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Post by misscatafer on May 15, 2017 21:32:12 GMT
Hello all So today I rescued/rehomed a little lady in need. She is around 4 and a half years old. I made the decision to rehome her as she has been living alone for nearly 3 years after being mistakenly sexed with her brothers. She has has regular interaction with them over the years through bars but obviously has forgotten what it is like to be part of a degu pile or be groomed. She has been living (from what I can see) in a thickets cage for most of her life. The picture showed just straw and a food bowl in there... But the previous owner did say she had access to a wheel and Sandbath at times and was sometimes in a different cage. (the brothers were in a three tier cage with wire flooring). She is very tame and friendly with humans (for obvious reasons). She enjoys scratches and grooms through the bars. She has been fed on Guinea pig food, peanuts for treats and hay and flowers for forage. When we collected her she really enjoyed the car journey home, sitting right on the top shelf looking out of the window. We have kept the straw bedding for now so not to distress her too much as I'm sure all the smells and sights will be quite overwhelming! We have added a wheel, Sandbath and a couple of toys and boxes to hide in. All of the stuff we added came either out of the girls cage or the playpen, so it is all full of scent. I also added a very small pinch of forage in a bowl to see how she got on (it is untouched) and mixed in a pinch of nuggets to the Guinea pig food. I also threw out the water bottle (water was opaque) and replaced with a new one. We then have put the cage right up against the existing one, at the bottom where the girl play. There is enough room so nobody can touch each other. Initial observations: she doesn't seem to be much of a chewer and has not explored anything by nibbling (my girls automatically suss out anything new with their mouths.) rob feels her teeth look a bit long. She also looks really awkward in the wheel, like she is not used to this. She absolutely loves the Sandbath. She sits still for long periods of time - could this be age as mine are so much younger so I'm not used to seeing inactivity, or a shy nervous thing? So far Hermione (submissive) has ignored her, although once when she went over to her they had a moment where they stopped and stared at each other. Bella (alpha) seems very excited, she has made sure she has a good view at her but there has been no aggression. New lady seems very intrigued by her flatmates but also seems quite unfazed. Sorry for the essay! So I suppose my questions are what advice would you have for me and have I done things right? What would the next move be? Thank you
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Post by Bexi87 on May 15, 2017 21:39:48 GMT
How exciting! I'd give her a few days to settle in, get to know you/new environment and then maybe think about starting introductions with the girls 😊
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Post by savvy on May 15, 2017 21:48:30 GMT
Dixie (he is about 5 now) has long periods squatting on his tube or the top of his house after breakfast so that could be an age thing.
I'd give her a few days to settle in, its got to be a huge change for her. Does she have a name yet?
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Post by misscatafer on May 15, 2017 21:48:44 GMT
Will I be OK to use the playpen to introduce? I put a fleecy blanket down and use the same toys, so all the scents will mean it won't exactly be a 'neutral area'. I really really hope my girls accept her....she is so deserving of a nice cage and company.
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Post by misscatafer on May 15, 2017 21:50:34 GMT
Well her name is Boo, which I am fine with, but Rob isn't keen, so let's see how we get on! I personally think Boo is a sweet name for her (maybe I'll keep calling her that in secret haha)
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Post by winic1 on May 16, 2017 0:09:17 GMT
So she's Boo Goo!
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Post by misscatafer on May 16, 2017 1:17:30 GMT
Yep! Not sure if it is 'Boo' or 'Beau'... I'm thinking maybe the daughter was a fan of Monsters Inc!
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Post by deguconvert on May 16, 2017 2:32:56 GMT
Congratulations on your rescued girl. She sounds lovely, and rather in need of the rescue you have provided. I wouldn't be surprised that, once she is well integrated, she shows a brighter and happier behavior. As has already been said, give her time to adjust to her new environment, and the new people and degus that are now hers to own. Don't rush her, but do talk to her a lot, and invite her to get to know you. Slowly introduce the new foods (assuming she has lived on nuggets and hay). And in a couple of weeks assess things and go from there.
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Post by misscatafer on May 16, 2017 3:12:43 GMT
Thank you! I want to wean her off the Guinea pig food, so was going to just keep on adding nuggets slowly until the bowl is 100% nuggets. I don't actually have anymore guinea pig food to give and don't really want to buy this... Would this be OK for her?
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Post by misscatafer on May 16, 2017 8:15:07 GMT
Soo not long got back from work. Rob said for the first time since we have had them he was awoken by barking which went on for several minutes. He went into check and all three degus were on high alert on their highest perches. He couldn't tell who the culprit was! It has just happened again now, a succession of loud barks shortly after I left the room. We have given Boo a peanut to cheer her up. Oh, and here is the setup. The thickets cages are truly awful aren't they. I feel she has no privacy as the cage is so 'open', it is like a degu jail!
