Looking for Male Degu in South Eastern Ontario, Canada

[kingstonontario]

Hi! We recently lost one of our two male degus. We are now looking to home a new one (or more, I suppose...) to keep our remaining goo company. Unfortunately we can't seem to find any in the area (Kingston, Ontario, Canada). Hoping to reach someone in the area who might be in the same boat and have a chance to unite some lonely degus. Alternatively, if anyone lives in the area and has female degus, another option might be pairing with our male to make a litter.

Hoping someone in the area gets this SOS. Our guy seems lonely already....

[deguconvert]

Hi Kingstonontario! Welcome to the forum. I am so very sorry for you recent loss! My heart goes out to you.

I'm going to tag yasmin . . . who maybe able to point you in some potential directions. I know she has also struggled in the past with locating degus, and has had to look to Quebec for new goos. Which is difficult at the best of times due to distances, but now with covid19 . . . ?

Just out of curiosity, what is the age of your remaining degu? Are you seeing any indications of grief that has you concerned . . . lethargy, lack of interest in usual activities, refusal to eat or drink (latter two not common, but where a very strong bond was shared with the deceased degu, some degus will grieve themselves to death.)

[kingstonontario]

Hi! Thanks for directing my post.

I have seen a few available in the Montreal area, so there seems to be more of a population there, greater numbers, breeding, etc. We may have to look there in the end. It's about 3-4 hours from us.

So far no major issues with our remaining goo. His appetite remains normal (health and strong , but he is definitely spending more time in the nest/sleeping. Our cage is fairly large, custom built, wood, and the bottom floor is very shallow and almost totally closed off from light/people so that it is where they nest and sleep. He's spending more of the day than usual down there. I don't think it's troubling at this point - without his friend there isn't as much for him to do/play/socialize, and the other goo was always the more daring/friendly/social in terms of interacting with people. That said, I'm trying to track down a solution BEFORE it become a problem, as I don't want him to spend too long on his own and have it effect him. Given how hard I now find it to find any degus in this area, I have even more reasons to push my efforts.

Hard to know his age as we rescued him and his brother (??). They were not infant size when we got them, but seemed young. We've had them for 2 years now, and I would guess that they are 3-4, but really can't say with any certainty. I'm guessing the brother died from a form of cancer as he lost almost all his weight in a very sudden and short time frame. He was lethargic and lost his appetite. He then bounce back and had two days of eating, normal behaviour (energy) and put some weight back on, then had one day where he crashed again and passed away overnight. We called the vet in the area with the most rodent experience on a Saturday (the day he crashed again) and made an appointment for their reopening on the Monday, but he passed the Saturday night. Our remaining goo is in great health at the moment (in fact, the one that passed had been the dominant and larger one, but as he faded his brother started eating his food and is now quite large .

[deguconvert]

Another potential is that he may have developed diabetes, which is something that degus are prone to. What do you feed them?

Is your remaining boy OK with being handled? Would he be comfortable with being tucked inside a housecoat, or a sweater/hoodie/whatever, and being next to you for a while? That helps to provide companionship and will help him to be more interactive with his surroundings.

[kingstonontario]

Their regular food is Versele-Laga Nature Degu Food (small capfull a day) along with regular supply of Timothy hay. Occasional treats include some oats, sunflower seed, walnuts (maybe one a week, rotating them). They get a lot of dandelions (when in season) and we share our fresh salad greens with them (the surviving one likes arugula, though the one that died was never interested in greens   I had considered that he ate something wrong as one possibility, but I didn't know what would have caused it or what he could have eaten that the other one didn't also have access too. Do the symptoms I described sound like a diabetic reaction? I'd hate to think we'd fed him something toxic. Over the course of the summer they also were give a random acorn as those trees dropped their seeds, and then more recently a few pumpkin seeds as it is the season.

The remaining one doesn't generally look to be picked up, but once he is out with us he is very comfortable. He prefers to stay in his cage, but if out runs all over us, is happy to go in sweater pockets or hoods. Though when out, his tendency is to "explore all perimiters". His name is Patrick. The one who passed, Jerome, love climbing on to our hands and being taken out, and was more likely to sit still on us, though also not for long (they do like to explore, as would I if I were in a cage most of the time). We have an outdoor pen we made that we can take them out into the yard with and we sit wit them and they climb all over us and love to go in our clothes, especially shirts. Outdoors in fact, they prefer to be close to us, I assume out of a sense of security - it being safer to be near the larger human's shadow than out in the open should a predator appear.

