Pete and Beans

[sheepgirl19]

I'm going to keep an online sort of diary of the step by step of introducing my two degus. Hopefully people who've done it before will be able to give me advice and tell me if I am doing anything wrong.

Day One
Beans arrived unexpectedly. Had a meeting in the bath tub with Pete to just check that he was relatively friendly with him to check what I had been told about pete being the victim and not the one that caused the fights he'd been in when he was younger was correct. Seemed to go OK due to the fact that beans is 7-8 weeks old and tiny. Beans is from an unexpected litter of created by two apparent males. There were 5 babies in total and they all have been rehomed apart from Beans.
On closer examination of Beans he looks suspiciously like a girl. This is annoying as my cousin has already returned home to devon and I know he had both boys and girls in the litter. Also this prove everything that ever has been said about pets at home workers being incompetent (guess where he works). Phoned the vets and booked pete in to be neutered, at place that was recommended to me. Date set for the 12th.
Currently Beans is in an old hamster cage along side petes. Tomorrow I will separate petes cage in two and put beans in it. (was missing somthing to fasten it today).
So far there is lots of very high pitched squeaking from beans, and lots of chirping from pete. Pete seems far more lively and interested than usual and even started playing on his wheel, something he hasn't done since he's been all depressed.

Sadie

[taipan]

hmmm... hard to belive there are 2 degus called pete on this forum guess not as original name as i thought lol ;D

[sheepgirl19]

lol thats weird. I named mine after my manager at work that makes the same whistling sound my pete does when he wants your attention. Also people seem to struggle with the word degu so I thought it would be easier if he was called something simple. Only now people always go hows your pete, like "pete " is the species of animal.

[taipan]

ours were named by my 6 year old daughter. she wanted to name them arleena & sharpay until i told her they were boys to which she replied OK peter & Fred then. just no imagination when it comes to boys names. but the dogs called STAN so at least they fit in ;D

[sheepgirl19]

Your daughter sounds so cute. I dislike it when people call their animals really plain human names like Bob etc, and then i went and did it with Pete.

On another note I have spent the last few hours modifying Petes cage so that there is now a divide down the middle only to find that when I came back into the lounge that Beans was sat quite happily in with Pete. Every time I separate them the end up together again and I don't see how they are doing it. Currently they are asleep in the same bed together its quite cute. Still not sure on Beans true sex.

[deguconvert]

LOL! Sounds like they are getting along at least! That's a good thing for now. If you are thinking of neutering Pete, they may well be OK together for a short time. BUT be sure that you get a very informed Vet. Degus cannot be neutered in the same manner as rats, despite their similarity in appearance. Degus carry the family jewels INSIDE the abdominal cavity, not the outside, and therefore require a very different surgery. You need to be absolutely certain your vet knows that and is experienced with the differences involved.

[buzz]

I'm trying to drag things up that I've read from the past and I don't think that degus are meant to be neutered at his age because he is not properly developed yet and neutering is likely to affect his growth. I was going to get my boys neutered at one point (never saw fit to in the end) and its what I was told by the vet, my boys were 6+ months at the time and she said thats the right age for neutering since they are fully adult.

But, I think most of all I'd honestly worry about the anaesthetic because he's so tiny, its dangerous with an adult so to get the level correct for a tiny pup will be even more of a gamble. Plus, the majority of degus die from the shock afterwards and I'd be worry that his system is to immature to cope.

Its just my opinion from information I've gained though... I've no real experience on the matter and if your vet is experienced and fully aware of his age then all the best with whatever you decide.

[sheepgirl19]

Thanks Buzz for your comment. I've weighed up the cost and benefit of neutering and decided to go for it. The degu that is being neutered is at least a year old as I got him as a rescue and had been in the shelter 6 months before I had him, and its only when his brother reached sexual maturity that he started to attack him so at estimate he's 6-12months old. Its the 6-8 week old little one that is a suspected female. However before I get it done I am going to take the suspected female degu to a trusted rodent mad vet student to get sexed, just so the other one doesn't have to go through the operation needlessly.
Given up on separating them although the mesh is still in place. Whatever I do Beans ends up in with Pete even after closing all the gaps. However as she/he can get through the mesh I've left it in place so she can escape if she needs to.
Pete has been getting progressively more and more depressed since I got him 2 months ago, and seeing him so interested in things and chirping and grooming Beans is amazing as before I was seriously worried about his quality of life. If neutering means that he can have a better quality of life by living with Beans then I am willing to do it. Also I spoke to the Vet and he has done the operation before, I've chosen a vet 15miles away from my home that has experience and has been recommended by the people I know (I study at a vet school so I emailed some of my lecturers asking for recomendations)

Sadie

[buzz]

Ah sorry, must ave misread your post... thought you were thinking about neutering a pup not an adult.

[sheepgirl19]

Must be one of the simplest introductions ever. Given up on keeping them separate and took the divide down yesterday. I figure if Beans is a female then the damage is already done in terms of pregnancy. So they can stay together and Pete will get neutered in a couple of weeks time. They are getting along fine, they sleep in a pile, groom eachother, dust bath together and play together. The only problem is the amount of noise they make when one of them is on the wheel and the other can't get on, but thats just cute.

[phoenixm]

i have two wheels now....to alleviate that issue.....it was getting to the point where one would shove the other out of the wheel when she was tired of waiting....lol