Hello I'm new owner too... got seduced

[tam1807]

Hi I'm Tammy,

I have been thinking about getting a couple of degus for ages, everytime I go to get dog treats at the local pet store (which is often!).

I had been to an appointment and thought I would stop off at the local Pets at Home to get something nice for my girls.

Immediately, as I walked in, right in front of me, there they were. I stood and looked as usual and one of them came right up to the glass and looked at me. I stayed and chatted for a few seconds, then moved round to look in at the guinea pigs... looked up just in time to see him appear at the other side of the cage. I went bck round the other side and he came right back and looked at me again.

That was it really, love at first sight I guess... I got his brother too. They are about 10-12 weeks old so I hope they will still be easy to tame. Any tips gratefully received. I could have had younger ones, but sometimes things are just meant to be. I kept ferrets a few years ago (two brothers the same, was heatrbroken when they died, as always) and have had various other rodents over the years.

No names for them yet... letting them settle in upstairs. Gonna take the dogs for a lovely long walk now and try and come up with some names...

Look forward to meeting you all for chats and stuff.

Tam

[deguconvert]

Wonderful to meet you and welcome to the forum!! Sounds like they already have you tied round their little paws. Well, you've joined the right place. We're all hopelessly lead about by our degus, too. LOL! Have to love them!

Have a read through the thread at this link deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=behaviour&action=display&thread=5337 . It has very condensed but important and helpful information on it. You'll learn a lot in a fairly short read there.

[gemmagreaves]

haha thats how we took home our first ever degu! he followed us around as he was in a lower cage and we were lookign at ground aquirrels etc in the higher cages. we'd never come across degus before and this starnge squeaking sound drew us to him. the assistant cam over and let us hold him. he was the only one in the shop and he was soo tame. if you tickled under his chin he fell over sideways he loved it! lol.
sadly he died about 2 months after we'd got him. the pet shop didnt actually know much about degus it would seem. yes we got the sandbath, yes we put him in a hamster cage, and yes we fed him hamster food. and yes he was alone. we had no idea. why look it up when the pet shop you have been using for the past year has been more than excellent in its service. i still miss him. and a few months later when i found this site i cried for him. how lonely and miserable he must have been. it was no wonder he was so excited to see us and come for a cuddle. 2 days before he died i got him out of his cage and he curled up in my dressing gown and went to sleep. i didnt even know anything was wrong. then when he got diarhhoea i thought it was because of the strawberry i gave him, as with hamsters too much fruit gives them a poorly tummy. thatw as a year ago, ive still not got over him!
anyway, enough sad talk, congratulations on your new family, they will drive you mad the first couple of weeks as they dont seem to sleep! but we can sleep int he same room now if we have to as ive learnt to sleep through them constant banging, scrapping, chattering, playing int he wheels etc! lol. but they wil be the best pet you've ever had!

[emz]

Welcome! I got seduced by Pets at Home also we were getting hamster stuff and my boyfriend saw some degus. We'd never seen them before so later we looked up information about them and saw this site and a few others. A few months or so later we adopted two baby males from someone about an hour away.

I agree with reading the thread deguconvert recommended it is quite a lot of information in a small amount of space making it a good starting point.

[tam1807]

Thanks so much to everyone for the welcome.... after much deliberation I've finally named my lovely boys - Keema and Peshwari I can tell them apart already after a week their personalities are obvious.
Here they are... kee on the left, pesh on the right.

[NightwishRaven999]

Hello Tammy : )
Welcome to the forum.

Your two degu boys have cute faces...hehe
I am anxious to hear more about them. You will have to post more photos for us to see : )

[deguconvert]

They are very cute! Looking right at home already. It's wonderful to see them at the cage door right next to your hand. Getting some treats, right? ;D