What do to with an elderly single degu?

[yeahiknowbut]

Hi everyone! I had 2 degu brothers, about 8 years old. The other day one of them died. I understand the importance of keeping degus together. I do not want to get another degu though. There is someone who has 2 degus, about 2 or 3 years old who is willing to take him. My problem is that he has cateracts and he's blind. Is it a good idea to change his environment so he can be with other degus? I'm afraid it might stress him out; being in a new environment. He seems ok, eating and running on his wheel, but it's so sad looking at him sleeping alone. I am really torn with what to do. Any advice is mush appreciated! Thank you!

[deguconvert]

This is something that can bring very divided responses from many members. Considering the age of your degu . . . I would be inclined to leave him be and just be very diligent to spend lots of time daily with him. He is very elderly, and with the passing of his brother, he may pass soon himself, I am sorry to say. Especially if he grieves deeply.

[Maravilla]

Is the degu fit and healthy or does he show signs if sickness and weakness? Being blind should not be a reason for leaving him alone.
What I consider important is to find a degu or a pair of degus that would fit the old man in age and character.

We have just had a similar case (also an 8 years old lonely degu) on the German deguforum. There, those who answered said that it would be worth to look for a friend for him.
I have had a 6,5-7 years old degu lady living alone from the end of January until now. All the time she has had contact with other degus through a double divider. Twice, we tried an introduction (the other degus, a neutered male and a female, were about 2-3 years old) which failed as the male degu of the pair was far too agile and stressed her out.
3 weeks ago we adopted a 7 year old degu lady, very fit and healthy, who lost her partner some days earlier. This degu started to show signs of loneliness only a few days after her partner's death.
On Saturday, we opened the divider and had a strange but really quiet introduction. No boxing, no hunting, no aggression, no biting. The two ladies still do no show "big love" in public, but they spend a lot of time together in their house, and both seem to be far more confident and happy (that a degu is happy is something I rarely say).

A friend of mine has adopted several older degus (over 8 years) in the past. Some only spent some weeks with her, others several months. As you never know how long a degu will live, I would not leave him alone the rest of his live as this could last longer than just a few days. Even giving him to a home where he has some contact with other degus (if necessary through a double divider) would be better than having him at home alone.
About 2,5 years ago, I also adopted an about 7 years old degu lady, the last one of her family. I introduced her to a pair of about 2,5 years old degus. This old degu only lived about 3 months in this group but at least she did not die alone.

The person I got this older degu from also wanted to spent some more time with her but as the degu started to show behavioural changes (she lost appetite and weight, was not as trusting as earlier) she realised that it would be better to give her to us earlier.

[ilikedegus]

I agree totally with both Deguconvert and Maravilla!

Can you let him grieve for a little while and see how he is? Come back and let us know and people will advise.

We ourselves had a remaining elderly degu from a group of 3. He seemed really very OK for the last year of his life when he was alone. HOWEVER he got a LOT of attention from my boyfriend who works at home and is very sensitive to the degus.

One thing you might do is get him a small soft toy to snuggle up to at night - some goos like them, some aren't bothered.