Post by dakana on Jul 5, 2017 6:47:47 GMT
Hey there, fellow Degu friends
I only just found out about this place, and I'm so happy it exists. My Degu story is long and funny.
I started off with two young ones from Pets at Home from the adoption centre called "Rory" and "Amy". They told me that they'd had babies, but the owners couldn't cope so gave them back, and they were skittish because they'd been just separated from the babies too soon. I wanted to get some that day anyway, but I knew I had to take in these poor strays and show them love. A couple of years passed and when I went to get some more supplies, I saw a lonely degu by himself in the adoption area. He was mostly brown but with a few white bits. I know that Degus need company so I had to adopt him, much to the chagrin of my mother (though she does love him). I was going to name him Doc to continue my theme, but it just didn't feel right, so I went with the only name that sounded good to me. Patches.
Not long after, Amy started getting poorly. Her back legs started to get weak, and no matter what I tried, eventually they became useless. At the same time she got a cataract and started being aggressive to the others, so I got her a small cage and gave her special attention, cleaning her up every day, giving her love. One day she started biting her own tail and I realised she wasn't happy like this. I'd been keeping her alive for me so I could love her, but by this point she couldn't see, couldn't move, and panicked when I went to pick her up, only calming down when she realised it was me, so I let her go. I held her in my hand as she was put to sleep, and buried her under a tree with flowers, because she loved eating flower petals.
A small time after, we start hearing a commotion in the cage. Patches is squeaking and will not stop. Now, he's afraid of his own food bowl, and Rory was sitting at the other side of the cage looking nonplussed about the situation. Rory just sat there though while Patches kept trying to tell us something very important had happened. I'll also mention at this point that we thought Rory had been getting tubby. Points if you can tell what happened next ... BABIES! Rory moved a bit, and left behind small bits of fluff. Then the fluff started moving. It was amazing. They'd only got the gender wrong at the pet shop hadn't they? Rory was a girl all along, and Patches was telling the world that he was a daddy.
We separated Patches from the babies and their mom, taking care to make sure he was everywhere that we were and got lots of cuddle time to make up for him being alone. when the babies got big enough, we found we had four boys and one girl. The girl and two of the boys were brown, but the other two boys had inherited white fur from their dad, only more extreme. We named the brown twin boys Gadget and Gizmo, the boy with the white stripe Dil, and the boy with a gap in his white stripe Pickles (guess which pair my parents named heh), and the little girl we named Amelia, after Amy. We tried to put Patches in with the boys but they quickly earned the nickname of "the Rabble", and Patches was delicate, so he quickly moved in with the girls.
All went well for a while until Rory started sneezing all the time. We got her some antibiotics to feed every day (she didn't like that, but she took it like a good girl, especially when it got her a treat at the end), but despite it working for a while, in the end it didn't do much, and she was gasping, her little lungs clicking, and they said she had pneumonia. She managed to recover once, but a year later it came back and she wasn't so lucky. The vet noticed she had a heart condition underlying as well, and so when she stopped being able to play and enjoy life, she was put to sleep. I didn't want to make the same mistake as with Amy, keeping her going in pain just for my own sake. I still remember our final cuddle. That was just over a year ago.
That brings us to now, we have six over two cages, the rabble are super loving yet still super rambunctious, Patches is still scared of his own shadow, but loves a cuddle, and Amelia is timid, but she can also be a little rascal.
That's my story. I hope it wasn't too long. I know I haven't been perfect, but I've done my best to make sure my Degu babies are happy and loved.
It's a pleasure to meet you all, I hope to be an active part of the community. After all, Degus are the best
I only just found out about this place, and I'm so happy it exists. My Degu story is long and funny.
I started off with two young ones from Pets at Home from the adoption centre called "Rory" and "Amy". They told me that they'd had babies, but the owners couldn't cope so gave them back, and they were skittish because they'd been just separated from the babies too soon. I wanted to get some that day anyway, but I knew I had to take in these poor strays and show them love. A couple of years passed and when I went to get some more supplies, I saw a lonely degu by himself in the adoption area. He was mostly brown but with a few white bits. I know that Degus need company so I had to adopt him, much to the chagrin of my mother (though she does love him). I was going to name him Doc to continue my theme, but it just didn't feel right, so I went with the only name that sounded good to me. Patches.
Not long after, Amy started getting poorly. Her back legs started to get weak, and no matter what I tried, eventually they became useless. At the same time she got a cataract and started being aggressive to the others, so I got her a small cage and gave her special attention, cleaning her up every day, giving her love. One day she started biting her own tail and I realised she wasn't happy like this. I'd been keeping her alive for me so I could love her, but by this point she couldn't see, couldn't move, and panicked when I went to pick her up, only calming down when she realised it was me, so I let her go. I held her in my hand as she was put to sleep, and buried her under a tree with flowers, because she loved eating flower petals.
A small time after, we start hearing a commotion in the cage. Patches is squeaking and will not stop. Now, he's afraid of his own food bowl, and Rory was sitting at the other side of the cage looking nonplussed about the situation. Rory just sat there though while Patches kept trying to tell us something very important had happened. I'll also mention at this point that we thought Rory had been getting tubby. Points if you can tell what happened next ... BABIES! Rory moved a bit, and left behind small bits of fluff. Then the fluff started moving. It was amazing. They'd only got the gender wrong at the pet shop hadn't they? Rory was a girl all along, and Patches was telling the world that he was a daddy.
We separated Patches from the babies and their mom, taking care to make sure he was everywhere that we were and got lots of cuddle time to make up for him being alone. when the babies got big enough, we found we had four boys and one girl. The girl and two of the boys were brown, but the other two boys had inherited white fur from their dad, only more extreme. We named the brown twin boys Gadget and Gizmo, the boy with the white stripe Dil, and the boy with a gap in his white stripe Pickles (guess which pair my parents named heh), and the little girl we named Amelia, after Amy. We tried to put Patches in with the boys but they quickly earned the nickname of "the Rabble", and Patches was delicate, so he quickly moved in with the girls.
All went well for a while until Rory started sneezing all the time. We got her some antibiotics to feed every day (she didn't like that, but she took it like a good girl, especially when it got her a treat at the end), but despite it working for a while, in the end it didn't do much, and she was gasping, her little lungs clicking, and they said she had pneumonia. She managed to recover once, but a year later it came back and she wasn't so lucky. The vet noticed she had a heart condition underlying as well, and so when she stopped being able to play and enjoy life, she was put to sleep. I didn't want to make the same mistake as with Amy, keeping her going in pain just for my own sake. I still remember our final cuddle. That was just over a year ago.
That brings us to now, we have six over two cages, the rabble are super loving yet still super rambunctious, Patches is still scared of his own shadow, but loves a cuddle, and Amelia is timid, but she can also be a little rascal.
That's my story. I hope it wasn't too long. I know I haven't been perfect, but I've done my best to make sure my Degu babies are happy and loved.
It's a pleasure to meet you all, I hope to be an active part of the community. After all, Degus are the best