weeks back. One, of course, that I had been waiting forever for.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Peggy do you run breed? What kind of houses fit in there? I thought about this the other day but thought maybe a wooden hidey house would be too big

 

[chinniecrew]

Most hidey houses have no bottom. Even if a chin was hurt in there, it wouldn't matter. You would just lift it off. I have houses in all my cages, just in case someone needs to hide. If I have several animals in a cage, I'll frequently have two houses (depending on the size of the cage). I've also started throwing jelly or pickle jars in the breeders cages as well for the kits to hide in. I've seen people do this for years, but never felt the need until one of my little ones got squished a couple weeks back. One, of course, that I had been waiting forever for.

Just curious. Was it squished from a hidey house or something else?

I'm definitely going to invest in some hidey houses that are bottomless, and maybe some pickle jars....

Thanks a lot for the feedback, guys! It is definitely very appreciated!