Excessive Mounting Issue

[hmccoll13]

Hi all!
I recently attempted to fully integrate my two boys after about a month of slow introducing (started with separate cages completely then moved to split cage-I have a 2 story ferret nation- w/ wire bottom so they could interact through the bars, then had playtimes in a neutral area before finally seeing if they wanted to live in the same cage, and this I did after rearranging the entire cage and scrubbing it down entirely).

However, while the integration /seemed/ to go ok for the first hour or so (boys were up and down exploring the cage and had finally settled down and were eating near each other-I had two separate piles of hay so they didn't feel a need to fight over resources) I have noticed that any time I let the boys together for any extended period of time Mojo, my larger and older guy, seems to believe he must mount Eli almost constantly.

I know mounting is a show of dominance and is natural, however, Mojo is definitely almost overexerting this and it gets to the point where Eli, understandably, gets fed up with him and starts a fight. This has happened a couple of times (once during a playtime and when I tried to integrate them-both times I was sitting right next to the cage watching and I immediately broke them up) and Mojo really just does not seem to understand the concept of enough is enough. Eli definitely seems to be more or less ok with Mojo being the dominant chin, he just gets irritated when Mojo keeps trying to dominate him even after he's clearly allowing Mojo to be in charge.

Not sure if there's anything I can do to try and curb this issue, because other than the mounting causing escalations the two boys seem ok with each other-they don't make angry noises at each other and they don't fight on sight, seem generally comfortable around each other and interested in each other. Mojo has not been around another chinchilla in 2+ years so I feel that may be part of the issue as well-he just never learned proper etiquette.

Either way, I would definitely appreciate any tips or help that can be offered, as I really do hope these two boys can get along and I believe they can if they can reach an understanding!

 

[Cuddlebug]

Unfortunately, if Mojo won't stop humping Eli, you cannot leave them together. Eli does not want to be dominated so he turns and fights back. This can lead to much worse and it can happen the next time they are together. If you leave them together, they will end up fighting and possibly killing each other.

By the way, are you sure they are both boys?

 

[hmccoll13]

Unfortunately, if Mojo won't stop humping Eli, you cannot leave them together. Eli does not want to be dominated so he turns and fights back. This can lead to much worse and it can happen the next time they are together. If you leave them together, they will end up fighting and possibly killing each other.

By the way, are you sure they are both boys?

Yes, definitely sure they are both boys! Mojo has some nice jewels and I've seen him cleaning himself plenty of times, and I caught Eli cleaning himself a few times as well, so definitely both male.

I ended up determining that the only way they /may/ be able to live together is if Mojo gave up trying to be the dominant male and allowed Eli to take over, as Mojo is not at all a fighter and won't retaliate like Eli will to the mounting, so I utilized some operant conditioning techniques and managed to train Mojo to leave Eli more or less alone (Mojo is a smart dude, he catches on to what I want from him quickly and he's eager to please so he didn't mind doing what I was asking once he realized!) Thankfully, this worked out amazingly well. Once Mojo realized I didn't want him mounting Eli he allowed Eli to mount him and completely calmed down.

Currently the two boys appear to have bonded-they were grooming each other and as I type this they are both sleeping together in their felt tube, so it seems my tactic has worked, although I will be keeping a close eye on them to ensure they have completely worked out their dominance issues!

 

[Chinups]

I'm curious to know what "operant conditioning" you did to train Mojo to stop humping Eli? If it worked in a matter of days, that's amazing! (I may want to try it with my boy).

Otherwise, you may want to play it safe and keep an eye on the boys. Sometimes, the bonding isn't worth the risk. (My two boys have been living side by side for almost 3 years now, but they seem happy with each other's company.)

 

[hmccoll13]

I'm curious to know what "operant conditioning" you did to train Mojo to stop humping Eli? If it worked in a matter of days, that's amazing! (I may want to try it with my boy).

Otherwise, you may want to play it safe and keep an eye on the boys. Sometimes, the bonding isn't worth the risk. (My two boys have been living side by side for almost 3 years now, but they seem happy with each other's company.)

Typically I use positive reinforcement training but in this specific case I utilized both positive reinforcement and some negative reinforcement/positive punishment. Basically anytime I saw "negative" behavior from Mojo (In this case, the mounting) I started by physically taking him off of Eli each time. When he started mounting less after my doing that for 15-20 minutes I stepped back and started just using my voice or a sharp clap. Any time he mounted Eli I would say "Mojo!" in stern tone or would clap, which would get his attention focused on me, not Eli. Now he's almost stopped the behavior completely although he still tries every once in awhile, but I just continue using the method above and he'll immediately respond to me.

In addition to targeting the "bad" behavior, I also reinforced any positive behaviors I saw (grooming, cuddling together, talking to each other, etc.) by rewarding the boys with praise and the occasional piece of cheerio.

I'm definitely still keeping them under observation and I have yet to let them stay together at night (when I'm sleeping) because I'm a heavy sleeper and know they're more active at night, so I wouldn't be able to catch any of the negative behaviors and if they did escalate I wouldn't wake up. I'm going to try and have my boyfriend help me out there because he's a lighter sleeper than I am and would likely wake up! Until he can help me I use the cage in cage method while I'm asleep for now, but overall the boys do seem to be getting along well!