Play or fight

[SirCumference]

I feel like I'm spamming this forum, but I never realized how much I didn't know. My chinchillas are both make, 8 month so, and have lived in the same cage since they were three months old (when they were both introduced to the pet shop. Yes I bought pet shop chinchillas. Save the lecture.). I got these two because they were cuddling at the pet store while they slept and they played together too. They seemed well bonded. Now they've lived together in a cage in my house for about a month. Suddenly, though, there's a lot of mounting and shoving and wrestling and they make this sound similar to a ducks quack. Neither are biting though and they go back to fairly normal right after every single time. Are they just playing, are they establishing dominance, or is this the first few signs of serious fighting? I have another cage, so I can separate them if absolutely nessecary, but it'd be less than ideal. I know chinchillas can decide not to get along anymore at any moment, but I heard those were typically fights that left blood and and scars and wounds. This is just light shoving and quacking noises.

 

[Woodsmoke]

Sounds like dominance, at about 8 months boys are normally in puberty so can be a bit pushy to get the pecking order sorted.

 

[Dreamlite]

Is any hair being pulled out? Right now they are getting hormones and turning into brats. Fights commonly occur during this time. The kacking is them basically telling each other off.

 

[SirCumference]

I'm not sure about fur being pulled out. Earlier today I found a single lock in the cage bars, but it was a really hot day (the room was completely air conditioned, but it was nearing 72 in there. So it might have just been natural shedding. And then there was also no sign of biting or anything and it was only a single lock of fur. It's possible it was pulled out, but I'm not completely certain (and they were curled up in a ball sleeping in their house).

 

[SirCumference]

So, a while later I have an update for this. They're still mounting and throwing each other around in wrestling, but there still isn't any blood being spilt or fur being lost. They're in separate cages, as their wrestling was causing them to fall from really high ledges and it was concerning, but they still get playtime together. There is no longer kacking, just the mounting and shoving. Is this normal to last for this long without any actual injury? Will it be safe to reintroduce them to the same cage when I get my ferret nation in like a month? If this is just puberty, like was suggested to me, how long does it last? I heard that they normally mellow out at like two years?