Do anyone's degus fall asleep on them?

[cass8008]

I've had my two male degus Puffy and Smooth (terrible names I know but they've stuck!) For about 4-5 months Smooth is great and when they are let out will come and climb all over me, Puffy does occasionly but is quite shy. I've heard several people say how their degus will fall asleep on them and have bellies rubbed. Do you have to train them to do this or is it just certain personalities that do it? I've only been able to give them a quick stroke before they run off to play.

Cass

[buzz]

Personality definatly.

[cass8008]

Ah that's a shame. Oh well its not like they don't entertain enough already!

[deguconvert]

I agree with Buzz, personality is a very strong force in their temperament and openness to different degrees of contact. However, I have noticed that the more I spend time with my goos, the more they are responsive to my touch. It is SLOW development, and I don't know if we will ever get to enjoy those kinds of cuddles where they almost turn themselves inside out with pleasure while being petted. IF they sleep on me, it is in the BACK of my shirt. IF I get to give them a good pet, that is their "chew her finger nails" on switch. BUT, they seem to have begun to associate my kisses on their backside as affirmation of our bond, and love to park under my chin for LOTS of kisses. LOL they even push each other out of the way. Our dominant goo has recently begun to let me stroke his belly, which is a HUGE step for him. He has always loved to be on my shoulder, but would flip his head around and give me a warning nip when I tried to stroke him. We have now had him for nearly nine months, and tiny bit by tiny bit he keeps getting more friendly.

So I would say . . . don't count on anything, but don't give up either! Be persistent in loving them. Give them LOTS of healthy treats, well moderately so, LOL! They are slow but they will continue to grow in trust with you, and their bond will deepen.

[andrea37]

one of my boys sooty will sleep on my hand, if i make a fist he gets on top and nestles down on my hand trouble is im usually standing at the cage so it gets to be to long and i have to move my hand before my legs fall off ;D

[conor]

Max slept on my hand once i had really warm fluffy gloves on and he settled down quickly slept on my hand for 10mins then Paddy came along and pushed Max off

[stew3becky]

weird one with mine. senna is normally unstoppable, but a few times he has got comfy on me. i was wearing a hooded top with the pocket at the front the other day, and he was very happy inside the pocket. didn't move for a good 10-15 minutes.

[rsnooks]

It takes along time for Degus to build up trust to let you do anything, and even then it depends if they are in the mood.

Trouble is the only one that lets me stroke his belly, but that's on his terms and only if he is in the cage where he feels safe.

He will lift one arm up and let me stroke him

[silvergrin]

Yeah mine lets me do that too rsnooks. He will sit on his ropes or in his wheel and let me stroke him and then he lifts up one of his arms straight into the air and let me stroke his stomach. I've also found that if I stroke near his mouth he tilts his head toward my hand and makes a sort of smile where he shows his teeth - it really isquite cute.

Surprisingly he has only done this since he has been on his own

[suzannem]

bubs will let me stroke his tummy and will sometimes eat off my hand (while sat on my chest) but he wont sit still on me (or anything else) long enough to fall asleep most of the time, although he did spend a good 10mins sat still on the rabbbits back the other day (aww bless) but squeeks wont do any of these things, he'll usually only come out to me if im wearing my dressing gown n he can hide in the sleeves i keep hoping one day he'll trust me as much as bubs does

[goldenglory]

i may have rushed into things because i started taking my brave one (Mr. Hyde) out to hold him after just one day. now he loves coming out, whereas the shy one (Dr. Jekyll) still doesnt climb out of his own accord, so i leave him be for now. Hyde lets me stroke him a little bit sometimes, but rarely sits still long enough. he also runs around on my body when i try to hold him in my arms, but then theyre only 4 months old, so its understandable. im jsut gonna keep holding them and cuddling them til the get used to it. theyre quite sociable both of them by personality (they always run to see whos come into the room and stay there to sniff people through teh cage).

[goldenglory]

also, when i wear a hoodie (it gets cold in bristol, lol) Hyde likes to sit in the pouch bit. hell stay there for quite a while lol

[thebadfairy]

Awww, I can't wait till mine are happy to come out of the cage and be touched. The only way we can touch them at the moment is sneakily when we are giving them a treat. Sometimes they will stay still for a few seconds when they realise what we are doing but sometimes they run straight off. We have only had them a few days and we aren't sure if they were handled by the previous owners however they do seem to be doing quite well in the short space of time we have had them.

[Rachel]

I can relate to it being cold in Bristol goldenglory - I'm only about 20 miles from you... and it's been really cold here recently! Doesn't help that I'm not feeling well either.

I think I may well be one of the envied Degu owners. Without much effort on my part, both Mali and Bu are very happy to see me all the time. I can't ever imagine them falling asleep on me though.. possibly in my hair. That's a favourite place for Mali... I don't quite understand why. But they're so busy all the time - they just don't stop moving!

[deviates]

Basil and Manuel will come to the door of the cage when i open it, fight over who wants to come out first but I've never had them fall asleep on me! The closest thing to that i had was when I first got them Manuel would make all sorts of nice from the stress of changing home etc. Basil use to come out no problems and sit on my shoulder like a parrot hehe, cute lil bugger.

[ra]

When Mocha was close to giving birth (I didn't know she was pregnant, - shoot I thought she was a he)she would climb into my palm and sleep there for up to 15 min. I loved it. Once she gave birth she was too busy with the babies and then became sort of strange with me. She allowed me to scratch under her chin and would sit up and stretch each little arm out so I could scratch her armpits for her! She really enjoyed that - would even fall asleep and fall over while I was scratching.

Tanzania has always been a little more wild. Definitely more jumpy about things. Now that Mocha is gone we spend more one on one time. I think she is going to be more willing to sit with me very soon. Last night she hopped off the platform of the cage door onto my shoulder ran down my arm around to the other side up and across my shoulders back into the cage. She made that circuit a couple of times. I am very careful to not move.

The only time I give her the small animal puffed cereals is when she comes out to sit on me. Keeping a special treat for your physical contact time makes them more willing to engage.

[ra]

Oh and when all eight babies were just getting out and about I would put my hand in the cage palm up and let them form their Degu Pile for sleeping in my hand. I loved holding all those soft, warm little babies. They are such sweet babies aren't they?

I would never have bred my Degu so at this point in time I am very glad the pet store made the mistake of selling me a young pregnant female as a male. It was quite an experience.

[TiffaLynn]

Sept 29, 2008 10:56:42 GMT silvergrin said:

Yeah mine lets me do that too rsnooks. He will sit on his ropes or in his wheel and let me stroke him and then he lifts up one of his arms straight into the air and let me stroke his stomach. I've also found that if I stroke near his mouth he tilts his head toward my hand and makes a sort of smile where he shows his teeth - it really isquite cute.

Surprisingly he has only done this since he has been on his own

he must think your grooming him...

[TiffaLynn]

awww degu babies! If i can find a male one of these days that is of diffrent bloodline preferably out of a state i know the breeder i got mine from didnt get hers from i might breed a few years down the road. I know people that would love to have a pair. And i know i would want to keep on of her daughters.



going back on topic, mine love to fall asleep in the hood of my hooded sweatshirts. gracisimo tends to be my girl, more loving and we have developed a bond, that keeps growing. the other night i had both and they both crashed out in my hood together! it got kind of heavy though!

I cant wait til the day my degus lift a paw for a scratch! they are getting to where they let me pet them, and more gracisimo lets me pet her chin, neck and a lil of the belly. but when my nail gets too close they freak out a bit. Must think its a tooth on them! aha ha!