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Post by hoolijah on Mar 29, 2015 11:27:09 GMT
Hi there, I bought my first degu, Bella, four days ago, from a pet store, she was up for adoption as she wasn't getting on with other degus (unusually???), so they advised she is better by herself. I'm just concerned if she could still succumb to loneliness, and if there is a way of discerning any causes of her aggressive behaviour to others? I'd like to be sure I give her a good home and feel this is an important starting point. I have not yet read archived postings and will do, but wondered if anyone else has had this experience to advise me?
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Post by klbishop on Mar 29, 2015 13:24:36 GMT
Have a look through some of the introduction threads, this will give you an idea of what to expect and some suggestions. its always better not to have lone degus as they are pack animals, they get lonely. there are occasions where a degu really cant be intro'd but this is the exception not the rule-it takes a lot of patience !! i have 5 (triplets, and two lone goos) we've been trying to intro loki and diego for a year and a half and sometimes it feels like we are getting there and other times like we are hitting our heads up a brick wall - the long term goal has aways been to have 5 together. loki and diego are in adjoining cages and interact constantly through the bars. Have a look at saddlers and @jus threads - i take a lot of inspiration (and hope) from these best of luck k |
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 29, 2015 17:01:22 GMT
It's very rare that a degu should be kept alone, so you do need to think about introductions.
Firstly you need to think about appropriate housing that is large enough to do an introduction, it helps if you can have two cages that you can put near each other to gauge reaction, or have a very large cage that can be split in a way that allows degus to meet safely on the same level.
You are really in at the deep end, so do have a good look around all sections of the forum and ask any questions.
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Post by hoolijah on Apr 5, 2015 9:55:21 GMT
Hi Molletteuk, Kibishop, Thank you for your replies, and I have also by now read some of the various sections of the site. My goodness, HOW much info?? But all very useful and made for good reading so far. I got worried that Bella was actually a Bello, but a video tutorial by one of your members helped very much and now I am satisfied the pet store got it right, my girl is indeed a girl. She has been interacting very well with us, right from the start, is very confident and curious, even with meeting newcomers and guests, but I have resolved after reading the various postings that Bella must have company of her own kind if she is to thrive. She has now been with us just over a week, so I will start looking into possibilities. The store said she is about 8months old, and I guess it might be best to find one other female of a similar age group? Or is age not an issue? I'm just thinking of dominance, which I have been reading can be an issue hindering introductions, but please advise if age is not necessarily an issue.
I have also noted much advice about feeding and nutrition - this has also been very good as the pet shop only really advised the degu pellets, chew toys and treats, but I can clearly see after reading that Bella will need much more so I have been giving her dandelion leaves, some herbs, quinoa, tiny bit of oats, some nuts, some plain petshop popcorn in small amounts, and will work on a better mix. I'm confused about the nutritional quantities such as calcium and phosphorus, but will go back over the information later and try and make sense of it...! Thank you again, will keep you posted on the progress.
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Post by moletteuk on Apr 6, 2015 18:52:25 GMT
Yeah, we do have quite a bit of info, and I will admit some of it needs organising a bit better, but just dip in and out, things will fall into place in your mind as you get to know your own degu(s).
You can go from babies to probably about 3 or 4 yrs old for an intro, depending on if you get one or two, there are arguments for and against introducing one or two more, sometimes it's best to have a look around and see what is available locally. Check out the rescue and rehoming list at the top of the adoption board for sources.
In some ways you have to work your way through new foods along with your degu(s), you have try different things, work out what you can get hold of and work out what yours like to put something together that works for you. Firstly get two or three different commercial foods to try, then work on adding in as much forage, grasses, wild type plants, flowers, tree leaves as you can. If you can get a nice variety of forage then the nutrition for it averages out about right by itself. Then you just need to make sure you add in healthy things like oil seeds including high calcium ones, and don't add in many grains that can mess up the nutritional balance really quickly.
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 7, 2015 17:13:34 GMT
Hello, Hoolijah, and welcome to the forum! Sounds like you have been doing a ton of reading, especially if you are thinking of looking into the archived posts. That is a LOT of reading, LOL!
Klbishop and Moletteuk have given you great help and advise. I hope you are able to find what you need, and I encourage you to feel free to ask any and all questions that may come to mind. You have probably run into that encouragement on other threads, and we say it a lot, because degus do unexpected things, even weird things, and it helps to know that you're not the only one that found it strange.
