Is this a sign of trust?

[andersonesp]

If so how can i effectively expand on it.
Have had my degus just over a week and Taz is eating out of my hand, climbing on my shoulders, lets me stroke him for a few seconds and seems to always come to the cage door pretty much every time i go into the room, is this him trusting or just wanting to escape lol
Thanks in advance for any replies :]

[smux]

All degus want to escape, but if they don't trust you at all they won't come over to the door when you open it. If they're eating out of your hand, they like the food you're offering and trust you enough to eat it. The real test of trust will come when you have got used to them for a little longer and you can hold them in your hand and turn them over onto their back. If they let you touch their stomach without putting up too much of a fight (some will still fight to be free even if they trust you, that's normal) then you know they trust you...their soft bits are only ever for those they trust, because they know that an enemy could kill them very easily if given access to that area of their body. Scratches to the back and sides won't do a great deal of lasting or fatal damage, but many vital organs are on the front.

You will know you have a VERY trusting degu when you can tickle them under the arm or stomach when they're standing normally and they lift up their arm to give you access. This is generally only something seen with people who have lone degus although if a degu has a particularly strong bond with their owner it can happen even when they have cage mates. If you (or anyone, I am sure others will read this) try it and you notice an ear twitch but no arm lifting, this is a sign that they like it where you're doing it but they're not yet comfortable enough to give you access to the soft bits...patience, your time will come, just be glad that they trust you enough to let you tickle them even if they don't do the arm lift or the "superman" (that's the best one, do it right with a few fingers and they lift both arms up and outwards like they're flying).

I get the ear twitch with my 3 girlies, but they soon decide to stop letting me tickle them...they've been like this for a while, but they are getting more and more trusting with each day.

Sadly, my Dante is a lone degu at the moment (I have tried introducing babies to him, but sadly the babies wanted to go back to mum so they're back for a little bit longer) and there's nothing he likes better than to have a little tickle...he even makes this cute chittering/warbling sound when it gets THAT good that he can't help himself...I will get a video one day if I decide it is a good thing, personally I think it is very bad that he has to be content on his own and get all his interactions from me and my flatmate rather than other degus (and I don't know if I want to be reminded of it in video form after I get him a cage mate again). I'd give him time with the babies (and I do with the girlies sometimes, very supervised of course) but he gets majorly depressed afterwards because they don't stay with him.

[moletteuk]

ooh, I didn't know about the ear twitch being a good sign, I'll have to keep a look out. Mine seem to let me tickle them underneath a bit when they are eating from my hand, but I've sort of been thinking they are just allowing me to do it rather than enjoying it, can't wait to find out which it is now