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Post by moletteuk on May 16, 2017 11:04:07 GMT
Congrats! Welcome home, Boo! (Betty??) Just want to check you have sexed her for yourself? Is there a risk she could be pregnant? Let her settle and see how the interactions go through the bars for a while. Next step is swapping substrate. Playpen should be OK for introductions. It depends what guinea pig pellets they are, but gradually adding the pellets you want to feed is the best way to switch. JR Farm Grainless Guinea or Rosewood Naturals grainless guinea are both fine, I don't think there are any other guinea pig foods that are suitable though, Burgess for example contains sugar. Can't wait to hear how things go
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Post by misscatafer on May 16, 2017 13:32:31 GMT
I managed to have a quick look when she was climbing around the cage, she looks female! It was one of the first questions I asked when enquiring about her... She has been on her own for 3 years so the chances are extremely thin, they was told by a vet that she was female after they suspected and got her checked shortly after they got her.
She has been so so timid today, she has not come off the wooden shelving onto the floor at all Rob tells me. She is using the wheel sometimes but seems too scared to come onto the straw... Maybe the smells and new items are scaring her? Her and girls are completely ignoring each other.
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Post by deguconvert on May 16, 2017 15:37:35 GMT
Do you know what position she cage was in relation to the floor, at her former owners house? If she was up higher, perhaps being on the floor is disquieting to her?
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Post by misscatafer on May 16, 2017 16:02:03 GMT
She was on the kitchen floor underneath a table where she was. They had cats and a dog so unsure if she would have had interaction with them. We did initially put her on the coffee table so she was in the middle of the cage but then decided to put her on the bottom as that is where the girls play all day.
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Post by winic1 on May 16, 2017 16:25:50 GMT
She is indeed extremely exposed in that little cage, isn't she. Perhaps put a box or pieces of cardboard around part of her cage so she feels more secure? If she was kept under their table, then she isn't used to open sky or people looming over her.
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Post by misscatafer on May 16, 2017 16:42:39 GMT
Thank you for the advice! We have covered half of the cage now. There is lots of warbling and loud squeaking going on through the bars between them. Hermione seems to be a bit over protective of Bella we have noticed, she is squeaking the loudest and keeps bodily herding Bella away from Boo. Hope this won't be an issue later on.
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Post by misscatafer on May 17, 2017 22:09:08 GMT
I know I am probably going to get a telling off for doing this too soon, but tonight we did our first face to face introduction. I was fed up of Boo looking so sad and just sitting stock still in the cage. We started off by just having Boo in the cage in the playpen whilst the girls had free roam, there was some teeth chattering from ours and Boo was just warbling away to them both. There was such a difference in Boos behaviour! She suddenly discovered all of the exciting things in her cage and even started eating! (she had only eaten around three leaves of forage since having her, I was getting worried) Then we decided to take the risk and let Boo out, we had water spray and oven gloves at the ready. Things didn't entirely go to plan... Boo came out but then went back into the cage, and before I could close the door Hermione got in there with her, closely followed by Bella. What happened next though was not actually too bad! Hermione and Boo had a quick boxing tussle early on which looked a lot worse than it was, there were a few kicks but no blood of bites, after that Hermione spent the time grooming and warbling back at Boo. Bella and Boo look like they will be fighting for alpha... There was no injuries but several boxing tussles between them and a hell of a lot of weeing on each other and on Hermione. They kept turning their backs to each other whilst teeth chattering and then squealing loudly while trying to dominate the other. Boo still warbled away at them both in between spats. It was so tense to watch but I understand they have to fight it out. We stopped after 15 minutes as all goos were looking tired.
So at least no injuries or FBOD!
I'm also quite worried about Boo, she hasn't drank anything since having her and her pee is dark orange, almost red. Any suggestions for how I an encourage this?
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Post by deguconvert on May 18, 2017 3:48:30 GMT
Have you checked the water bottle to be sure she is able to get water to come out? Or have you tried a dish of water? What are you giving her water in? You might want to have her checked to be sure there is no infection in the urine.
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Post by deguconvert on May 18, 2017 3:54:18 GMT
Not going to chastise you for the intro. It sounds like it is just what little Boo was needing. I would give them a couple days at least before trying again. Keep the cages in near/close proximity. If you see aggressions rising through the bars, maybe hold off a bit longer, or discuss it here and let us know what you are seeing.
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Post by misscatafer on May 18, 2017 8:55:33 GMT
Thank you, at least I know Boo can hold her own now and is not as feeble as she looks! Will definitely hold off on the face to faces for another few days. Today Boo is warbling through the bars at them, Bella is greeting then showing minor aggression and Hermione is still acting jealous of Bella interacting with Boo, but is warbling back at Boo herself through the bars. I have the water in a new water bottle, the old one was really yucky. She still hasn't has anything overnight or this morning. I will try a bowl and if still no luck I will take her for a check up.
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