Sad Degus

[laratadegu]

Hi,

So my boyfriend and I got two degus (female) and one rabbit. The oldest degu is around 3 months old and the other one is around 2 months old. We bought them from this shop that keeps animals quite clustered and they were very jumpy at the beginning. Initially, we only got 1 degu and the bunny but we noticed that the degu was barely moving and standing on a corner the whole time. So we decided to get another degu, at first there were a lot of fights (mostly for food and the wheel), but after a while it stopped. The degus like to cuddle and cuddle with the rabbit as well, so everything was going good. Nonetheless, lately, none of the degus want to play in the wheel and the oldest degu just wants to sleep the whole timw and the other one comes nearby from time to time to cuddle. We don’t know what could be happening and we are quite worried. We have been struggling a lot with the degus because we haven’t gotten them to trust us or to cuddle us. They still run away from us unless we got food and when they are outside of the cage, they barely come play with us. I am asking for as much help as we can get. Thank you

[winic1]

Are your degus living WITH the rabbit? In the same cage?
What are you feeding your degus, for regular food as well as treats?

[bouncy]

Ditto Winic!

Additionally, degus are generally NOT cuddly creatures. If they do want a cuddle, it's on their terms only, and you can't force them unless you'd like to meet their teeth!

The key thing is to get them used to their surroundings. This can take time. Make sure they're away from drafts and direct sunlight. Give them boxes etc to hide in, and let them get used to the different scents and sounds around them. As for humans, spend some time quietly sat next to their cage. Talk to them quietly until they get used to you! When they're comfortable with you around the cage, try resting your hand in the cage, but don't try to touch them. After that, progress to offering a treat in the palm of your hand. They will eventually learn to come to you and maybe even sit on your hand.

[laratadegu]

Sept 6, 2022 13:29:21 GMT winic1 said:

Are your degus living WITH the rabbit? In the same cage?
What are you feeding your degus, for regular food as well as treats?

Hi! Yes they share a cage of 110cm x 58cm x 50cm. We feed them rabbit and chinchilla pellets (the pet shop sold it to us with the degus) and some special food for the degus. We give the oats and sunflower seeds as treats. Sometimes they eat hay but not regularly.

[laratadegu]

Sept 6, 2022 15:46:19 GMT bouncy said:

Ditto Winic!

Additionally, degus are generally NOT cuddly creatures. If they do want a cuddle, it's on their terms only, and you can't force them unless you'd like to meet their teeth!

The key thing is to get them used to their surroundings. This can take time. Make sure they're away from drafts and direct sunlight. Give them boxes etc to hide in, and let them get used to the different scents and sounds around them. As for humans, spend some time quietly sat next to their cage. Talk to them quietly until they get used to you! When they're comfortable with you around the cage, try resting your hand in the cage, but don't try to touch them. After that, progress to offering a treat in the palm of your hand. They will eventually learn to come to you and maybe even sit on your hand.

We bought boxes but they ate everything. They like to cuddle a lot with each other and with the bunny. But they constantly just try to chew their way out of the cage and don’t really play with their toys or wheel anymore. The oldest degu trusts us a bit more and climbs in our hands but the youngest one is still very scared and runs away from us. We’ve had them for more than a month already.

[teemu]

I'm sorry to say, but rabbit food should not be given to degus. It contains minerals and nutrients that are not suited for them and will cause them harm in the long run. The same goes for the rabbit, rabbits should not be eating chinchilla pellets. Oats should also be given to degus only in very small amounts, and only sometimes. Degus are very sensitive to incorrect feeding, and it can, no joke, actually shorten their lifespan by half or more (usually due to diabetes, which they are very vulnerable to), and will lead to a much lower quality of life. Degus should primarily have fresh hay and food pellets meant for them (either a dedicated pellet, or a mix of chinchilla and guinea pig pellets, but no rabbit pellets).

I would also be hesitant to place any small animals in the same cage as a rabbit (and mixing animals in general), simply because of the fact that the rabbit is much bigger and could easily hurt them, even if it does not intend to do so. Rabbits, for example, can kick out when annoyed or surprised, and even one such kick could seriously hurt a degu. There may also be a risk of them making each other sick from their droppings etc. I would, if possible, seriously consider getting them separate cages. Optimally, degus should have a large cage (the current cage is quite small, unfortunately) with a lot of climbing area and multiple levels, which is not something that rabbits can accommodate either.

(I understand that it's sometimes hard to find information about how to correctly house specialised animals like this, and I don't want to sound accusatory. If you need any help with any of this, people here will be glad to give advice.)

As for the question of handling, degus can take a long time to build trust, and it's a very slow process. It can take many months for a degu to become used to humans, and not nearly all of them will want to be handled even then. They are not, like Bouncy says, cuddly pets as a rule. Some can be, but this is by no means a given. Your description of their behavior sounds very normal and not something to be worried of. They will become more used and at ease with time, but it's very hard if not impossible to force them to associate with people. Some of my degus are at best neutral towards me, while some do like to be handled (but only on their terms and when they feel like it).

[deguconvert]

First thing I'm going to do is give you a link to our cage size recommendation thread. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9396/forums-cage-size-recommendations

It is a very important thread, because the vast majority of pet stores, breeders, and even the RRSP, recommend cages that are far too small for degus as singles, and especially so for multiple degus. This is also the case for rabbits. If the cage you have had two complete levels in it, and the length is 110 X a depth of 58 . . . one level has a surface area of 6380 cm. Two complete levels would be 12,760 . . . which is just over the minimum space we recommend for two degus. I am afraid your cage is a single level with some ledges on the sides, and you have two young degus and a rabbit in that space. I suspect your degus ARE sad, as you say in your title, perhaps even depressed. I don't think that will improve if they continue in the cage you are using. It is way to small.

As well, you must examine your pellet foods to ensure that they do not have any sugars in it. Things like cane sugar, molasses, maltodextrine, etc.. These are to be completely avoided. You also don't want foods that contain wheat, corn, or dried fruits. Degus have no ability to process sugar, and are so very prone to diabetes that they are used in studies about diabetes.

Please know . . . we are not coming down on you. Degus are quite complex in their care, and they have very specific needs that very much affect their health and their behaviors. Every one of us have faced the steep learning curve and have been puzzled, frustrated, terrified, desperate, trying to understand our furry loves and what they need. Not one of us has had it right in at least one, or multiple areas, of their care. Among us, we have a wonderful collection of experience and knowledge. It is our desire to help other degu owners, to increase their understanding and knowledge about their degus, and suggest solutions that will most help them and their degus.