time to seperate?? =[

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marinewifey4433

marinewifey4433

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
114
Location
Camp Lejeune NC
I was just wondering if I should seperate my boys :hmm: , here is the deal.. My two males have been bonded since they were babies, They are brothers, they are about 2 1/2 years old. When I got them they weren't showing any signs of dominance at all. Well here the last week or so my violet male is not wanting the dark ebony to eat, i have 2 food balls and 2 hay boxes and if he tries to eat, the violate one decides to jump up there and start mounting him. And making barking like noises at him. Or if it's cheerio time forget my dark ebony getting one. the violet one takes it from , I would hate to seperate them but need to know what's best. The dark ebony one is not loosing any weight because he's eating when my viloate is asleep but I don't know what to do here. :help:
 
Well, you just recently got them right? It may just be establishing dominance but the food thing is worrying. Are they friendly towards one another? Do they sleep together? Maybe they just aren't friends...

Oh, I see they're brothers. Do you know anything about their relationship or living conditions before you got them? Maybe the violet has always been a bully. And the eb might have a more stress-free life separated.
 
Yeah I have checked, No there is no clumps of fur and yes i looked him over very well, and no injuries, he's not biting him just mounting and barking and not letting him eat, I'm up most of the night with them because I have insomnia and They are in my living room and I can see everything that's going on. I just wasn't sure if this is a problem or not, if I should seperate them, or if this is just normal.
 
I've never had an issue with dominance, but I have heard that you can always try cutting the whiskers on the dominant one, down to about an inch and that may help him settle down.
 
Amy555 said:
Well, you just recently got them right? It may just be establishing dominance but the food thing is worrying. Are they friendly towards one another? Do they sleep together? Maybe they just aren't friends...

Oh, I see they're brothers. Do you know anything about their relationship or living conditions before you got them? Maybe the violet has always been a bully. And the eb might have a more stress-free life separated.
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The woman i got them from said that they have never ever had any problems, but she also had them in a spare bedroom, their cage was a mess, and they didn't have any toys, but they do sleep together and groom each other and get along just fine till it comes to food. I just don't want to seperate them since they have been together since birth and it seems like they love each other very much it's just the food thing, but like I said he hasn't lost any weight because he will eat whenever the violate one is asleep.
 
alli713 said:
I've never had an issue with dominance, but I have heard that you can always try cutting the whiskers on the dominant one, down to about an inch and that may help him settle down.
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Curious to where you got this info so I can look into it,and what does everyone else here think about that? I could try it but wanna make sure it's Okay first.
 
marinewifey4433 said:
Curious to where you got this info so I can look into it,and what does everyone else here think about that? I could try it but wanna make sure it's Okay first.
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Snipping the whiskers of an overly dominant chin is pretty common practice though it's usually reserved as a last result after you've extended all other modes of trying to resolve the issue. It doesn't hurt them, it's all psychological :)

Here's a pretty informative thread about the practice: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2940&highlight=cutting+whiskers :thumbsup:
 
thanks for all the replies, I have a thing to seperate their cage. I have the giant ferret nation cage. So one can be in the top and one in the bottom ,if worst comes to worse. I'm going to keep an eye on them for a while longer, if they start fighting ill trim the wiskers and then if that doesn't work I will seperate them. Thanks so much again. All of you are so helpful no matter what i need to know!
 
I agree, you can easily search for threads on chins with dominance issues. I wouldn't suggest something that was deemed unsafe and wasn't used by other chin people.
 
Marinewife, I would trim the violet boy's whiskers sooner rather than later. The eb boy must be pretty stressed even though he is not losing weight (yet). Trimming whiskers now may help prevent having to separate the boys in the future. It is an easy and effective way to help chins with dominance issues.

When chins are getting used to a new environment dominance issues need to be resolved between cagemates. This applies to chins who were cagemates prior to being moved to a new environment as well as those who don't know each other.

Disclaimer: Trimming whiskers does not work for all chns. Some chins just don't like other chins and will never coexist peacefully in the same cage. However I believe the majority of chns respond to whisker trimming.

Hope this helps.
 
Okay new thing just happened, The ebony just tried to mount the violate.. so now I really don't know what to do? Should I just go ahead and seperate them?I'm thinking it's the best thing but what do you guys think?
 
Kansas City Chinchillas said:
They are still working on dominance issues. You can trim both chins' whiskers.

Separating them is always an option.
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I just don't want to do anything like seperating them yet, I'll trim their wiskers later this evening when my husband's home to help. If that doesn't work I guess ill have to seperate them even though I really really don't want, too but I know it would be best. So I will if I have too. Thanks again
 
I had a 1 year old chin in with a 3 month old baby. They got along, cuddled, slept together. I thought the older one was being a bit motherly. After a few weeks, I noticed the baby looking a bit thin. I stayed up late one night and saw the older wasn't letting the baby eat or drink. This had apparently been going on for awhile because the baby was malnurished.
As soon as I found out what was going on, I pulled the baby out of that cage and put her in with my other girls. She started having seizures the next day and I thought I was going to lose her. I quarentined her and she got better. She's now a little piggy and growing great.
If your chins were mine, I would try snipping the whiskers. If that doesn't help, I would seperate them. Sometimes a bonded pair can stop getting along.
 
missjess10475 said:
I had a 1 year old chin in with a 3 month old baby. They got along, cuddled, slept together. I thought the older one was being a bit motherly. After a few weeks, I noticed the baby looking a bit thin. I stayed up late one night and saw the older wasn't letting the baby eat or drink. This had apparently been going on for awhile because the baby was malnurished.
As soon as I found out what was going on, I pulled the baby out of that cage and put her in with my other girls. She started having seizures the next day and I thought I was going to lose her. I quarentined her and she got better. She's now a little piggy and growing great.
If your chins were mine, I would try snipping the whiskers. If that doesn't help, I would seperate them. Sometimes a bonded pair can stop getting along.
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That is my plan as soon as my hubby gets home from work, Trim their wiskers and if that doesn't work seperate them, like I said earlier in my posts Im a insomniac, so I don't sleep hardly ever, maybe 2 hours a day.
 
An additional thing you can try is to add a second bowl for food. That way there is one for each. If they are just humping and not chasing, pulling hair, etc., I would leave them them together and keep an eye on them.
 
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