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[em1LL]

Hi all!

Why animals like weasel (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Weasel) and giant mole (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Giant_mole) die in cages?

Thanks in advance.

[Iamblichos]

If they need to eat/graze, they can't live in cages.  They starve.

[em1LL]

If they need to eat/graze

No, they don't.

[Rafatio]

Old age maybe? Weasels don't live that long.

[Klitri]

I wouldn't disagree with someone's guess since you clearly don't know why either, OP. 

Most likely starvation. Injuries may be a reason too ?

[Loci]

I wouldn't disagree with someone's guess since you clearly don't know why either, OP. 

Most likely starvation. Injuries may be a reason too ?

The linked wiki pages clearly show that neither animal is a grazer... so it's not starvation.

They died of old age. The wiki says both animals have a max lifespan of 2-3 years.

[Kishmond]

I've found that if I stuff a lot (6+) of dogs in a cage they'll attack and eventually kill each other. Maybe that's true with other animals as well.

I don't have direct evidence of this happening, i.e. combat logs, but the dogs in the cage inexplicably gain titles and that's the only reason I can think that that happens.

[SyrusLD]

I had dozens of saltwater crocodiles in a cage (though females and males each in their own), never had a single one die.

But I definatly had an Echidna die when I put it in a cage after it sat around near a tree for a very long time without ever moving.
Pretty sure it died due to old age though. Quite sad, I wanted to tame it as a pet, because it was pretty much a part of my fortress by that point... ;/

[escondida]

I've found that if I stuff a lot (6+) of dogs in a cage they'll attack and eventually kill each other. Maybe that's true with other animals as well.

I don't have direct evidence of this happening, i.e. combat logs, but the dogs in the cage inexplicably gain titles and that's the only reason I can think that that happens.

Animals in cages can't do anything at all; a cage is basically a dwarf-manipulable portal to a barren, infinitely large pocket dimension where the captives just lie around all day.

The dogs could get names if you have them available for adoption, or if a named creature they were fighting previously died of its injuries after they were caged. Also, animals don't get names for nipping at each other, and every single nip they give one another is recorded in the combat log.

[ImagoDeo]

It's also possible that they died from some slow-acting syndrome contracted from a forgotten beast or titan. Have you had any major attacks recently?

[Albedo]

If they need to eat/graze

No, they don't.

Not sure what you mean here, and want to be clear for others.

If you mean that "No, grazing animals don't need to eat if in a cage" - you're wrong, they do.  If you forget to release grazers from cages and/or assign them to a designated pasture, you'll often get a message saying "X animal has been missing", and once the cage is opened another staying "X animal has been found dead" (or something like that).


If (as I assume) you mean "No, THESE are weasels/giant moles, and they don't need to graze" - that's correct.


Non-grazing animals can die in cages from a variety of obscure reasons, but it is an exception, not the rule. You can put puppies in with a lion, and they should live their lives out peacefully until old age.

(You didn't mod anything, did you?)

[Kishmond]

I've found that if I stuff a lot (6+) of dogs in a cage they'll attack and eventually kill each other. Maybe that's true with other animals as well.

I don't have direct evidence of this happening, i.e. combat logs, but the dogs in the cage inexplicably gain titles and that's the only reason I can think that that happens.

Animals in cages can't do anything at all; a cage is basically a dwarf-manipulable portal to a barren, infinitely large pocket dimension where the captives just lie around all day.

The dogs could get names if you have them available for adoption, or if a named creature they were fighting previously died of its injuries after they were caged. Also, animals don't get names for nipping at each other, and every single nip they give one another is recorded in the combat log.

Well, something was happening to those dogs, and it wasn't old age since after I let them out the deaths stopped.