Newbie needing help! Please :-)

[quaver45]

Hi everyone! Ok, so we got 2 degus (Hugo and Boss) 3 weeks ago. When we got them they were about 4/5 months old and hadnt been handled much. We've been handling them everyday and this had been going well - they come over to us when we go near the cage and climb and sit on our hands.

So yesterday we decided that they might be ready to come out of the cage. Boss wanted to come out and did so straight away but Hugo decided he didnt want to. So we had Boss out running over the floor and managed to get him back in the cage pretty easy using treats. HOWEVER, the second time again Hugo didnt want to come out and Boss did but when he did Hugo started making really loud squeaking noises and then Boss was scared and we couldnt get him back (took like an hour).

Since then Boss has been chewing the cage trying to get out. When we open the cage he tries to leap out and climbs up our arms and when we dont let him he bites - not drawing blood but enough to know he's not happy with us!

Guess we let him out too early but not sure what to do now. we open the cage and cant go near Hugo cos of trying to stop Boss from coming out and we cant let him out cos dont know that we'll get him back again!

Sorry for long post but am new to this and not really sure what to do. They have a wheel and lots of chews and climbing things and theres two of them so they arent lonely - Boss is kinda ignoring Hugo now tho and just wants to get out - he's tasted freedom and wants more!

Please help - any advise much appreciated :-)

[xhannahx]

Hey, i have 2 degus-have had them since dec, both of them go through phases of not going back when theyre told or getting scared and not coming out-but are usually fine the next day. what i find works rather than trying to get them (if you have time) just go about your business or use the time to clean them out while chatting normally to them or russling the treat tin/bag so they know theyre in for a treat, they will realise everythings ok and come back on their own-i find its even quicker than trying to move everything to catch them-it just scares them even more. xx

[quaver45]

Hey :-) we thought that rattling the treat box would get him back cos when they are in the cage they go crazy when they hear it! but when he was out it had no effect at all! So do you think we should let them out again today and see how it goes? Did you find it hard when you first let them out? Thanks for your advise :-) xx

[xhannahx]

thats ok , with my 2 i let them out as soon as they wanted to venture out which was pretty much straight away, they did manage to get lost behind the TV and squeek until finding a way out, at the moment it sounds like theyre getting used to the room and finding the areas they like, generally exploring, even though they may seem scared theyre just finding their bearings.
Also you may find they come on in leaps and bounds in the first few days/weeks and then backtrack and it seems like all youve worked for is lost, but generally the next day its back to normal. xx

[xhannahx]

oh and yes i found it quite hard in the first few weeks as they seemed to want to be everywhere except near me lol, but one day it just seemed to click and theyd jump on me and want to play, it was brilliant xx

[quaver45]

just had them out again (this time Hugo fancied a go! lol) and managed to get them back fairly easy this time - did what you said and left them to it for a bit. Then tapped the floor to get them to come over and gave some seeds when they did :-) Hugo got in his sand bath so got him back by putting that back in the cage and Boss got in a box and we put it near the cage and he jumped in too! we put a rope thing leading into the cage which is how they got out but they didnt seem too interested in using it to get back in again! lol. :-) xx

[deguconvert]

Keep working with the seeds that they like to train them to come on command. If you like to tap the floor to signal them to come, I suggest that every time you tap the floor, you give a seed. This will train them fairly quickly to come as they will want the seed. Then you can add to that by getting them to go into the sand bath, or the box, by tapping inside it and giving them a seed once they are in it. Once they have cottoned on to that, then start lifting the box/bath to the cage opening and giving them a seed once again when they have gone inside. Pretty soon they will have that down pat and you can gradually get to the point where all you need to reward with the seed is when they get into the cage. Degus will do pretty much anything for their favorite treats, and are very smart so can be trained. You can also train them to come to their names in the same way.

[quaver45]

Thanks for your advise :-) today went much better than yesterday anyways so hopefully tomorrow will too! learning sooooo much from reading everything on these forums! you guys are great! thanks soooooo much! :-) xx

[xhannahx]

Thats great to hear! Also a good once in a while treat that they will do anything for is monkey nuts. Sand baths are great for transporting a degu into its cage are'nt they xx

[quaver45]

ooooo - i'll have to get some of those then! how often can they have them? yep they like their baths so seem to jump straight in - well hugo does anyway! :-) boss bit me today tho :-( xx

[xhannahx]

well theyre quite fatty apparently so not very often, maybe once a week unless they start getting podgy then cut down. aww what were you doing when he bit you? little bugger lol xx

[quaver45]

was trying to move their wheel cos it was banging against the hay rack and he'd just been out and wanted to come back out and i wouldnt let him and put my hand in the way to stop him so he bit me! not enough to draw blood but it defo wasnt a grooming nibble! xx

[deguconvert]

I'm sorry about the bite . . . they aren't opposed to letting us know if they aren't happy about our interuptions of their plans . . . but don't fear this. The more you build a trust bond with him, the less likely he is to pinch you like that . . . or at least he will modify it and make it less of a pinch.