I am thinking of rehoming my single degu

[Kat]

Apoligies if ive posted in the wrong place but I think the health of Gerard may soon start to suffer.

I did have 3 degus. 1 single and 2 together. However one of the pair has passed on. I was already thinking of rehoming the pair as I have been trying for a long time to group them all but have not had any sucess at all.
The degu left from the pair is really missing his brother though. He has become withdrawn and scattish (is that a word) since he has been on his own. I think he has lost his trust in me also.
Scrat the single degu that I already had really does not like gerard and is contantly squeaking and tail wagging at him though the mesh. I can not keep them both seperate as the cage wouldn't be big enough for this long term and Gerard really isnt happy. So i am looking for someone who already had degus that they would be able to house gerard with. He was not the dominant degu of the two and is usually quite easy going.
Could anyone offer me any advise on how to handle this situation.

[nickymills30]

firstly, i;m sorry to hear about your loss.

Secondly, don't give up home, on pair the two you have left.

I had a single girl, who i got a friend for, they hated each other, and i was at the end of my tether!! The cage they where in wasn't ideal, as it was divided down the middle. I eventually came to the decision, that they would never get on, until yesterday. The cage they are in, had to level, and 1 girl was at the top, and the other at the bottom, i went to check on them, and could see dolly in the top. the little madam, has squeezed through a really small gap, and was snuggled up with dorris!!

They are know happily living together, so please don't give up on them yet xx

[Kat]

I think they have heard me. They have been together for 30 minutes today without any drama.

Well without any fighting. Drama was a plently.
Woo Hoo

[nickymills30]

brill news, don't give in xx

[sarahh]

Bless them fingers crossed they continue without any problems. It's didn't have to do separate intro's with mine I put them in and they got on with it no fighting no nothing, I have done the same with my rats without any problems, my goo's are girls and rats are males.

[Kat]

Ok, so i think I am going to stop trying to put gerrard and scrat together. Since I've been on last things have gone downhill for the pair. Scrat has bitten Gerard on the head and Gerard is becoming more scared in general.
Im not going to put Gerard through it anymore. I am going to post on the adoption board for a new home with others for Gerard and try again for Scrat with a pair of babies. At least then Gerard with have the company he misses so much and if the babies dont work out with Scrat they will be together always.

Kat

[deguconvert]

I don't know if this will be a welcome suggestion, but what if you were to sort of turn you plans a bit and try some babies with Gerard, since he is suffering so much, and maybe re-home Scrat? Or . . . leave Scrat on his own? You seem to have a closer connection with Gerard?

[Kat]

I am bonded to Scrat also, I don't think that has come across because I have been thinking of Gerards best interests in this thread mostly.
I got Scrat from the pets at home adoption center, he had been taken there because the owner had said he was fighting.
Scrat has taken a very long time to come out of his shell but he now trusts me.

To be honest I would love to keep both of them and get some pals for Gerard, but I dont have the room for 2 cages of a size that I would be happy with.
I have chosen to rehome Gerard because of quite a few reasons really.

I had Scrat first so I feel that he should be the one to stay.
I believe that Gerard will benefit most from a new home and new cagemate(s)
Also I think if I were to rehome scrat I would just be pushing his problem onto someone else.

[smux]

If you feel just as bonded to one as you do to the other, forget the first reason. You're just rationalising the decision rather than properly making one :-P

Gerard can get a new cagemate elsewhere but he can also get one with you, so forget that reason too...he won't benefit any more from a new home compared to staying with you.

Pushing Scrat's problem onto someone else sounds like a bad thing, but is it really? You would possibly find it harder to rehome Scrat if you went the "full disclosure" route and explained his problems, but you would probably get an owner who has more experience with problem degus and can beat...er...I mean COAX it out of him when you don't have as much experience as they might have.

All that said, with help from other people here you might manage it yourself...it's very much a "Sophie's choice" decision to make. I've countered these reasons as a kind of "devil's advocate", but feel free to ignore them as you wish because in a way the decision you're at is the right one to me...Scrat could take a while to warm to another owner just as he did to you, so it is the more logical choice.

Have you considered the neutering route? Scrat may be more mellow after losing the things that are producing the testosterone that govern his anger, although it may turn out that Gerard then doesn't like Scrat and gets all bossy...such is life and the increasingly complex life that is a degu's.

[gemmagreaves]

Hi i know this sounds a bit crazy, ive read your posts and by the sounds of it, they need a reason to bond, like unite to protect themselves, not just to keep each other company. i had 3 boys and no matter what i did i wanted to throttle them they would not stop fighting. then one day i thought, sod this, and moved the whole cage into a slightly colder, completely different part of the house, the middle of our dining room. the change was enough to scare them and when i re-united them, in a freshly cleaned out cage and in that same room, they all grouped together. there was a bit of a dominance issue at some point over the next couple of days but i think because one of them had lost his brother originally he had eventually become so lonely he let the other 2 come close to him.

if you could get a spare cage and keep them completely separate and in a strange room with little interaction from you for a few days, then i think this would help as they would be desperate for some company.

i hope you get them sorted as ive been in your situation before and it really sucks!

[deguconvert]

Good point, Gemma! I'd not even thought of the more forceful ways . . . such as solitary . . . which might be a good tactic for Scrat. If he feels his isolation, he will WANT to get along. Isolation treatment involves putting him in a room by himself with only the minimal amount of interaction from you, and obviously none from Gerard. You leave him in there for two - three days, just making sure he is fed and watered and in good health, not talking to him (or very little) no taking him out for cuddles, no stroking him through the bars. You are impressing him with his need for degu companionship as you do this, and making sure he gets none of these needs met through you during this time. At the end of that time, you try introductions again. It is not a 100% guarantee, but it comes pretty close. If you can handle it . . . maybe give it a go?

[whizzer27]

Interesting post! I think I might even given this a go with my boys. Because I didn't want them to feel alone i've kept their two 3 teir cages parked next to each other so they can talk and touch between the bars...

Think my next step is this, they're doing ok playing out so due a sleep over now.. and possible giving them a baby companion each instead... desicions! Bah who am I kidding I want tons more goo's :-)

[gemmagreaves]

@whizzer
just dont go too mad, we adopted 5, 3 of which had been impregnated and dropped soon after we got them. a group of 5 was brilliant, 15, not so good, we'd also adopted a group of 3 before we knew that the others were pregant and guess what, the female out of that litter was pregnant aswell! so 26 goos later we realised maybe lots more wasnt the best idea :-)

[whizzer27]

Well i've adopted 4 baby boys 8/9 weeks old - so were going to give them 2 each so to speak or if possibly all in the same cage...! Going to pick then up on saturday can't wait! xx