Degus in Brighton

[dollybagg]

imgur.com/gallery/hLOHl
Hi! We have just bought two male Degus from p@h on Saturday. My son has been wanting them for ages so they are his birthday present but I think I’m more obsessed already than he is! Squeak is the one in the photos. He is small but has attitude! The most confident of the two and feisty too! Pumpkin is very shy and so far has spent a lot of time ‘hiding’ in the tube. I’m hoping he comes out of his shell soon.
Neither of them seem to be eating much hay but love Timothy grass. Is this okay? They went nuts over it yesterday like a cat with catnip! They are so funny.
I gave them a walnut each too but they didn’t seem to know what to do with it! I’ve cracked one open so hopefully they will figure it out now they know what’s inside!
I’m turning into a Degu obsessive! My partner called me yesterday to see how the boys were ( he meant our children!) I launched into a massive speech about them climbing the wire cage, barking at the dustpan, tipping their breakfast over etc. before I realised he wasn’t asking about the Degus! Who needs a TV when you have these guys?!
I’m so pleased I found this group as I have never had Degus before and there is so much to learn.
Since I started writing this Pumpkin has come out to cuddle up to squeak on the snuggle bed. So cute.

[savvy]

Welcome to the forum and the truly weird world of degus! They are fascinating little guys. They are beautiful!

As you are a new owner I'd recommend that you read through the following guides deguworld.proboards.com/thread/16425/degu-feeding-guide
deguworld.proboards.com/thread/19754/beginners-guide-degu-keeping
deguworld.proboards.com/thread/13070/degus

I've put the last one in as p@h are notoriously bad a sexing degus and you need to make sure you do have two boys. Mistakes have frequently been made in the past as pups have been the result.

Also from what I can see from the photos your cage is not suitable for degus. They can chew through plastic really easily and can escape. I don't think the size is great either. Sorry if this is bad news, but again p@h often give very bad advice about keeping degus.

If you need to ask questions please do, we are here to help you through the steep learning curve you are now on, there really are no stupid questions when it comes to these little fur babies.

[moletteuk]

Welcome to the forum

It's good to hear you are enjoying your new degus.

Degus are really fussy about hay, so you may need to try several different types. Timothy grass or hay is fine. We recommend that you feed lots of forage like herbs, flowers, safe meadow and garden plants, tree leaves etc, once you do this the hay becomes less important.

Do take a look at our beginner's guide linked above for housing and feeding info.

[deguconvert]

Hello Dollybagg, and welcome to the forum!! The same thing as you describe happened to me as well. The degus were for the kids, but I fell in love with them, even though I loudly protested the choice of degus when we were getting them at the pet store.

As you already know, there is a steep learning curve with them, and you have been given links to some good starting points. Do read them through, as they are are very helpful.

It is lovely to have you with us!

[beckerd58]

Good luck Dollybagg,
I'm a year into being a degu owner I should have 4 females degus. But mistakes where made by the pet store employee that sold them to mm. I brought two twcritter nation 2 levels. From Amazon They are are huge and require their own room.
That are so many kind and intelligent people here. Good luck and Welcome to the family.
This is a photo on me tube training my baby (and babies). When they get out and will not come near you have a tube made of dryer flex tube (or something like that stretch out on a piece of narrow wood she was only 2/2 months here so was very camera shy but she went to her cagw