Need help with OUT of Control Boy!

[Smiley1]

OK as some of you know I have 3 boys. Snickers (725g) Bonner (797g) Cole (700g). Snickers and Bonner will be 2 in July, Cole just turned 1 the 11th. I have had Cole about 6 months. Have had them all caged in a FN since after Quarentine. Intros took about 5 minutes in a dust bath and they have all been best friends since.

3 days ago. (cole has been segregated since) Cole started chasing Snickers.....not just chase and stop.....relentlessly searching for him thru the entire cage and chasing him. Fur flying, Snickers has not been hurt, however has lost 25g in a week.

I split the FN kinda, I have 2 shelves that are even toward the bottom of the cage, so put a board over those, so cole is in the bottom with his own food hay and water bottle. I removed the block this morning, figuring that they would sleep all day so OK life will be good. No such luck. Cole immediatley went after Snickers.

Now Snickers and Bonner get along gr8....Bonner and cole get along gr8....But for some reason Cole has decided that Snickers is funny looking or something.

I spoke with Paul (PJK) on the phone. He told me to trim Coles Whiskers. It would take the aggression out of him. My question is....

How short?
Will they grow back?
Does this really work?

I asked paul if he wanted him for his greeding program, but paul doesn't work with Ebs. He is a e/c, v/c Beautiful boy. I just dunno if he is gonna snap out of this. Any input is appreciated. Sorry this is so long, it just came on all of a sudden and I feel so bad that he has been locked away from Bonner and the wheel.

 

[Ash]

It could be that he's decided for some reason he doesn't like Snickers, and won't ever again. Trimming the whiskers works in some cases, not in others. They will grow back, and you can trim them fairly short if you have someone steady enough to help you hold him.

However, Cole may have decided he wants to be an only boy, or just be housed with Bonner. You can give him a few weeks to calm down and try re-introing them together, but he may not get along with Snickers ever again.

 

[DaphnesandFreddysmom]

I agree with the above poster. They will sometimes just decide they don't like another chin despite being housed together peacefully weeks, months, or even years. The whiskers will grow back.

I think I heard to put a dab of vanilla on their noses too but don't qoute me on that.

 

[oxchincerelyxo]

I would either seperate them and try from block one in a few weeks or just seperate them for good. Not to pick on you or point fingers, but I don't understand why you would just "throw away" your chin to some breeder because he isn't meshing well anymore. This is why people always say to have a back up-because it doesn't always work out in the end...



Best of luck...

 

[Essentia]

I agree with oxchincerelyxo. So they don't get along and you are just going to get rid of him? That's horrible.

 

[Smiley1]

Yeah lets not jump on me. I have a back up plan......I never said I was getting rid of him. I said I split the FN so he would not bother Snickers. Did I not say that in my Post??? I simply asked a breeder a question. If I wanted him gone he would be.....A couple ppl where I work would take him in a heart beat. But hes still here.

My animals...all of em (3 cats, 1 dog and 3 chins) come before me an my husband....always have and always will. I spend over 300.00 a month on my pets. Due to my 16 y/o cat being diabetic and my other cat being on script food. If I "threw" away my pets, I would have put my diabetic cat down 5 years ago when it started costing me 75.00 a month to maintain his illness. I spent over 800.00 on a chin I had for less than a month to try and save his life, only to have to put him down 24 hours later.

At the same time....I got the FN so that the chins would have plenty of room. not to split it in 1/2. I am going to buy the 3rd level for cole...and let snickers and Bonner have the 2 levels for themselves, as I do not like caging animals. but since I have to.....I make sure they have plenty of room. It is not feasible as far as space to have 2 cages in a 1 bedroom apt.

Anway.....I cut coles whiskers...how much fun that was.......he is miserable now. I reopened the cage....put the dust bath in. They all bathed together fine. I will see what happens. and LOL Vanilla and dust is how they got introd so fast.

Cole isn't hurting Snickers, he is just chasing him. Dunno maybe Snickers smells funny?? weird none the less.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

I asked paul if he wanted him for his greeding program, but paul doesn't work with Ebs.

