Fighting Brothers

[Chubi32]

Alright so probably about a month ago I got 2 FN's and the set up is follows: in the left FN Bently is on top and two brothers Rocky and Bullwinkle are on bottom. In the right FN Clover is on top and (now) Bonnie is on bottom. I got Bonnie about 2 weeks ago and ever since I got her Rocky and Bullwinkle have been chasing (no blood or anything like that, but I think I seen one stand on his paws once). I had separated them and clipped their wiskers and that helped for about a week but now this morning they're showing signs of the chasing again (fur in the cage, Rocky was even more happier than usual to see me and when they touched noses they made some noice). The cages are separated by an end table and altogether probably 2 1/2 feet. My question is what do I do now? When I got Bonnie I didn't think it would be a big deal because they never fought and I've had Clover longer than I've had Rocky and Bullwinkle. Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Whimsy]

Sounds like the mating instinct is taking over. If you want to keep your boys safe from each other, I suggest separating them now.

 

[Chubi32]

Yeah I wanted to mention they are separated again now..

 

[tunes]

Some males can get along just fine with females in the general area, others will do as yours are, and fight over her. Once that starts, they need to be permanently separated. It will escalate. Even if you move her out of the room now, the damage is done and they need to stay apart.

Boys are buttheads.

 

[Claire D]

In behavioural terms you have changed the dynamic of the "herd" & introduced a female for the boys to "win". They are vying for the new female & now there's a dominance issue.

In practical terms it means your boys need to stay apart.


BTW if you got the female 2 weeks ago & she is in the bottom half of a FN cage then you have not quarantined her at all. It's worth keeping an eye on everybody for signs of any problems.

 

[Chubi32]

I was afraid that you guys would say that.. but if that's what's best then I have no other choice. To the response of the quarentine I didn't realize that the quarentine had to be in a separate room- Bonnie has fleece on three sides of her bottom part of the FN, is always handeled last and has never been in contact with anyone else. I will defintly remember that if I ever get another chin. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Carol~Anne]

I wanted to foster a female chin a while back and I was told straight out that it was not a good idea b/c my two male pairs would/could start to fight with the female presence. I decided not to foster the female chin. I know there's others out there that have pairs of males together and have females as well with no problems at all so I don't know.