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 7, 2015 18:11:04 GMT
Do you know what Bella's age is?
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Post by hoolijah on Apr 7, 2015 21:25:26 GMT
Hi Deguconvert, thank you for your comments, very encouraging! Yes I was told by the pet store that Bella is about 8 months old. Interestingly, I have been told by pet store staff today that she has a friend with degus, one of them unexpectedly had a litter of 5 very recently, and it might be possible for me to try rehoming one, no definite yet but seems similar to Moletteuk's comment that a younger degu might be worth a try for company, I will be very careful about this but will wait to hear from the owner to see if this might be possible.
In the meantime, Bella now has a new wheel which she jumped straight into, and I have tried her with sunflower seeds and millet, both of which seem to have gone down well. I have also bought her a space ball, she gave it a try but isn't convinced, so i'll let her explore it gradually until she feels more comfortable, at least with the wheel she'll get more exercise now!
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 8, 2015 14:12:29 GMT
At eight months of age, Bella will also be into the adolescent stage, which is flush with hormones and world domination aspirations. An idea that might work with Bella is a degu that is a bit older than her, male, and already neutered. However, finding a male that needs a home and is already neutered can be a real challenge. The issue with getting pups is that they too will go through the same hormone flood/world domination mania and with that will come some disruptions to the peace you may have achieved in your introductions. Or it could be as bad as all out war.
I'll have to come back to this . . . late leaving to get my son to school. As usual. LOL!
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 8, 2015 15:48:58 GMT
Back . . . let me pick up where I left off. However, the greater issue is that Bella is alone and being a communal animal, it is important for her to have companionship. Whether you choose to go with the young pups that may be coming, or it you look for an older female, or a neutered male, you will have introductions to do. Introductions are intense and slow, and you will need to have a lot of determination, patience like you have never imagined having, and lots of time. You will need to have two cages to hold the degus you are introducing, Bella and whomever you get, and you will keep them next to each other while they get used to the presence of each other. Have you read through the Fighting and Introductions guide? Here is the link. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17619/deguconverts-detailed-introductions-fighting-guide I would suggest reading it through to give you and idea of what you will be facing and some of the approaches you can take to work through intros. |
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Post by hoolijah on Apr 12, 2015 21:13:47 GMT
Hi Deguconvert, thank you for this and I have read through the material, plenty of food for thought. I will definitely consider this very well, I have plenty of patience for the task, although I am worried about being able to give enough time and attention for the 'long slow introduction stage', at this point I am still doing all the reading I can (thank you for the link, very useful and practical, I will also re-read) and although I didn't hear back from the pup's owner today, my mission now is to sort out a plan as soon as practicable. I would rather try this first if at all possible, as I absolutely adore Bella, she is a real character, and would like to keep her, with a companion, if I can.
Will keep you posted,
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Post by moletteuk on Apr 13, 2015 10:02:05 GMT
Given the scarcity of neutered males, I don't think a pup or pups is a bad option, so keep trying the contact. You do need to be prepared for the long, slow introduction but it's not always that hard, there is a large element of luck.
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Post by hoolijah on Apr 25, 2015 21:31:38 GMT
Hi Moletteuk, it has been a while since my last posting, so just to bring you up to speed. Bella has been doing really well, and I did take mote of the various pieces of advice on the website, that her great friendliness to me could be a result of missing her own kind. I had an opportunity to house a young pup of 8 weeks (not the original pup suggested, as the other owner wanted to keep all her pups, but one became available from another source and we were introduced last week).
So, I must confess I was not quite prepare with a second cage, so have housed her temporarily in a box in the same room as Bella. I decided to work at extending the P@H cage I had originally bought, to make a top floor, with a drop section down one end that allows both goose to meet each other, it has a shelving section at that point and fittings to climb up/down, and I am in the process of finishing the extensive wiring to make it secure. It is definitely a work in progress, but I hope that in the long term I can then remove a partition if they both get on well, to allow free movement on both floors for both of them to live together.
Since day one, even though the cage is not yet complete, I have tried to give both goos regular chances to smell each other- I have swapped toys, wheel, held the pup (Cleo) close by the cage to see how they initially interact. At first Bella seemed incredibly interested and I was cautious that this might have an aggressive overtone. Cleo has tried to find a way into Bellas cage, and today they spent the longest time yet 'talking' to each other, it seemed that bells was trying to groom Cleo through the wire.
