Tori's Escape and 3 degus together!!! xD

[kioshiandtomeo]

all right! we finally have 3 of the four boys together now. xD

While I was gone on a band trip, Roku knocked the cage barrier over and joined taisen. they're getting along perfectly, it seems. no fur missing or bloodiness.

the third was introduced this morning.

lol, and here is the story of Tori, his great escape, and his introduction to TRaisen and Roku.

Tori escaped, went through the hole in the wall for our rabbit, and went under my bed. he woke me up this morning from his chewing on boxes under the bed. since we have a rabbit, all cords are naturally out of reach, so there was no danger there.

so, i crawled under the bed and, after a few minutes caught him. of course, he was very freaked out from the adventure naturally, so I've ended up having my first degu bite xD
haha, the funny thing is, I'm seeing the doctor today for a bad cough and stuffed sinuses (either bronchitis or sinus infection, likely). haha.

Anyways, i'm washed up. found it amusing though. He did bite hard enough the second time to cause me to bleed, which I've never had happen with a small animal before. I'vehad hamsters and the like before degus, so i'm not new to bites.
haha, but yeah. freak the doctor out a bit today.

but we're happy they're all together now. some squabbling is going on, but its more whining "why do you have to be here?" sort of thing.

We're putting batrhing dust in now. hopefully they all stay good atm, but we've at least made a breakthrough with two of them.

-Rachel & The Zoo.

[kioshiandtomeo]

ah, nvm. Removed Tori. they were starting to have a scruff.

at least roku and taisen are together though. its been 2 days or more for them.

[sarah]

Haven't had an escape yet (knock on wood!!) but one of the babies accidently bit my finger once -- thought it was a treat! It didn't break the skin but it hurt and I had a bruise later. Those little guys have sharp teeth!

Good luck with continued introductions -- sounds like Rokku and Taisen are doing great!

Sarah

[critterrx]

I hope they continue to get along okay. My two boys started fighting when they were about 5-6 months old, so they live in separate cages but are let out together for playtime.

So far, I haven't been bitten. They nibble quite often (they both have cataracts, so they do a lot of extra "tasting") but haven't broken the skin.

[kioshiandtomeo]

oh, mine are older boys. they were rescues that were apparently dumped at a local petstore. they had no clue how to take care of them, but they didn't ahve the eart to not taken them in. we got Taisen, Rokku, and Tori for 25 bucks altogether. they just needed it to cover the costs they had accumulated. Taisen is diabetic, we have no clue about his age, but we know he's probably middle age. he has cataracts and diabetes, so he has absolutely no sugar. he's a healthy little guy now! but a devil...
Rokku is scared of humans. very shy. he's also middle aged.

Tori is the baby. we got him probably at nearly a year old, as he was nearly done growing. he's a pretty small guy, but man, he didn't get kicked otu without a fight! everyone is missing some fur! xD

no, it seems that rokku and taisen are very tight now.

Tori will probably pair up with our other lone degu, Tomeo, who's partner passed away in december. Tomeo we figure is 6-7 years old. he's not doing well. I'm keeping him upstairs so that he stays warm. he keeps getting a recurring cold that never seems to go completely away. he's gained more weight now, but he's still painfully lean. at elast, compared to the other 3.
But tori and him have gotten along through a cage barrier previously, so, when possible we'll introduce them. I just want him better!

oooh...an adult degu bite HURTS!!!! I've been bitten a ton of times by our many hamsters while taming, but they're nothing. the best comparison is a sharp rabbit nip. i have a dwarf rabbit who has nipepd me firmly but gently before. just imagine it harder, and breaking the skin. i think he hit a nerve in my finger, lol!

I got to scare the doctor. he ggave me a tentitnus shot booster early just in case. i told him i was bitten by a degu and he leaps out of his chair and goes "What!" xD and then "what's a degu?" at first he thought i said some SA animal xD

ahhh, yes, Taisen has a cataract in one eyes that has him for the most part blind. he can only see on one side. surprisingly, with oall his problems, he's in tip top shape. lots of a hay for him, which he adores.

they do have sharp teeth!

