Hello from the North East

[popstaarr]

Hi all!
The names Poppy! 2 gorgeous little thugs Chilli & Pepper (degus)
Still new to the degus.
Advice welcome

[Lrak]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Ask away and you will get all the info and help you need

Also we do like pics on this site

[saddlers]

Welcome!!

[popstaarr]

Cheer! as soon as I figure out how to post pics, there will be countless posted!
My main question is, will my boys get any bigger? I know mine aren't that old but on average how big will a health degu grow? Chilli is a lot bigger than Pepper and chilli is a lot more authoritarian than wor Pepper.

[Lrak]

deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=compphotos&action=display&thread=16329
That will help with posting pics

Do you know how old they are? or rough size?

[popstaarr]

Aah thanks! They must be about 5 month ish and about 4-5 inch.

[ntg]

Ah they are still juniors then, depends on the degu but they can keep growing til around a year

Nice to see someone else from the north east

[pixierodentrescue]

Both me & newtogoos are North East! Where abouts are you from?
Degus are such the amazing creatures, definitely worth the effort!

[ntg]

Eh, they're alright...



;D

[popstaarr]

That's good to know! Thanks for that
Pixierodentrescue, I live near Morpeth and my god they are. I can be sat in front of their cage for hours just watching them! Love my boys.

[ntg]

Lol you're pretty close to PRR then, I'm from Washington

I've just been in fits at mine stuffing their house to the point where they can't fit in with a whole toilet roll (they figured out how to unroll the thing).

[popstaarr]

Ah cool! I love watching mine burry their food for later. Their wheel is getting a time lock on it soon like. I just love how inquisitive they are and how loving they can be. Any ideas on where I could get degu treats locally? Like around Newcastle etc?

[ntg]

Do you mean foraging wise? As I have no idea lol, I'd imagine places like Jesmond Dene and a lot of the walks round Northumberland would have some goodies

[Lrak]

Was out today and the rosehips and bits are starting to look good, shame alot of the stuff is gone now.

[ntg]

I don't even know where to start, I'm so nervous I'll pick something I shouldn't and wind up killing them by accident :/ I've been looking at trees round my area but only thing I can be sure of is I know what a silver birch looks like lol!

[moletteuk]

Hi Popstaarr, Welcome! I'm north west, so I'll send a wave along the A69 If you meant bought treats, lots of things are just as easy/ cheaper to buy online, have a look at this chart for some herb mixes that make great supplements deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=food&action=display&thread=15657

Try not to be nervous about collecting NTG, there is far more stuff that is safe than isn't. You can always post photos and ask on here. I think it's easiest if you go out looking for 3 or 4 particular plants, and while you are out, pick samples of anything else that is abundant and look it up when you get home. You can then add it to your list or reject it, take it step by step and gradually increase the plants that you know and regularly collect.

[ntg]

I think my first task is to try and find out the distinguishing characteristics for safe trees as I really need to find some twigs and chewables for them lol.

[moletteuk]

Most native British trees are safe, the main one to avoid is elder, which is quite common in hedgrows, but is quite easy to identify, it has quite a distinctive smell too. If you can stick with wild trees, rather than park trees, identification is simpler, or fruit trees can make identification simple too.

[ntg]

I'm pretty sure the trees round the back of my house haven't been deliberately planted, unfortunately they're right beside a busy highway so I'd imagine they'd be pretty polluted? :/

[moletteuk]

Yeah, best avoided if it's a busy road.