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Post by ntg on Dec 5, 2018 20:46:07 GMT
I won’t advise either way as to whether you should get them. Personally I prefer degus ten fold, but I do love the boys. We've got a split household here, I'm firmly in the degu camp but Liam prefers the chins since Giz will happily let him stroke him... I do adore the chins but there's just something about the degus that keeps dragging me back
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2018 10:07:35 GMT
I won’t advise either way as to whether you should get them. Personally I prefer degus ten fold, but I do love the boys. We've got a split household here, I'm firmly in the degu camp but Liam prefers the chins since Giz will happily let him stroke him... I do adore the chins but there's just something about the degus that keeps dragging me back Me too. No more chins for me after these two. Degus all the way I’m afraid lol!
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Post by winic1 on Dec 6, 2018 13:34:22 GMT
Looks like I may be safe from having to take in the chin.
Not sure I'll be able to get more degus when we are moved and settled, listings are very few and very very far between, and we are far too old to travel six hundred or a thousand miles to pick up some degus. So, if once we are settled we really really need some small furries, I may have to branch out into others. With the impending move (could be as little as 8 months away) and two dogs, two cats, and nearly 60 small birds that I'd love to bring along (I know I won't be able to, but as many as we can cram in the car/van) that we have to transport ourselves, as moving pets is not part of the relocation package, also adding a couple of small creatures is just not a good idea at this point. I'm also thinking that maybe we should re-think our 'collection' of critters once we are down there. I'm able to do less and less, no kids to help out, hubby doing it all as well as adapting to new job, area, life, etc, (and he doesn't handle stress well), maybe we rethink things a bit. A sad thought, but being an adult often sucks.
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Post by darthchinchi on Dec 7, 2018 9:50:50 GMT
winic1 you could look into getting a deal with local shelters. If they hear of or get degus, you could be on hand to take them.
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Post by winic1 on Dec 7, 2018 12:51:30 GMT
I will. I've done that, and called and called to track down leads on farther out shelters when finding our second round of goos, and to help find Zenaida her bunch (she's distant but in my region). But the potential doesn't look good, not at all. In the South, evidently, the view on pet-keeping is completely different (have recently come across some articles about the southern shelter crises). Dogs and cats are viewed as disposables in many ways. Responsibility for neutering and preventing unwanted and excessive litters just isn't so ingrained. Shelters are overwhelmed with dogs and cats that people didn't plan for, or just don't want anymore. Up here in the north where I now live, shelters pull dogs and cats from down south to prevent them from being just killed. It's a regular occurrence, now. Our own second dog, Luna, came from the south, and the shelter she was pulled from had her original surrender papers from county shelter they had saved her from, and we were given a copy with all her vet records. Her family dumped her off at the county shelter, at 2 years old, four days before Christmas, with the excuse of "too many pets". This is one of the sweetest, most loving, dogs on the planet. Who's also difficult and undisciplined because she was never taught, but certainly smart and willing to learn and eager to please. They just didn't bother training her at all, then dumped her because she was inconvenient, and, I suspect, a new, better pet was going to appear under the Christmas tree.
Charlotte, North Carolina, which we will be living next to (as that is where the new office is) is the largest city in the state. The nearest rescue on Petfinder that lists small furries like guinea pigs, is nearly a hundred miles away. Small creatures are just not priority for most of the rescues down there. Dog and cat rescues generally won't take in something else, as they have no place for them nor can provide the right care. It's not going to be easy to find some. Not thrilled with having to drive a hundred miles (160km) just to adopt a even a couple guinea pigs, but really not thrilled with the prospect of buying them from a pet store just because it's more convenient. Do not want to support the "throw away pet" industry.
But a few months ago, I did see a couple listings on craigslist, within reasonable range of the area, so that means there are some degu owners in the region. Just gotta hope that they are still there and have a litter and some degus available when we are ready to take some more in. There used to be more degus available in my current area, but they have become few and far between as degus are very uncommon here (and, it turns out, are now illegal in my current state, because they left them off the list of allowed exotic rodents.)
I will just have to wait and see, I guess. So much is changing, both exciting and sad.
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 7, 2018 14:26:21 GMT
If they have a throwaway attitude to pets down south, you might need to wait until you get there to see if you can even get small animal/ exotic vet care at all.
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