WE got more Degu Boys!!! :D

[kioshiandtomeo]

A few of you know we lost one of my boys, Kioshi, a few days back, on wednesday, and poor Tomeo has been left partnerless.

Well, we found some degus that were dumped on a local, responsible pet store. One is diabetic, overweight, and up there in age, the other 2 are younger, one is probably about a year, maybe 2 years, old.

For the diabetic, i was wondering how i may be able to mantain some of his health reasonably well, without going to the vet. We don't have a small animal vet in town.

And for integrating adult males, i'll be doing it one at a time. they've all had a dust bath. I'm doing it later tonight on my room's floor.

Wish me luck! i really want this to work!

-Rachel & The Zoo.

UPDATE:

Well, i had the cages side by side most of today, within sight of each other.
Tomeo was really happy. He was moving around, making his bed tidy, and warbling and chuckling excitedly at the other 2.

I sepparated the dominant male of the 2some for intro in a neutral area (my room, which is a completely new area for them all).
Well, at first, it seemed to be going quite by the book for a male/male intro. haha, but that changed :/

The new male is extremely jumpy, and is not really tame (amazingly, though tomeo is still suspicious of me and doesn't cuddle too often) Tomeo was wayyyy more tame then this new guy. So i'm giving a break, for reasons that will be stated, and instead rying to get this jumpy guy tame. he's TERRIFIED of me, the poor thing. I have no clue what happened before the pet store, but the way they picked them up would explain some of the fear. they swooped quickly on them from above :eyeroll: not good.

Anyways, after trying to figure out the dominance, they got antsy and began fighting. I seperated them, but not before Tomeo got injured.

I can't see a bite mark on his leg, but i think a muscle was pulled. He has a limp, but he's still putting a tiny amount of weight on that leg.

When i next try introductions, when his leg has healed, I'm going to try the submissive one of the new ones. He seems a slight bit calmer, and though he's older, he isn't aggressive or dominant of the 2.

ahhhhhh, i had such a scare out of the incident! But I have 2 weeks left in trying. The petstore will take them back then if we can't successfully introduce them. but i think at least one will be accepted.

the challenge is the 2 dominant guys--Tomeo and Jumpy (I'm not calling him that as a name, haven't decided on a name for him yet )
Once they're sorted out, everything will be okay.

Any advice or help? I really need it! i tried to get as much info from the forums, but i don't think i found the right topics.

thanks veryone,

-Rachel & The Zoo.

[Sunshinemeg]

right, I have done so many introductions I have lost count, so lets see if we can help you.

firstly, from the speed of the messages, I think you are going way too fast. Tomeo is only just getting over the loss of Kioshi, so you need to be careful. I would suggest, keep the group of 3 as they are, and in a cage next to Tomeo. Every day swap the group of three into Tomeo's cage and Tomeo into theirs, the next do swap them back. Do this for about a week, without meetings. After this make sure they all take a sand bath before you introduction them in neutral territory. Allow them freedom to explore with each other, but have a tea towel and a water spray handy. Let small scuffles happen, this is simply to determine dominance. If they get too rough, a quick squirt of the water spray will seperate and calm them. If they get into a rolling fight, you have the towel to throw over them and seperate them. However, these fights usually only happen if they are introduced too quickly.
Return them to their respective cages if they introductions do not go well, and repeat again the following day. If the introduction goes well, allow them to remain together.

ONLY return them to one cage together if they seem to be getting on well, and ensure they are returned to a cage that is THOROUGHLY clean and doesnt have any smell of any of the degus. I would also suggest changing the cage set up so they do not feel they are in their own territory and should be dominant.

Sadly, unless you have degus that are very young, introductions take time, but if you follow the above steps, it should be possible.

hang in there!

[kioshiandtomeo]

ah, ok. i thought i may have, so I'm giving them a break.

Any idea how long it takes a stretched muscle to heal in a degu? I'm pretty sure tomeo somehow stretched it too much. he's still limping, but he is putting a bit of weight on the leg.

I'm going to wait another day before i do the cage switching your suggesting. I've never come across that idea before, so it sounds perfect to me.

The threesome is split up at the moment, one a pair and the diabetic one is alone (we only picked him up from the pet store today) but they were together before. should i put them back together in a neutral area?

I was thinking of leaving them in this set up for a bit, and introducing them one at a time, but is that wise? in a neutral area, after the cage swapping stuff has happened for a while.
what do you think?

I'm trying to get the other guy more tame. . .he's pretty much wild.
So i'm focusing on that while i wait for Tomeo to recover.



-Rachel & The Zoo.

[kioshiandtomeo]

Tomeo is quite a bit better now. he's looking a lot better.

As it turns out, i finally got names for the new boys!

Taisen(calm, in Japanese): He's now my fave of the new boys. he was so relaxed, even after a 15 min car ride home, in those petshop boxes (ughh) and put ibnto his new temporary cage. He loves being habndled (a miracle i appreciate, as i've really wanted a very cuddly little critter for a while) and never once has he frozen or looked scared. so, i thought the name Taisen was very appropriate.
He also adores my housecoat, curling up against my chest and sleeping while i walk around the house, and do my school work.

Rokku (Rock): Named suchlike because ur other, flightly degu (Tori) always hides behind them. he also appears very serene and unchanging, hence, "the unchanging rock". lol!

Tori (bird): Tori is the other dominant Degu i have, that i accidentally tried introducing too soon. He is very scared of me, ut the reason he's called Tori is that he moves EXACTLY like a bird. I'm not joking. short, jerky movements, especially when he surveys the area with his head. and when he panicks when i take his food from the cage, you swear you see wings on his back cuz he FLYS around the cage. I'm serious. hahaha!

anyways, what do you all think?

-Rachel & The Zoo.