Who To Pick?

[Rtho87]

I think this is the right place to post this topic.

I'm planning to adopt two female degus, which I hope to eventually introduce to my current pair, Alex and Daisy. I don't want to be in a situation where Alex or Daisy pass away unexpectedly, and I'm left with one. The two pairs would be housed separately, and I'm prepared to wait as long as it takes to get them to bond, or accept defeat if they just don't want to know each other.

I've come across two groups of female degus at different rescues, which are within an hour's drive of my location. I can't decide which rescue to approach, and wondered what you thought. Who would you go for? All of the degus are about one year old. 

Degus 1: 
There's five of them, but the rescue says they could go as a pair and a trio. Would it be unfair to split them up and take two? They seem like a well bonded group. 

Degus 2:
There's two. Would it be better to offer to adopt them because they're already used to being in a pair? One of the females looks like Annie, which makes me a bit wary. I think I remember reading somewhere, possibly on Degutopia or Degus International, about degus that aren't the regular colour type being more susceptible to illness? The fact that Annie got ill sort of backs that up; I've never had any issues with Alex and Daisy (touch wood!), who are the normal colour.

Thanks for your help! Looking forward to hearing/reading your views! 

[deguconvert]

There is some anecdotal evidence that degus with different colours in their coats are more susceptible to illness and disease, particularly those that are blue, champagne, ginger, black and I can't help but think I'm missing some of the colours. Not really sure about the patched degus. However that doesn't mean that there aren't healthy degus of those colours. I, like you, would hate to unbalance a well bonded group of five. I am sure the rescue just wants them to be in a happy home for life, but I know from personal experience that breaking up a group, no matter how large, greatly interferes with the hierarchy and the group will go through a reasserting/challenging of hierarchy for a while after the loss of members. As well, we humans tend to not notice accurately which degus are especially close and which are not. This means that more often than not, degus that are very close end up parted and go through deep grief, which makes the new owner wonder what is wrong with the degu. (Not to mention that the stress of such loss makes the degu more susceptible to illness.) Anyway, I could probably go into more detail, which is not needed here. Suffice it to say, I wouldn't recommend breaking up the group of five. They were advertised here as well, weren't they?

I am inclined to say go for the two and work with them. You are hoping and planning to end up with a lovely group of four then?

[moletteuk]

Patched degus seem to be weaker than any non patched degu. I think if you are rescuing then it doesn't make so much difference because you aren't encouraging more to be bred by paying the breeder, so there is no moral issue, only your personal feelings about longevity. I wouldn't let it put you off too much, any degu can become ill or have dental disease, there is a lot of luck involved.

I agree I would take the pair rather than create a pair out of the five.

[bouncy]

Ditto the others. If you take a pair from the group, you may have to deal with those two squabbling about their own new hierarchy before they're ready to be introduced.

Re the colours, all but one of mine have been agouti. One passed suddenly, and it was the patched. However, he'd always demonstrated a hypochondriac tendency. Would I still have taken him on? Absolutely! Even if she doesn't last as long, you'll still have a three again. Perhaps because they're bred for the pet trade, they seem to have calmer temperaments.

[Rtho87]

Thanks for the replies, deguconvert, moletteuk and bouncy! I contacted the person with the two degus. Ironically, it turned out that they'd posted the wrong pictures and it was two agoutis that needed rehoming. I'd actually built myself up into having an Annie lookalike, so was left disappointed. I decided to wait a bit longer before rehoming any degus.

In the end, I rehomed two 7 week old pups (agoutis, also ironically!). Their names are Lily and Alice. If you're looking for young degus, I recommend this person if you can travel to Stoke-On-Trent: www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/116929213/degus-for-saleready-nowthese-are-rescuesall-healthy.html I think she's also on Facebook. She rescues degus all over the place, and recently, ended up with a bunch of pregnant ones. I was impressed with the way she handled the pups, easily double checking their gender with me.

Lily is shy and hides a lot, but is getting more confident with each day. Alice is a cheeky little thing, who seems especially intelligent. Here's a picture of her:



They're in the Savic XL cage, while I have Alex and Daisy next to them in the Blenheim. The adults have been more curious about the pups (who tend to ignore them!) as you can see by this picture!

[moletteuk]

Wonderful! Congrats on the new additions. I think you have to kind of trust that these things work out the way they are supposed to, even if you don't normally go in for that type of thinking!

Curiosity from Alex and Daisy sounds good, do you have a plan for the introduction? You can sometimes get away with an accelerated introduction with pups, you could think about a meeting as soon as everyone seems calm and settled.

[Rtho87]

Thanks!

I'm waiting for Alex to relax before I introduce them in neutral territory. Daisy tends to ignore the pups, and vice versa, but he's showing a lot of obsessive interest in them, which turns to aggression or overexcitement if the cages are set too close together. I've been fiddling about with the size of the gap between the cages, trying to find a distance where he isn't obsessing as much.

I'm surprised; I thought Daisy would be the more awkward of the adults, being the same gender as the pups. Do you think he perceives the pups as dominant? When I got Annie and Daisy, he reacted in a similar way to Daisy, but clicked immediately with the late Annie, who was the more submissive of the two (although she still had a feisty side).

[deguconvert]

You're sure both are female? Just wondering if he is picking up on testosterone. If not, then it could well be he is picking up on something dominant . . . or he could just be trying to protect his territory. Don't worry about it too much, just let him get over his anxiety in whatever amount of time is needed. No degu is living alone, so no one is suffering for attention. You have the luxury of letting them live as they are, as long as is needed to help them be in the right state to bond with each other.

[moletteuk]

Sounds like you are doing exactly the right thing, it's best to be cautious if you aren't getting the immediate 'parent' type response.

I think it's to do with personality, an immediate sort of chemical compatibility/ initial vibe response, dominance behaviour and subtle cues, and the upbringing of each animal - sometimes they don't get an accurate and full social training from their parents, especially if they are taken away a bit soon.

[bouncy]

Such a cute little face!