Chins Fighting - Neutering to cure aggressive behavior

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JohnKat

New member
Joined
Nov 3, 2017
Messages
1
Hello everyone,

I am new to the site here and need some help before I make a decision to neuter one of my chins. Everyone seems very knowledge so I welcome all opinions and help.

I have two male chins that I rescued from a family that bought them at PetCo before realizing chins don't make good pets for young children (duh). I have had them for almost two years and they lived peacefully in a custom built large cage that is 4ft x 2ft x4ft (LxWxH) with a tube running to another cage that is 3ft x 2ft x 2ft.

Two months ago, I moved across the country and since moving my two chins seem to be fighting more and more often. They are in the same cage as they were before and lived peacefully before the move, only occasionally fighting or chasing each other, but never very often or very serious.

One chin is much larger, named Fatty, and the other chin is much smaller Alfonse. Fatty seems to be the aggressor in most conflicts. Almost daily I am finding small clumps of fur around there cage seemingly from Alfonse.

Today was a tipping point when I noticed dried blood in their cage and a wound on Alfonse's back leg. I am uncertain how the wound came about, but I am afraid Fatty bit Alfonse during a fight. I have since put a divider in their cage and neither seem very happy about it. They sleep each other on the same side of the divider and chew at the block of wood dividing the cage (even though they have PLENTY of other things to chew on).

Fatty has some weird personality traits that make me think he was abused before I took him in. He is terrified of people and often hides when people are near his cage (even after the two years I have had them). Alfonse is much more friendly with people and adventurous. Even though Fatty is larger, it is odd to me that he is becoming more dominant when he is scared of almost everything.

Anyway, I am trying to figure out whether the cause of the fights is the A) stress of being moved (but it has been two months since the move), B) a random change in behavior, or C) caused by maturing and therefore increased aggression.

I think my only hope is to get Fatty neutered but I am afraid this will make him more afraid of people. Does anyone have any advice? I may also consider rehoming Fatty but this would be a last resort. I am in the Denver area.

Thank you so much all.
 
I highly doubt that castrating Fatty will make a difference at this point. He's already drawn blood. Once blood is drawn, they should be separated, especially with him being much larger. If you don't separate them, odds are you are going to come home to a bloody or dead chin.

I wouldn't rehome him. That's just going to cause even more insecurity issues. Separate them into two different cages and let them live that way. Ferret Nations can be separated into two cages easily and are plenty big for chins. If you can't afford those, just go with what cage you can afford.
 
You can't really trust chins together after blood is drawn, chins can and do fight to the death. It really could be anything that has caused a falling out between the two, it even sometimes happens in cases where they have lived happily together for years and years. Nothing changed but they decide they don't want to be friends anymore.

Even if the wound wasn't from a fight, I would advise against neutering, there is no guarantee it will do any good and is a very risky surgery for chins. It's not a simple procedure like neutering a dog, with chins their testicles are tucked up inside, so it's more like a spay, they have to cut into his lower belly. You'd need to find a vet that not only has seen chins and has experience with them, but has successfully neutered them. Also chins do not do well under anesthesia, so there is a risk he could die while under. Even if he survives the surgery he will be in pain, and possibly require round the clock hand feedings and pain meds for weeks. You will also need to make sure he leaves the incision alone so it can heal, chins have also died after surgery due to infection and post surgery complications. If he doesn't like humans now then having to be force fed and handled multiple times a day is really going to stress him and make him hate you. Then it can take a couple months to get the hormones leveled out, so they would have to stay separate for at least that long. That would break any remaining bond anyway, and they would have to be reintroduced like new chins with no guarantee they will get along.

At most you can try playtime together since they would be supervised, but since it likely was a bite and you do see them fight, I would house them separately. I have had chins play together but didn't want a cage mate. If however they still fight during playtime, I would just keep them separate completely.
 
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