worried about Long distance journey

[gavman]

Hi everyone,

So I am the proud new owner of an adopted degu called Bill - unfortunately he had to be seperated from his brother as they started fighting badly and after separation it was not possible to reintroduce them.

This means Bill is currently on his own - pets@home have had him for a while as most people wanted pairs or groups so bill is now between 6 - 18 months - In the store he had kids poking him all day and no toys in his cage.

I took him to my girlfriend's on Saturday and he seems to be settling in although he still seems overwhelmed by the change.

My really big worry is that I have to move him to mine as he cannot stay at hers - we will be moving to mine on Friday but it is going to be a long journey between 8 - 12 hours depending on traffic and stops to calm the poor guy down.

Do people think he will be ok. Sing moved twice in such a short space of time and being couped up in a carry box all day?

I already love the little guy and am doing major reorganisation to ensure I can have him at my place. We are going to hit the pet store before west art the long journey so what tips do people have for looking after him during the journey and what small toys treats would people recommend to give him something to do.

I know after the trip he will probably take at least a few days to settle down but I am going to keep a close eye on him to make sure he does settle down ok -after such a stressful move are there any things in particular I should watch out for besides making sure he does get back to eating and drinking enough?

I am sure I will have lots more questions on how to keep the little guy happy after the move but this is my biggest concern for him right now

Any advice will be most appreciated

[daydreamer3008]

I'm sure as long as he has plenty of toys to entertain him, he will be fine. Just make sure he has everything be needs for a long journey. Put something he can knaw on, and lots of hay in his carry box.
Maybe if he isn't eating much, it might be a good idea to feed him food such as oats, to make sure he has enough fibre and energy.
I'm sure the people on this forum will be able to give you some advice

[deguconvert]

First off, what do you plan to carry him in for the journey? Is it metal? He may well try to chew his way out, and cardboard, fabric, or plastic will be no challenge to him at all. Whatever you carry him in, be sure to have some of his dirty bedding in it so that it at least smells familiar to him. Also, if you have a means of draping a towel or blanket over it to keep it somewhat dark inside, it will help him with the trip. Make sure that he has access to water and to hay. Some branches from a tree such as an apple, crabapple, birch, pear, plum, hazelnut, to name a few, may be helpful to entertain him with something safe to chew on.

[deguconvert]

Oh, and welcome to the forum, Gavman!! Lots of friendly members here, all of whom are degu crazy and proud of it. ;D

[daydreamer3008]

Oct 1, 2012 16:17:24 GMT deguconvert said:

Oh, and welcome to the forum, Gavman!! Lots of friendly members here, all of whom are degu crazy and proud of it. ;D

Just slightly!! ;D

[gavman]

Hehe te I get the impression that I will be joining everyone in the degu craziness.

I do not regret rescuing bill for a second and looking forward to getting him to mine so he can get used to a loving home

Thanks for the tips on transporting him - I am on my mobile at the moment but I will post the details of the carrier when I am in front of an actual computer - I will also post pics of bill to show him off

[moletteuk]

He should manage OK, hopefully after a while the motion might send him off to sleep. We had a member in America make a similar journey recently and they managed OK. I think getting him a secure box, hopefully not too small, with something to chew like a fresh piece of tree branch and somewhere to hide are the most important things.

Once you get him settled in, come and talk to us about your options for finding him another friend. We have loads of other useful info about cages and food too that will help you get started

Good luck with the journey, welcome to the forum

[gavman]

OK so we made the trip on Friday - the little fella was ok for most of the trip but got really freaked out for the last 2 hours of the journey or so.

He is now at mine and for Sat/Sun was very nervy and just hiding in the corner for a while (he also managed to poo A LOT) - he now seems to be feeling better and is exploring all his cage.

For any more questions I have I am going to open new threads but one concern I have which I will raise here is that in the left hand side of the cage he has kicked out all the bedding just exposing the bare tray - and he keeps doing this even if I put hay over the exposed area - is it ok for the solid tray to be exposed like that or is it bad for him if he continually tries to dig at it?

[moletteuk]

Oh dear, at least its over now and he's recovering.

It's totally normal for him to decide to kick out or rearrange his bedding, and it's fine as long as its a solid tray, even though its probably a bit inconvenient for you.

[jenowuk]

Oh yeah, they do that! Max & Sam kept doing that, and if we moved something in their cage over the area they decided they wanted clear, they just kept moving everything away again. Finally gave up and agreed that it's their cage, they can decorate it how they want!