A reminder to watch your cage mates closely..

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Stackie

I bite.
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
6,399
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Being one to have the worst luck with paired chins it seems, I wanted to post a little reminder for everyone who may be of the mindset that once their chins get along as cagemates, they won't always get along.

Many of you know my trio of chins I got in March- Moose, Bostin, & Bear. A couple weeks ago I noticed a lot of white and black fur scattered about the cage, which led me to sit and watch them for a few hours. I noticed that Moose was getting a tid bit aggressive with the other two, and even watched him take a nip at Bear's ear. (Teenage years..joy.) So the FN got separated top & bottom with Moose in one part, Bear & Bostin in the other.

They had been like that for a few weeks living just fine- Bear & Bostin loved to cuddle in their fleece house & Moose was given time to go through whatever stage he was in. The other day I went down in the morning and it looked like poor Bostin had received a terrible hair cut. There was white fur everywhere....Bear decided to start being a bully now.

Now my pretty once poofy pink white boy has a sad bald butt, with some bite marks from his used-to-be friend. I've posted pictures at the end of this to show...
Bostin now lives in a cage up in my bed room- he was very stressed after that incident and is scared of anything poofy that moves. The only thing he'll come to without barking and hiding is me, so he'll be my room mate until at least his wounds heal and he starts feeling better about himself. I'm not sure if I'll put him in with other chins again or not.

I've also had two incidents of cagemates killing one another- Smudge & Mako were the best of buds and I swear attached at the hip. One night something in Smudge just snapped and he ended up mauling Mako. It was a Sunday and Mako made it to the emergency vet, but there was nothing I could do. He had already gone into shock and his little body just could not pull through.

Kuma & Felix- Felix was the most nervous thing, but wouldn't hurt a fly. Kuma was a sweetie and loved attention. They also just snapped one night out of the blue. In this instance, both were not able to be saved.

All of these chins I took my time introducing. I used the same methods everyone else uses. I am probably one of the most observant chin moms, looking out for any signs of aggression, injury, sickness, etc. for hours at night when I sit with my chins. Sometimes, they give no warning and it just happens...but sometimes, there may be little subtle hints such as a bit of fur about the cage, or a little extra chasing. This can happen to ANYONE, but I just seem to have the worst luck with it....if there was anything I could do to save my chins that I lost, I would have done it in a heart beat. The best I can do is remind everyone to watch their beloved furries closely, because however cute they are, they can really turn on their cage mates and cause a lot of damage.
 
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Just a cute one of what I wake up to every morning now.
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Awww poor guy! It's a good reminder. Maybe you saw my post about MuShu and Keiki. Keiki had a bite or wound on her nose, so now I'm extra vigilant about those two.
 
Snip, snip, sniiiiiip! :)

Maybe you can shift someone around. It's possible getting Bostin out will solve the problem. Chins are THE most annoying caged creatures, I swear. To get along forever and a day, then suddenly "Okay, I hate you now. You must die." I just don't understand what makes them do that.
 
Poor little guy. I hadn't heard about your latest bout with fighting, you do seem to be having a run of bad luck with that :(

Makes me appreciate Bella's obvious desire to get Kiwi; at lease I know what I'm dealing with.
 
Oh god, don't freak me out people. I pray that never happens with my babies. Maybe, just maybe it will help that they have never been apart since birth. **please please please**
 
Stacie it is because of you that i had my fiance build my boys cage split down the center vertically! i had a hard time introducing them from the beginning and i just decided that they are better next door neighbors than room mates. there is smal spaced mesh wire between them but that is it. most of the day, they are sitting on a ledge or shelf right next to each other! but sometimes they do a circuit of the cage from top to bottom like speed racers and then meet in the middle & do some strange thing and then do it again. it is so funny to watch!

i hope your baby is going to be ok. what a cute face to wake up to each day!
 
Oh god, don't freak me out people. I pray that never happens with my babies. Maybe, just maybe it will help that they have never been apart since birth. **please please please**

Not trying to freak anyone out, but it's a fact you must face with chins and always keep in the back of your mind that you may have to deal with waking up to a chin that's been severely attacked as long as you have cage mates.