So you really don't see why someone would jump to the conclusion that you might be willing to get rid of him? Hmm...

I sincerely hope it works out for all of you.

 

[Smiley1]

Yeah I could see that.......but THAT was not the point of my post. I was asking if cutting whiskers really worked. As I said...A couple ppl at work who have chins want him. But I told them....I am gonna try the whiskers and if that fails then I will have a 3 story FN. I just want him to be happy and comfy. Plain and simple. Right now he just seems miserable. I do not like to see that in any animal.

 

[PaperMoon]

Smiley1, so how short did you end up cutting the whiskers? do you mind taking a picture?

 

[Stackie]

There's no guarantee that he will get along with the other boy. Like it was mentioned once they turn on a cagemate, the likelihood of them pairing back up is slim. I would not try intros at this point. I would give the chins a cooling off period of at least a month or so before even attempting another intro, or letting them see each other for that matter. Once time has passed I would start back at square one with cages side by side, taking it one step at a time. Even then it may not work. This is why everyone says when you have two chins, you must be prepared to have them in separate cages at any point.

 

[Chinchillatron]

I had this happen with my boys just weeks ago, they have been seperated.
Their relationship ended poorly. From what I could tell my red eyed beige went a little crazy, bit my standards ear (leaving a nice hole the shape of his teeth) tore off fur leaving marks on his back and sides. My standard retaliated, tore off a small strip of the bieges ear, which I found hanging. There was dark gray fur slips everywhere.
I love them both, they are so very very sweet. But they are never going to be together again, it could have been much worse.

Are you sure your chins are sexed properly? I don't know how long you've had them but.. I mean there could always be that 1% chance... which would explain things.

 

[Smiley1]

yeah....3 boys...I do hair ring checks monthly. I trimmed the whiskers....didn't help. So I split the cage again. I dunno is weird cuz it isn't like he is going after him to hurt him.....just chases him. When he catches up to him...he just sits next to him and goes to sleep. Howver.......Snickers does not find this the least bit amusing. He wants away from him and if he even sees cole he takes off.

Cole of course is a bit miffed being away from the wheel and Bonner. Now of course what is odd is every night at 9 I give them some supplement. all 3 bowls side by side. No problems, even last night. I gave them a dust bath, cole and Snickers did that together just fine. Gave them some fresh hay...they sat side by side and ate the hay. Let them out for Playtime....they ran around, but no chasing. Thats why I am stumped....its just when Cole seems bored LOL he figures Snickers is his extracurricular activity LOL. Go figure.

Anyway I will keep them split for awhile.....and let them have playtime together and see how it goes. I don't trust them together when I am not home so when I go to bed or go to work I split them.

What is hilarious tho is when Cole gets chasing Snickers, Bonner will jump into the Hidey house. Snickers tries to come in to get away from cole and Bonner will kack like "OH NO you are NOT bringing that fight in here!!!" and will not let them in either door. Snickers has to resort to the house Bonner isnt in LOL

Sorry to hear you had to split your babies...I am hoping I do not have to do that forever. Cole is young...Just Turned 1 Wednesday Maybe he decided when he was 1 he was gonna take over? lol I dunno

 

[Smiley1]

Smiley1, so how short did you end up cutting the whiskers? do you mind taking a picture?

They are about 1/4 inch long. And lemme tell you..it knocked the sting out of him for about 30 minutes...til he figured maybe he was faster without those things weighing him down LOL

 

[Cuddlebug]

Chins are so unpredictable. They may continue as they are going, things may get worse, or after time may be friends again. Only time will tell.

I would like to add that I had a male and female that I tried introing a couple of months ago. I tried everything. It did not go well. Lots of chasing and hair pulling and one terrified male. I separated them. Just this week, I decided to try again. I gave them dust baths, smooshed them for 15 minutes and then put them in his cage together. The female explored the cage for about an hour, then curled up next to him and went to sleep. No fights, no casing, no fuss. Go figure.