The good thing is, it's rare they will actually bite hard enough to break the skin. maybe a accidental nip while grooming your hand here or there, but not much else. but i freaked him out badly, and I knew i'd be bitten most probably when did, so it wasn't a shock. Poor guy was freaked out and worried when he saw he hurt me. once i bandaged it up and had him in my housecoat, he groomed the band aid, as if apologizing, lol!

poro guy seemed to have a sprained leg from the other two, but he's fine othewise. Rokku came out the worst with a cut near his nose (thankfully, not big nor directly on nose. its more around his cheek. it had already clotted when we checked him) and a fur missing everywhere on taisen xD haha, but those two seemed very happy they "chased that strange degu off their land" xD

haha, man. they sure have attitudes! xD

-Rachel & The Zoo.


EDIT: just to add a bit, I was just going to say that around 5-6 months many young male degus do decide to fight. apparently, its from hormones. see, before they think that the other is a girl, so they behave nicely for the "girl" but then they get smelly like the guys, and they go "OMG! your a guy!" and fight xD there's my quick explaination.
Guys are difficult. as always, huh? xD

[sarah]

I wonder if neutering my baby boys has taken care of the hormone thing -- I would hate to see them suddenly start fighting.

Sarah

[critterrx]

When my boys got in their big fight when they were about 6 months old, the vet said they were in what equates to puberty and that could make them more aggressive. She said we could try neutering them, but it was going to cost about $300 per degu , there's always a risk with surgery, and there was no guarantee that would stop the fighting. I just keep them in separate cages and let them out for playtime together so they can groom and play, but are supervised. Occasionally they will start to bicker, but they've gotten much better lately.

[kioshiandtomeo]

yeah. no, neutering is risky. we don't have that option here though, so we had to make do.

No, Tori has a sore leg from the fight, but other than that, he's fine. he had his regular dust bath and pet.

Its nice having 2 of the degu boys at least together now. poor tori though; all he wanted was some boy love from the others!

ah well, when the big, nice cage is finished, we're going to try introducing Tori to Tomeo. they've gotten along quite well in other encounters. its just the fact that Tomeo is a old man and has been getting sick so much that we've kept them seperate.
but we should be able to have them in pair s of two in the new big cage. we're going to split it down the middle with glass, so they can see each other, but have their own areas.

[critterrx]

I hope the introductions with Tori and Tomeo work out okay. It would be nice if you could keep them in pairs.

I'd be afraid to try to keep Simon and Theodore together, even in a huge cage. Simon had a bite wound that required skin glue to close it, and Theodore had a broken foot with a puncture wound. After a week of antibiotics and pain meds, they both healed okay, although Theodore looks like he's forever giving us the finger (his broken toe healed crooked so it's always sticking up)!

[kioshiandtomeo]

ooh man!

Yeah, I'm hoping the other two will get alone, but they were building nest beside the barrier and everything.


Man, those other two? Rokku and Taisen? they haven't looked back! they were the pair we neve rthought would get along, and they do!

See, i have a wheel only big enough for one degu to run full length, right?

I just caught them now running together in it, following each other, hopping slowly. it was so hilarious! they managed to squeeze the two of them in somehow! xD

Tomeo and Kioshi never did that, so its something new.

As soon as the big, split cage degu cage is made, we're going to introduce Tomeo and Tori. right now, Tomeo is upstairs because he's been quite sick, the cold he had. he still is sniffling now and then, but he's a lot better than before.

Wow, that's too bad. its so hard, getting the guys together. this was a complete fluke. I'm quite thankful that one didn't murder the other, when the one knocked the cage barrier down. they honestly fought whenever we tried ourselves; fur went flying.

And after Taisen sprained Tomeo leg (something he's never forgiven taisen for), i got really worried. i was freaking out about it maybe being broken, but it healed up pretty fast.
I don't have a vet who will even look at degus in town, so if it had, i would have been on my own with it.

At least they both healed up though, Critterrx!


-Rachel & The Zoo.

[critterrx]

That's so funny, the two running together in the wheel like that! Before I had to separate my guys, they would both try to get in the one wheel, but they'd go opposite directions. Whoever got going first or faster would flip the other one out. It was funny until they fought over it.

[kioshiandtomeo]

xD oh man!

-Rachel & The Zoo.