Post by eddyyoda on Sept 24, 2008 15:03:50 GMT
Following the sad demise of one of our degu back in June we debated for a while whether to get a friend for Fiver, our remaining lad. Then we decided we would but couldn't find any in the local pet shops. Returning from holiday over the weekend we popped into Pets at Home to buy Fiver a new sandbox and lo and behold, 4 baby brown degus!
So we thought about it Saturday night, looked at Fiver sitting all alone in his cage and remembering all the fun and noises he used to have when Tufty was around and knew what we had to do.
Sunday morning off we went and returned with 2 newbies. We got them all rolled in vanilla scented sand - and although there was a bit of sqealing and jumping around they didn;t try to kill each other and weren't fighting. We only had an old fish tank to customise for the babies so they were in that the first couple of nights then all in the kitchen together to run around separated by a mesh screen.
They've started calling for each other so we customised the big cage yesterday and they're in there, burbling and warbling through a mesh screen at each other. They're chilling out a bit more now when they're out and there's been no real fighting so I think we're lucky.
I know Fiver must have been lonely but I was worried whether we'd left it too long to try and get him some chums.
It seems to be going okay so far and we've tentatively named the newcomers Pipkin (Watership Down again, he's the smallest and timidest but has shown he won't be pushed around!), and Varmint because he keeps biting my socks - and toes - and is always the last to be coaxed back into the cage.
Fiver is a bit more active now, and seems to be enjoying the company. Their hammocks are close to the mesh so they're not far away at night too.
Thanks for all the hints and tips on here, it's been invaluable! I'll let you know how it goes.
So we thought about it Saturday night, looked at Fiver sitting all alone in his cage and remembering all the fun and noises he used to have when Tufty was around and knew what we had to do.
Sunday morning off we went and returned with 2 newbies. We got them all rolled in vanilla scented sand - and although there was a bit of sqealing and jumping around they didn;t try to kill each other and weren't fighting. We only had an old fish tank to customise for the babies so they were in that the first couple of nights then all in the kitchen together to run around separated by a mesh screen.
They've started calling for each other so we customised the big cage yesterday and they're in there, burbling and warbling through a mesh screen at each other. They're chilling out a bit more now when they're out and there's been no real fighting so I think we're lucky.
I know Fiver must have been lonely but I was worried whether we'd left it too long to try and get him some chums.
It seems to be going okay so far and we've tentatively named the newcomers Pipkin (Watership Down again, he's the smallest and timidest but has shown he won't be pushed around!), and Varmint because he keeps biting my socks - and toes - and is always the last to be coaxed back into the cage.
Fiver is a bit more active now, and seems to be enjoying the company. Their hammocks are close to the mesh so they're not far away at night too.
Thanks for all the hints and tips on here, it's been invaluable! I'll let you know how it goes.