Fighting & Separation Questions

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mishellyshel

mishellyshel

Chin Slave
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
4,633
Location
New Jersey
One of my bonded pairs (Snickers & Oreo) must have had a fight last night.
I found Snickers hiding in a Capri Sun juice box and didnt want to come out.
When he did he let me pick him up right away, which is unusual.
There was fur flying around the cage and his fur was obviously "ruffled".
I took him into the bathroom to examine him and let him dust and I noticed a little blood on his ear. no hole but it is on the lower part of the inside and he was squirmy.

Since I had to get my son to school I didnt have much time but I let him stay in there for 15 minutes and brought him back to the cage.
Every time Oreo came near him, he ran away.......he was obviously scared.
I put an empty dustbath in there to give him a place to hide.
Then I got too nervous to leave them alone all day, so I set up the empy space in the FN super quick with food, water, hay, sticks. I put the black shelf in there, lined it with fleece, folded up some fleece for him to lay on and left him alone.

Questions:
1. Should I have removed Oreo? or was I right to remove Snickers? Or does it even matter?

2. How long should I separate them?

3. How do I try the re-intros?

4. Is it too late at this point to try the whisker trimming and vanilla on the nose thing..........as they have been living together for so long?


I have never seen them fight, they are usually piled on top of eachother, cuddling. I am really upset, because I dont want Snickers to live in fear but I dont want him to miss his buddy. :(

I have not had much success or experience in the past trying to bond chins.
Pretty much all of mine are separated except these two and my two new rescues.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
If it were me, I would separate them indefinitely. I wouldn't risk them fighting again but this time to the death.
 
I agree with Ali. I don't know if you have females chins at home but that would be more of a reason to separate them cause the chances of a fight till death is most likely to happen.
 
no females in my house but ME & my dog!

i didnt see them fight, i am only assuming they did because of the fur and the scrape on his ear. they have a wheel in their cage that came with them and they both love and that was knocked off, so at first i was thinking that he got hurt on that. but when i put him in the cage and he seemed afraid i got nervous.

does anyone have any "success" stories?

I have the space and of course do not want to risk anyone from being injured. So i am ok with separating. I just cant believe they fought as they are always best buds and nothing changed!
Would putting them together during the weekend when I am there to observe be a bad idea? Or should I start with some shared playtimes??

I guess i just want to hear some options of what others have done before I decide to permanantly separate. They will remain separate right now though.
 
Oh No!! I wish I had some advice to share...these guys have been best buds for so long!!

Some background on Snickers, when we got him - he had a cage mate. We brought him home and introduced him to Gus, who died later from Stasis. Snickers and Oreo (Soot) have only been together since we added Oreo (Soot) last May 09.

I don't know what to think - but am sending hugs to you and to Snickers!

Wow...wishing you luck and hope you find a solution that works for them as well as you!!
 
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jill--did they ever fight when they were with you??? they have been with me since October and aside from a chirp here and there over that dang wheel they have always been huddled on top of one another. i am just so sad for them.
 
I understand the wheel may be the trigger.
I would try the playtime together see how that goes, maybe add another wheel or take the wheel out and see how that goes with both in the cage over the week-end under observation.
Until then, I would leave Snicker in the cage and Oreo in the other. I don't believe it is to late for the whisker trimming on Oreo, but I would wait and see how it works out over the week end for that should be your last resort.
 
Do I only keep them together when I am in the room to observe and then separate at night?? Do I try playtime first before putting back together? I have SO many questions.
I seriously need step by step instructions. lol

taking the wheel out is a definitely a good idea, it will devaste them but until i can get a second wheel than I just cant risk it.

I have never had this problem and I would love to hear what others have done in this situation.
 
If chins fight, you don't re-intro, you don't keep them together. Once they fight, it's all on the table, and it's going to happen again. No, I have never had a success story with putting two chins back together after they have fought, nor would I try. Having a little scuffle, i.e., a little bit of chasing once or twice I don't panic, but I'm alert. Fur all over the cage? They are done.
 
I have always understood that fur flying is normal, but once there is skin broken that is the definite cut off.
Thanks for the clarification Tunes!
 
so how do i know if it was a scuffle or a full blown fight. or do i not waste time trying to find that out and just separate?
how do i know if it wasnt just an incident with the wheel.....or it doesnt matter. fur & fear = separate?
i am not ignoring anyone's warnings, I am just asking questions.....
 
Michelle - I might have missed it, but in the past, has there been fur all over the cage from the wheel? If there has, then try removing the wheel (although, truthfully, I don't see the connection). If there hasn't, then you have your answer.

Saphire - I'm not talking about "a" tuft of fur. I'm talking about FUR all over the cage. I've seen too many chins beat half to death or killed because people didn't move fast enough. For me, personally, it just isn't worth the risk. I put a lot into my chins. I'm not going to risk even one of them on something so completely preventable. If the signs are there, I separate.
 
We really wanted to have Carmen, Minnie, and Trousers as a trio. We tried introducing them, and Trousers got bitten. Since then, Trousers has been a solo chin. It wasn't worth it.

Blood = separation. It's too big of a trust issue. If you try to bond them again, there might be a worse outcome, and no one wants that!
 
i have noticed in the recent past that snickers fur was in the cage but i thought it was because he was shedding or whatever it is called. he is a tan and he has this real light fly away hair not like the standards. it is kinda fluffy. that is the best way to explain, it is not real dense.

what i have noticed in the past it them chirping not so much kacking at each other and it is always over time on the wheel. usually oreo is ON the wheel and snickers wants a turn. than they switch they are on that thing ALL the time. i mean seriously hours and hours each day.

I definitely moved fast in separating them! I left them at 1am and they were fine and by 8am they were separated. i am going to keep them separated for sure until the weekend. maybe i will take out the wheel and try some limited supervised time to see if snickers is still afraid of oreo.

otherwise I guess my fiance' will be spending the weekend making me another house and more shelves. i dont want to risk anything, especially something as you said is preventable.
 
Once there is blood -that's it. Klinger for example - will NEVER be housed with another chin. He KILLED the standard my husband put in the cage with him - yes my husband was at fault - but Klinger will and MUST always remain a loner.
 
tunes said:
Saphire - I'm not talking about "a" tuft of fur. I'm talking about FUR all over the cage. I've seen too many chins beat half to death or killed because people didn't move fast enough. For me, personally, it just isn't worth the risk. I put a lot into my chins. I'm not going to risk even one of them on something so completely preventable. If the signs are there, I separate.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do understand.
I will go to bed tonight more knowledgable on this subjet.
I am lucky to not have gone thru this and don't want to.

From what I have read in several posts following the breakage of skin, I believed their was still hope for Mishellyshel.
 
This has been a real interesting conversation, especially since I am new to Chins.

IMHO I think we as humans think everyone needs a friend to be happy where I'm sure the majority of chins are just as happy by themselves.

It only takes a second for something to happen and enless you can spend 24 hours a day with them I personally wouldn't risk it.
 
Sorry.........one more question!!

Sounds like I am probably going to have to separate :(
Do I take Oreo out of the cage and give him new digs or does Snicky get the new pad?
or doesnt it even matter??
 
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