Fighting brothers + Dust bathing help

[Jinxxy]

I had to go to the front door to grab something, and when I got back, my two males were fighting. They were in the corner underneath the waterbottle, and did the boxing thing and where squeaking a lot. I put my hand in the tank(not touching them or anything) and they ran to the other side of the tank. Then they did it again, only their mouths were touching, and their paws too. But both stood very still. 


I have no idea what they were fighting about. I put a ceramic bowl with chinchilla dust and see how they would react, but they just walked over it and practically ignored it.(This was a few minutes before the fighting started)  SO I took it out, and as I said, I had to go grab somehting, leaving my room. When I came back, they were quarreling. 

I put one in a small container with a lid(with holes of course) and I am switching them out every now and then.(Their names are Jinxx and Jalex, btw) When I had to put Jinxx back in the tank(20 gal) and Jay in the container, they had a few seconds to themselves and did the saliva check thing. Then they would either groom each other or sniff their rear ends/scent glands and to the boxing thing again. 


Can someone help me? Do I have to do the split cage method? They've never done this in the 5 months they were together.



EDIT:::
After about 10+ minutes of them being separated, they did fine. No fighting. Of course, I'm not expecting it to stay this way, they might fight later, therefore advice is till appreciated if it does start up again.

[crittercrazy]

Are you sure they were fighting? Any blood?
Boxing is almost always just in play. My gerbils do it all the time. Squeaking isn't always a bad sign, though it can be.
Real fighting is usually chasing and/or rolling around in a tight ball.

How are they doing now?

[Jinxxy]

Might have been playing, but I've never seen this in the 5 months I've had them.
There was a slight scratch it looked like, on Jay's right arm but he wouldn't let me look at it. Jinxx would chase him though. Not a lot, he would.

Found them fighting when I got home last night, but it didn't seem to be as bad. They are fine now. And do sleep together, and not separately.

[crittercrazy]

Hmm. . . if he has a scratch and they were fighting again, plus chasing, its possible they're starting to declan. I've heard that sometimes they still do sleep together at first, until it gets more severe.
I guess my only advice is to keep a close eye on them. . . if there's any ball fighting and/or blood drawn (that you know for sure was by the other gerbil) you'll probably need to separate them.
Good luck!!

[Jinxxy]

Yea, ill be keeping an eye on them more now.

i thought it was a fight for dominance though. They still fight, but its obviously play fighting. Untill one humps the other x3

And everyone in a while, Jay will go up to Jinxx(or the other way around) and it looks like hes trying to take his food from his mouth or like hes kissing him or something.

[Jinxxy]

if it is dominance, or it at least continues, should i separate?

[Jazzable]

The 'kissing' is how they greet each other. They sniff and taste each other's saliva as a way of identifying it. All gerbils do that, so it's nothing to worry about on its own.

[Jinxxy]

I know that, its jsut that he does it much more often now. even if they havent been separated.

[crittercrazy]

Personally, I wouldn't separate them until they've fought bad enough to draw blood.
The fact that they are tasting each other's saliva more often than they used to isn't necessarily anything to worry about. Not enough anyways to base your decision on it I would say.
Hope things go well.

[wheelpower]

I have three sisters. They are now almost two years old. For some reason two of them are starting to fight with the other one. I haven't seen any blood drawn yet, and I haven't heard squeaking. They also still sleep with each other. Should I be concerned? Should I separate the two who are fighting?