Fighting after vet visit

[Peep_erz]

Today my boyfriend took Polo. I got up early this morning and packed the carrier and I decided to put Polo in Coda's old cage so my boyfriend can catch him easier for the appointment.

They went to the appointment without a hitch. He didn't bite, kack, or bark. He sat still while they weighed him. They prescribed some antibiotics and then they were back home. He wasn't gone for any longer than an hour at the vets office.

Well when they got home my boyfriend put Polo back in the FN with Baba. I guess it turned into an all out brawl with fur flying everwhere, skunk smell, and lots of vocalizations. He threw a dust bath in there to catch one and he quickly caught Polo and transported him to Coda's old cage again.

Polo and Baba went from cuddling in the morning to fighting in the span of a couple hours.

Does any one else have experience with this? Does it get better? Worse? I don't know if it was triggered by the vet smell or Coda's smell (though coda is caged right next to the FN with Kuzu now so the smell shouldn't be that unfamiliar) or if the time apart just showed them how unhappy they are in their relationship.

Just when I got all 4 into 2 cages. Back to 3.

 

[Laurie]

Leah,
I've seen this happen with Abigail and Solange. I've tried, so far, unsuccessfully to get Abigail, Solange and Bronwyn together to share a cage. I've let all 3 girls have bathroom play and it doesn't go very well. There's a lot of dive bombing and spraying. After putting Solange and Abigail back in their cage they have fought, albeit, briefly. I'm not sure if it was the smell of spray on each other, or just the smell of Bronwyn on them. In any case they fought for about 2 minutes and then went back to snuggling. After this happened twice, I decided to let everyone get a dustbath after playtime and it hasn't happened since.

 

[alli713]

I'm sure it was because he smelled differently. Can you take some of the old fleece things and ledges from their cage and put it in with him? That, or try swapping cages a couple times. Just to try and get them to smell the same again. I wouldn't give up, but try again maybe this morning or tomorrow morning, since normally when doing intros you want to try when they're sleepy anyways.

 

[starleomach]

Chinchillas can be crazy little frustrating critters at times. I have had to completely reintroduce after just switching cages before

 

[Parkerspetchins]

I was really worried about this when I took my girl to the vet, normally if one of my pair goes I take them both but with my trio I didn't feel I should transport them all. When I put the girl that went to the vet back into the cage I simultaneously handed them all one of the "lollipop" apple wood treats that Kelly (Chinchewy1) makes and they were so thrilled to have it that they didn't pay attention to the girl that had gone to the vet. No problems after they were done with the treats either (takes a little while to devour those ). Maybe an idea if it happens again...

 

[Snickers]

I had this happen the 1st time I showed my chins. The show was only 1 day and probably gone for 6 hrs. I put the chins back in the same cages with the same cage mates they all started to fight. I had to re-arrange my chins that day. Now when ever I go to a vet or show whoever was in that cage we go as a group now. Ex: if I have 3 chins in 1 cage those 3 chins go into 1 cage and off we go. This has worked for me so far.

 

[heymom32000]

Chin are so funny about things like this. I would do the swap cage thing for a few days then put them together when they are sleepy. Hopefully they start getting along again for you.

 

[Peep_erz]

Last night was sooooo sad with Polo crying every 10 minutes. Poor baby goes to the vet and then looses his buddy. I did swap cages this morning so hopefully that helps. I think i'm going to have my boyfriend bring both of them in for Polo's 2 week check up. Then they'll both smell like the stinky vets office.

Should I maybe wash all of their fleece stuff and do a total cage cleaning so everything is neutral or should I leave their scents there?

 

[Tillygizmo]

That sounds like a good idea! Give it a shot and update us but I would watch them closely for the few days after

 

[Peep_erz]

So after a couple cage switches I gave both of them a bath last night and did neutral playtime. Lots of sniffing and chasing but it didn't really seem agressive. Polo got annoyed after a while with all of the chasing so he perched himself on a stool and grunted if Baba looked like he was going to do anything other than sniff him. It turned into a stale mate after about an hour so I put them both back in seperate cages.

I think I'll try again tonight. Hopefully they don't start biting or fur pulling.

 

[Peep_erz]

Last night I gave them their dust baths together. Polo and Baba would sniff and Polo attempted to groom but Baba wanted to play the chase me game.