[deguconvert]

Depending on the degu, they may develop diabetes even without having been exposed to foods high in sugars. You description of the very sudden weight loss, a bit of a rebound, and then passing could describe an aggressive onset of diabetes, as it could also have resulted from a cancer. Your diet sounds pretty typical, and certainly follows what is generally recommended by pet stores, breeders, and possibly even vets. However, it is a very tiny portion of what they would forage for and eat in the wild, where grasses, leaves from bushes and trees, and seeds would play largely in their food selection. Some prepared degu/rodent foods include different forms of sweetening in their formulas, which need to be avoided. I don't think Versele is an outright bad one, but some of their mixes contain dried fruit, which is not good for degus.

If you are interested in knowing more about what is possible for feeding your degu, hopefully soon to be degus . . . our Diet and Nutrition board has several sticky threads in it that would be excellent reading for you.

I was thinking that if your boy, Patrick, is familiar with being inside a shirt . . . tucking him inside one every once in a while during this time of being a solitary degu could be comforting to him.

[yasmin]

Sincere condolences to you and to Patrick on the passing of Jerome.

I am in the Ottawa area. I have adopted degus from the Ottawa Humane Society. They often receive them from Montreal shelters. It would be worthwhile to keep a look out for any up for adoption on their web site though I would not be surprised if all transfers from the Montreal area have been halted atm due to COVID-19 restrictions.

I will let you know if there are any in our area up for adoption. (I don't know what your experience level is but be prepared for issues when trying to introduce degus, especially males. Be prepared to have a second cage on hand.) I advise against breeding.

Welcome to the forum kingstonontario. (Feel free to message me if you need any help with supplies, vets, etc.)

[kingstonontario]

Thank Yasmin!

I hear you on the breeding. That would be a serious matter and responsibility, and not one I would easily jump into.

Patrick and Jerome were our first degus, so we have yet to deal with introducing new goos to each other. The second cage sounds like a very smart precaution, if we do manage to find another male.

I've called all the pet stores in Kingston, Brockville, and Belleville. They consistently say they haven't seen a Degu on their list in a few years. I've reached out to the humane societies in those towns as well as the Ottawa. the OHS said they get them from time to time and I filled out a profile/request to adopt one (though they said the request is only held for 30 days at a time). I've also been checking Kijiji, posted on Reddit, joined a Facebook group, and obviously this forum. Hopefully between all these different avenues, we have some luck. I know that two pairs of males were adopted in Kingston a few years ago (based on old webpages), so there are SOME around.

In the meantime, we are taking Patrick out a lot more so that he gets more exercise and social time with us. Also giving him some time to hide in our shirts each each day. He inevitably pees given enough time, but it's nice for him to have the time to cuddle up on our warm bodies and feel companionship. And of course, we like it too.

Thank you both for your tips and advice! I'll be sure to post if we have any success.

[deguconvert]

ROFL!! YES . . . THE PEE!!! That sudden warm stream that flows down your body!! I know it well!!

[bouncy]

Lol "yes, hooman, you are mine, and now everyone knows it!"

[kingstonontario]

Hi. After receiving helpful support and advice on this forum, I just wanted to follow up and let you know that we managed to find and take home two young male degus to come live with our remaining goo Patrick. We found someone north of Toronto (it was about a 3 hour drive each way) who breeds rats but also had a degu colony. She recently had a litter and we were able to take two. I'll see if I can attach a picture of Patrick with his new house mates Bandit and Gustav.

They are now happily cohabitating and loving the co-sleep cuddles. When we first got them I kept them in separate areas of the house. I put an old piece of clothing (rag) in each of their cages. For the first two days we'd play with them independently and then go back and forth between them so they could pick up each other's scents on us. After the first two days, I took the two rags and switched them to the other's cage, so they could get a stronger smell of 'the new goos in the neighbourhood'. Then for a couple of days we took them out to play together with us on the floor in a neutral space (after they had all fed and were happy with full stomachs). The play dates went well, so for a couple days after that I put the cages next to each other. Then on the 7th day I cleaned the main cage and then put them all in together. No problems thank goodness! Happy little gang now. Thanks again for the advice and help!

[savvy]

Oh they look adorable!

Please keep us posted on how it's going.

[deguconvert]

WOO HOO!! Congratulations! Could they be any cuter!! This is wonderful news! I'm SOOO thrilled for you and for Patrick! Absolutely DELIGHTFUL news! You must be so happy!

[bouncy]

That's wonderful!

The pups look utterly adorable! They look like 8-10 weeks? Don't worry if your food bill for the next year is big - pups eat LOADS!

[yasmin]