Bostin's going to be fine..his wounds have scabbed up nicely. They weren't deep at all and none of them look to be red or infected. Just a little hurt ego is all, I think.

Here in a few weeks after everything has calmed down I'm going to see how Bear and Moose do together. If they can play nicely then I'll open up their FN again. I have been toying with the idea of putting Bostin in with Roo and Koda, but I'm not sure yet. They're the only ones that play nicely and have been together without incidence for almost 3 years now. I just don't want to jeopardize that, but we'll see. I do NOT want to have to put up a 4th FN again!
 
I am sorry Stackie, poor Bostin. I didn't realize you had the same issue with Kuma and Felix, I am so sorry for your losses :(. Thanks for the reminder.
 
Stacie, I'm sorry to hear you're having problems again - glad you were there to prevent any serious injuries! We were actually in the midst of trying to intro Koko and Kenai when we heard about the loss of your other boys. At that point we figured it's just not worth the risk (since they weren't going well anyway), and decided to spoil the heck out of them and give them each their own FN. I hope all goes well with the boys this time and that Bostin heals up quickly!
 
Stacie - are/were all of the chins you talk about male?

I have a very unscientific theory that the random aggression happens exponentially more with males caged together. I had a trio living together fine for over a year, and then a random attack. I took out the offender, and the pair lived together fine for another 2 years. Then the two of them decided to have a bloody fight. I had one other pair do the same thing after 2 years together. All of these were males. Thankfully none were killed, but to this day I will NEVER house 2 males together anymore. My females have never had a fight, ever, in 9 years (as a random side-note - wow! - I didn't realize my first chin was now 9 years old!).
 
I am sorry about this latest fight, I'm glad it wasn't worse. I have something I do which I think could possibly help. First off let me say that if I see anything going on I would separate immediantly. It seems that a lot of attacks are on the back of the chin where the chin has "mounted" the other chin and this can help prevent that type of attack.
Get a coffee can, one that doesn't need a can opener but has the pull off foil is best to avoid sharp edges. If you must use the other kind I guess you could sand the edges smooth. Mount it lying sideways on a cage wall with zip ties, strips of fleece or a bolt. The chin is able to go in there and usually can defend the opening and not risk having his backside jumped on.
 
I was SOOOO afraid to open this post but did and I have to say thank you for the reminder. I have been lucky so far, knock on wood.
 
Believe me, I do think about this all the time, especially when I have to go away for a day every now and then. I think this is a GREAT reminder for pet owners who think that once intros are over that they will live happily ever after, and while yes most will, there is still that chance that they won't and hopefully, will see the signs before it could get much worse!

Stacie, you're the reason I got my first 1st aid kit! I've had chins for almost 5 years, CJ & Pepper have only been with me for 9 months. I witnessed only 1 attack with my previous chins but only with fur flying, no bites. I believed it was because at the time, our female had given birth (we were told by the petsore it was a male) and didn't want to have anything to do with Whiskers anymore. They were separated after that.

I'm sure with all of your love and attention, Bostin will bounce back, he looks so cute peaking out at you, poor baby!
 
I had to separate Jack and LJ and they were wombmates to start. Right around 2.5 years. I had seen some chasing and heard some chittering but figured it was normal play. Paid closer attention, though. Then one night I was sitting at my desk when *boom*. I run over and LJ had shoved Jack off the top shelf and he missed the midway hammock and hit the bottom. He was dazed for all of a minute, but it didn't take me that long to split the cage. Had to do it with an emergency piece of plywood. Because they were brothers I never thought I would have to worry about it. Now they are neighbors. Stacie I'm sorry to hear of this, poor Bostin. I hope he gets his confidence back soon. Good luck.
 
I recently separated a pair of year old boys who had been together since they were babies. Their agressiveness seemed to progress, they seemed to be playing rougher and rougher over a period of a couple weeks and was hoping that they were just playing. When I saw fur in the cage I separated them.

Were all of the other chins needing to be separated in this thread male?
 
Yes, all are male. Though I have previously been against it, I am talking to my vet about castration after some advice that was given to me.
 
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