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Post by vchan000 on May 1, 2015 13:44:11 GMT
I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away." ~Percy Shelley
The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes. ~Nicollo Machiavelli
The boys. And for all that they were named immediately upon getting them, the names are pretty apt to their personalities. Oz is dominant, food obsessed, and obviously the king of their home, the Sovereign Kingdom of Degubah. Mac is quieter, always looking for a way out, an angle, an edge. He's also the keeper of things, and is meticulous in the storage and management of their toy collection.
We got them a few weeks ago from the local big box pet store (Petland). We were told they were three months old, and male. We're still working on confirming the genders for ourselves (these two are squirmy, and apparently shy about showing off the goods.) As for the age... *shrugs* Sure. Lets call them 4 months old now. I did manage to get them onto the kitchen scale long enough to weigh them on Wednesday, and I'll track that number here. There isn't alot of information on degu size/weight/age etc, and what there is out there is conflicting, so we're going to take the anecdotal bus from here on out.
Oz and Mac - 4 months old (4/29/15) Ozymandias - 162g Machiavelli - 170g
A question for the more experienced; do these numbers seem reasonable for that age?
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Post by moletteuk on May 2, 2015 9:16:22 GMT
Love the poems and that the names worked out to be apt Their final full grown weight can vary so much from animal to animal, but I would say there is a chance they are a little bit older.
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Post by yasmin on May 4, 2015 18:22:21 GMT
Just want to say that I love their names and enjoyed reading the poem/quote.
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Post by deguconvert on May 5, 2015 15:47:41 GMT
Me too, me too!!
I would put them, for their weight, more around 6 months of age.
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Post by vchan000 on May 7, 2015 14:46:30 GMT
Didn't manage to get them on the scale this week. Apparently they find the buttons far too tasty to even consider standing on it and eating the spinach I was trying to lure them with. Some things I learned this week. Two pistachio nuts are hours of fun as they spend the entire evening stealing them from each other and stashing them in their favorite hidey hole. Which would work far better if the other one didn't know exactly where the others favorite hidey hole is. It was like demented slow motion juggling. One pistachio nut starts World War III. Neither of them like being picked up, although Mac is far more sanguine about being held once the scary hand part of it is over. Oz on the other hand is far less interested in us unless there's food in our hands. And I'm beginning to think he likes making us squeak. He bites. Not even close to hard enough to draw blood, but with far more intent than grooming or 'how does this taste?' Yes, they can drag the three foot long cardboard tube around. No, it doesn't fit in their toybox no matter what angle he tries. 90% sure they're both boys. At the very least, the bits match so if I got the gender wrong, it's wrong for both of them
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Post by deguconvert on May 8, 2015 3:58:55 GMT
Do you mean they both have a urethral cone, or the distance between the urethral cone and the anus are the same?
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Post by vchan000 on May 14, 2015 19:22:40 GMT
The distances look around the same. I'm not seeing much of a difference between the spacing. I have a decent chance of getting a close up look at Mac, and will one of these days. He's taming down very quickly and will even let us pet him while he eats.
Oz... not so much. We can pick him up, and he's less nippy and more resigned to it now, but there's a distinct limit to how much handling he'll put up with and I don't know that he enjoys any of it. When he's not looking for an escape, he's staring back at his cage over your fingers with an alarming intensity. We'll keep working on it though, I've got a very young niece and nephew who want to play with them. Right now they're good 'practicing' on socks with crumpled paper in them (teaching the kiddies not to squeeze/grab too hard)but we'll only be able to put them off so long with that.
Bought a sheet for the base of their playpen to speed clean up. It took about 2 seconds for it to become another toy. Instead of running around on the sheet, they pull until it comes under the bars in one corner and 'dig' their way in so they can run around under the sheet. So far we've had one head on collision as they're both under there, followed immediately by a 'shouting' and boxing match.
Ping's brother gets to babysit them for us this weekend, as we're away from the house for a couple days to attend the local science fiction convention. I'm actually a little anxious, which is ridiculous, as the brother has plenty of rodent experience (rats). I've already found myself promising the brats large amounts of spoiling in the form of free range time, dandylions and fresh cilantro when I get home. And seeing that written out, I am such a suck.