I had actually beck e quite concerned about Cleo behaviour today. Up to now, each day for the last few days, I have let Bella run out and about in the morning while I continue the cage, and then Cleo runs about in the evening, each time is at least a good hour. But this afternoon, Cleo was either very sleepy, or had a real problem, seemed very listless. Instead of running about and exploring, she kept running back to me and pretty much curling up on my foot while I was working on the cage. I spent some time with her, and decided to try a formal introduction with Bella.
I started by setting an area next to the cage so they could both run up and down either side, and they both made a lot of squeals, but no behaviour seemed aggressive in particular. Although Cleo had plenty of space to leave if the wanted to, she stayed right at the cage and really perked up. So, towel, spray, Bella and Cleo were all installed in the bathroom, and I used the bath as suggested to let them formally meet. Cleo is only a quarter the size of Bella, and immediately came up for attention. They both had a 100 per cent great meeting of about 20-30mins I guess, and Cleo's behaviour after was much improved. I'm still, painfully slowly, trying to get this cage finished, and i'll still put a few more meetings in place before putting them together, but it was a really positive first meeting. They looked beautiful together so I'm really hoping...!!!
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Post by moletteuk on Apr 26, 2015 15:28:56 GMT
That sounds great, I hope it continues to go well. With Cleo being only 8 weeks old, if it seems obvious that Bella is taking a mothering attitude to her, it may be safe to do the introduction very quickly, maybe only two or three meets and Bella might just accept her right away, just watch them closely. It sounds like from her behaviour that Cleo will benefit from getting together with Bella ASAP too, it might even be upsetting them to be close by but not together!
Also you could keep an eye open for a second Pets at Home cage on ebay or gumtree etc, they crop up quite often on there, and are fairly easy to stack.
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levi
Newborn Degu
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Post by levi on May 5, 2015 9:35:27 GMT
Hi I just wanted to warn you, Degu can live on there own. If they do not get along with other Degus. But if you did just get the 1 Degu, you will have to pay more attention to her than you would if she was in a group, because they are very sociable animals and they like to have attention. If you do not show loads attention then they can die of being very board and lack of interaction. I have own Degus for well over 23 years of my life and I am and expert on them so if you need any more information do not hesitate on asking me.
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Post by moletteuk on May 5, 2015 10:31:37 GMT
levi this forum does not recommend keeping degus alone except in extreme circumstances when multiple introductions have failed.
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Post by animalmadchloe on May 6, 2015 21:17:24 GMT
Hi I just wanted to warn you, Degu can live on there own. If they do not get along with other Degus. But if you did just get the 1 Degu, you will have to pay more attention to her than you would if she was in a group, because they are very sociable animals and they like to have attention. If you do not show loads attention then they can die of being very board and lack of interaction. I have own Degus for well over 23 years of my life and I am and expert on them so if you need any more information do not hesitate on asking me. I disagree with what you have said I currently have two lone degus who get loads of attention but I have seen them slowly become unhappy and depressed because they are alone, despite all the human contact and failed intros, no amount of human contact can replace another degus companionship. We try to encourage people to keep degus in pairs at least, in the best interest of the degus. |
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levi
Newborn Degu
Posts: 5
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Post by levi on May 25, 2015 8:31:25 GMT
I know they can not live on there own read my post properly. I said the only time they can live on there own is if they do not get along with other degus and he or she is either getting bullied or attacking the other degus. I should now I have looked after them for 26 years of my life and I am also fully qualified exotic vet as well and i also have 20 of them in a big massive room what is 100% degu proof and also a bit of an outside run as well for the summer time where they love to sunbathe in the sun.
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levi
Newborn Degu
Posts: 5
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Post by levi on May 25, 2015 8:34:48 GMT
All so you must not be giving them enough 1 to 1 time with them when they are on there own they need at least 8 hours of 1 to 1 time a day. Which is 4 hours in the morning 4 hours at night and the cage should be near each other so they have got some sort of company with another degu but they are not together to kill each other.
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Post by Maravilla on May 25, 2015 8:41:47 GMT
All so you must not be giving them enough 1 to 1 time with them when they are on there own they need at least 8 hours of 1 to 1 time a day. Which is 4 hours in the morning 4 hours at night and the cage should be near each other so they have got some sort of company with another degu but they are not together to kill each other. Sorry, I don't understand what you really mean (might be a language problem from my side). Could you explain it a little bit better? Thanks. |
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