Angelyco
Fur Flavored
I hope this is the right forum - but it has to do with introductions.
We got a new ebony girl at the NY/NE Show. The new one is Opal and my two residents are Diamond and Pearl. After the quarantine period, we had several failed attempts at introductions. It turned out that Diamond and Opal were both incredibly dominant.
At first I tried introducing them in a neutral area (bathroom), since that worked really well when we introduced the first two. They were fine in the bathroom, but as soon as they went in the FN together, Diamond and Pearl flipped out and got very territorial. We separated them again - Diamond and Pearl together, Opal alone.
The next time, I scrubbed the whole cage down, replaced all the fleece and wood products, and tried cage-in-a-cage. I trimmed back Diamond's and Pearl's whiskers and put them in the smaller cage together, with Opal in the bigger cage, per some guides I read on here (I didn't trim Opal's because I hadn't yet realized that she was dominant!). That didn't go well at all - Diamond and Pearl got so anxious and worked up, they turned on each other and started barking and pulling fur (no biting or anything though during any of the introduction attempts, thankfully - just fur, barking, and chasing). Now I had 3 chins that didn't get along.
On a whim, I just put Pearl, the submissive one, in with Opal, since I now couldn't put her back with Diamond. They were wary of each other for awhile, but never got upset, and by the end of the night, they were cuddling. So that at least solved that problem. I left them like this, with Diamond separated, for a couple weeks to let everyone calm down.
I wasn't ready to give up though, I hated having the FN separated since the girls were so happy when everything was open and they could jump all over the place. Now that Opal and Pearl were okay with each other, it was safe to take as much time as I needed with cage-in-a-cage. This time I put vanilla on everyone's noses and rumps and put Diamond in the smaller cage to start. Every night I would switch Diamond and Pearl/Opal between the small cage and big cage. After 2 days, I tested the waters - they were okay for an hour or two, then more barking and chasing. Back in the cage. This time I rotated them for 5 more days before putting them together again.
Finally...FINALLY...
We have a trio
) Diamond finally got so broken down being in the cage that she just submitted to Opal when the time came to establish dominance again. Opal probably mounted her 4 or 5 times within a few hours, I think she was just ecstatic to have won the battle. I also think the drop in temperature helped, because I could tell Diamond was starting to feel lonely.
They still kept their distance for a day or two, but now...
I'm soooo happy they are all doing well together now. Three is enough for us, no more! (I also see a corn starch bath in the future...had to take away the litter pan with all the cage commotion.)
We got a new ebony girl at the NY/NE Show. The new one is Opal and my two residents are Diamond and Pearl. After the quarantine period, we had several failed attempts at introductions. It turned out that Diamond and Opal were both incredibly dominant.
At first I tried introducing them in a neutral area (bathroom), since that worked really well when we introduced the first two. They were fine in the bathroom, but as soon as they went in the FN together, Diamond and Pearl flipped out and got very territorial. We separated them again - Diamond and Pearl together, Opal alone.
The next time, I scrubbed the whole cage down, replaced all the fleece and wood products, and tried cage-in-a-cage. I trimmed back Diamond's and Pearl's whiskers and put them in the smaller cage together, with Opal in the bigger cage, per some guides I read on here (I didn't trim Opal's because I hadn't yet realized that she was dominant!). That didn't go well at all - Diamond and Pearl got so anxious and worked up, they turned on each other and started barking and pulling fur (no biting or anything though during any of the introduction attempts, thankfully - just fur, barking, and chasing). Now I had 3 chins that didn't get along.
On a whim, I just put Pearl, the submissive one, in with Opal, since I now couldn't put her back with Diamond. They were wary of each other for awhile, but never got upset, and by the end of the night, they were cuddling. So that at least solved that problem. I left them like this, with Diamond separated, for a couple weeks to let everyone calm down.
I wasn't ready to give up though, I hated having the FN separated since the girls were so happy when everything was open and they could jump all over the place. Now that Opal and Pearl were okay with each other, it was safe to take as much time as I needed with cage-in-a-cage. This time I put vanilla on everyone's noses and rumps and put Diamond in the smaller cage to start. Every night I would switch Diamond and Pearl/Opal between the small cage and big cage. After 2 days, I tested the waters - they were okay for an hour or two, then more barking and chasing. Back in the cage. This time I rotated them for 5 more days before putting them together again.
Finally...FINALLY...
We have a trio
) Diamond finally got so broken down being in the cage that she just submitted to Opal when the time came to establish dominance again. Opal probably mounted her 4 or 5 times within a few hours, I think she was just ecstatic to have won the battle. I also think the drop in temperature helped, because I could tell Diamond was starting to feel lonely.They still kept their distance for a day or two, but now...
I'm soooo happy they are all doing well together now. Three is enough for us, no more! (I also see a corn starch bath in the future...had to take away the litter pan with all the cage commotion.)