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Post by deguconvert on May 15, 2015 15:40:35 GMT
ROFL!! Don't call yourself a suck . . . you are perfectly normal, and fit in with the rest of us exceptionally well! We have all made such promises and bargains with our degus multiple times. It can't be helped! After all, they have us mesmerized.
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Post by moletteuk on May 15, 2015 15:56:58 GMT
Just give in and accept who rules the roost now, it's easier in the long run lol! Actually picking up degus in your hands is about the hardest and final step of taming, they very rarely accept it, so you are doing well if you can do this at all. Would the kids accept sitting and feeding the degus while they free range, and then it's a bit safer and lower stress for everyone, and all the more rewarding if they come to them of their own volition? I think a sheet of lino or cardboard, although they might just rip up the cardboard, would be the best options for flooring the playpen. I can totally picture the reaction to the sheet
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Post by vchan000 on Aug 30, 2016 13:30:04 GMT
Well, I suck at blogging. I've been around but mostly a lurker for the last year. The boys are doing well, and have tamed down nicely. Mac is an adventurer, quite happy to sit on my shoulder as I wander around the house (so long as I don't sit on anything. The second I sit down, he's off for solo exploring, and we're treated to another 45 minute round of 'ring around the couch' as I try to keep him from chewing on the cords. Oz still doesn't like being handled, but we can now coax him to climb onto a hand in his cage with blatant nut bribery. The niece and nephew get to pet them and feed them, but know that while they might climb onto a hand, they don't get to pick them up. (and the degus are fast enough to enforce this ) They never did put on much more weight, and both of them fluctuate between 185 and 195 grams. Watching degu vids on youtube I can't decide if ours are small, or some of the ones we see online are huge. (or the people handling them have tiny hands...) I'll have to get some pictures up. Ping (my husband) is a sheet metal worker by trade, and after the second $50 plastic wheel was eaten in three months built them a metal one. We ended up using a 'lazy susan' ball bearing assembly to mount it. It's not the quietest wheel, but the bearing assembly has a shear force rating of about 200lbs so it wont matter how much they jump on it, it's going nowhere. We've got a couple of final modifications to make to it (mostly adding a backing plate for the attachment to the cage instead of the washers we're currently using) and possibly a bracing strap to transfer any movement to the cage frame from the bars. Of course, it's been in there for six months as is and works fine, so it may be another six before we get those done. It was a little tough for them to get moving at first as it is heavier than the storebought wheels, but we actually could feel a difference in their muscle mass after they'd been using it for a while, and it moves just fine now. Oz loves to run, and has noticeably bulked up a bit due to it.
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Post by moletteuk on Aug 30, 2016 16:34:07 GMT
Glad all is going well. I'd love to see a pic of the wheel.
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Post by vchan000 on Aug 30, 2016 16:57:46 GMT
I'll have to get pictures of the wheel mount later when I'm home
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Post by vchan000 on Aug 30, 2016 18:50:39 GMT
Ozymandias Machiavelli
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Post by Bexi87 on Aug 30, 2016 19:05:49 GMT
Oh my, they are gorgeous boys
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 30, 2016 20:06:00 GMT
Gorgeous boys, AWESOME wheel!!
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liz
Newborn Degu
Posts: 13
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Post by liz on Aug 30, 2016 20:13:40 GMT
Ozymandias Machiavelli
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liz
Newborn Degu
Posts: 13
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Post by liz on Aug 30, 2016 20:16:42 GMT
What fab pictures. They are so cute. Liz😊
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 30, 2016 20:19:37 GMT
Liz, I see that you are having some difficulties with the quote feature? When you select quote and it brings you to the page, use your cursor to select the end of the printed quote, and then your enter key to shift down the page a couple of lines. That will open a space for your reply to be included on the same page/thread.
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liz
Newborn Degu
Posts: 13
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Post by liz on Aug 30, 2016 20:49:57 GMT
Liz, I see that you are having some difficulties with the quote feature? When you select quote and it brings you to the page, use your cursor to select the end of the printed quote, and then your enter key to shift down the page a couple of lines. That will open a space for your reply to be included on the same page/thread.
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liz
Newborn Degu
Posts: 13
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Post by liz on Aug 30, 2016 20:58:30 GMT
Sorry I'm not very good at this .i don't understand computers or my iPad witch is what i am using .i just bumble my way through. Thank you for being patient with me . Liz
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