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Post by sarahjaynek007 on Apr 20, 2021 18:49:00 GMT
Hello I have a 7 year old male unneutered degu called biscuit that is my last degu left of a group of 4. He was always the runt of the litter so got picked in a little bit so when he was on his own really came out of his shell and seemed to love the space. He's been on his own for years now but lately he doesn't seem seem his normal self, he's been to the vets all clear apart from slowing down maybe due to age. My question is do you think it is just age and he's happy on his own?, would introducing new pup males with him be too stressful for him? (I've introduces new degus into a pack before) I thought about getting another cage and putting them side by side so he can at least see other degus, but do you think this wouldn't do much for him? I'm getting him out more to play on the floor with us, my partner sometimes thinks I'm putting human emotions onto biscuit our degu lol. Any advice appreciated. Sarah
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Post by teemu on Apr 20, 2021 20:27:05 GMT
7 years is starting to be older, but degus have been known to live past 10, so he might still have a good few years left in him . If he's been alone for a long time already, it would be weird for him to become lonely all of a sudden, so I'd say that slowing down due to age sounds more plausible. It sounds like you've been keeping good care of him, and degus have been known to become very attached to their owners if no other degus are around. As for whether or not he'd benefit from other degus, it's a bit hard to say. If he's been on his own and seems to have been happy like that, it might be that he wouldn't be too impressed. But it also might be that he would enjoy having others from the same species around. It probably wouldn't be hugely stressful for him to see how he reacts to other degus in the house at least, in case you'd like to get new ones in any case. It's hard to say, really. I don't think new degus in the house would be harmful, even if he wouldn't want new cage mates.
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 21, 2021 5:32:45 GMT
Hello Sarahjaynek007! Welcome to the forum!
Degus definitely have emotions, and they feel them strongly. They love, bond, hold grudges, feel jealousy, fear, disinterest, grief. I had three boys and then the dominant of them died his sleep, both of those boys went into deep grief. I thought they would get over it, but as the weeks passed they got thinner and thinner, became very lethargic, ate and drank less with each day. At that point I thought I had better get two young males to liven them up . . . and so I went out and bought two pups . . . which did indeed liven them up! We have had degus die of grief on this forum.
Degus are a colony animal, and are wired to live with other degus. All of their life is based on living with other degus, from birth where several mothers and fathers will share the care and teaching of the pups, right up to finding their places in the hierarchy of colony and filling their given role. They are very much a community that relies on hierarchal relationships, trust, and mutual respect.
Your boy may not have displayed a lot of signs that you could see, but he will have felt alone over the years.
If you are willing and interested to bring in some other degus, even just having them in a cage beside him will give him new life. If you do introduce them . . . finding another lone male (or two males) that is over the age of two would be good because there wouldn't be the added strife that comes with the hormonal phase of adolescence and young adulthood.
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Post by sarahjaynek007 on Apr 21, 2021 6:40:25 GMT
Thanks for the reply, that’s interesting to read about the cage next to him, I wasn’t too sure if this would stress him.I’ll keep an eye out for adult males around bristol.
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Post by teemu on Apr 21, 2021 9:09:34 GMT
Degus do seem to be pretty aware that their cage is actually going to stop any would-be intruders as well, so they don't seem to get all that stressed about there being other degus in another cage nearby, even if they don't necessarily like that degu. So in that sense it couldn't hurt at all, and like Deguconvert says, it's also possible that it will greatly cheer your boy up
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Post by bouncy on Apr 21, 2021 10:37:10 GMT
How fit and healthy is your little man? It MAY still be worth having a chat with your vet (provided you know and trust them). They MAY suggest he'd still take a neutering well.
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Post by sarahjaynek007 on Apr 21, 2021 20:33:36 GMT
Hi, the vet didn’t recommend neutering him with his age. My original two degus turned out to be brother and sister and he got neutered.
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Post by winic1 on Apr 21, 2021 21:21:33 GMT
I had a lone 6 year old male degu after his buddy passed. I managed to find a group of 3 brothers who were about 2 years old, and adopted them. Since I had a very big cage, I put up a divide, giving my old guy about 1/4 of the cage, and the 3 new ones the other 3/4. The divide was on a level, so they could see each other face to face, but it was double-walled wire, meaning two layers of wire with about 1/4" between layers, so that no one could bite someone else through the bars.
My old guy was thrilled to see some new degus. The new guys made it very clear very early on that they were not going to willingly let another degu into their group. But, as the old guy was not as active as when he was young, he was quite happy to just sit on a shelf near the divide, in his part of the cage, watching the other three doing their own things in their part of the cage. The new guys lost their aggression towards his mere presence, but never looked willing to accept him. As he was starting to show obvious age issues, I just let them stay that way, old guy on one side being entertained by the group on the other side, knowing he was not alone, but safe from youngster's aggression. When he finally passed, then the other three got run of the whole cage.
So if you would be okay with two cages of degus, I would suggest getting another pair or group of three or more (that way, if one dies, you aren't immediately stuck with a lone degu again). Even if they can't be introduced to form one big family, your older lone degu does not have to live all alone, he'll have neighbors of his own kind.
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