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Post by lincolnsmommy on Oct 11, 2009 18:03:42 GMT
My gorgeous Degu Thelma passed away yesturday. Im totally distraught and so is her cage mate Louise. Louise isnt sure whats happened and looks lonely. I want to get her a friend but im not very clued up on how to go about this.
Should i get a young girl as a companion for her?
How do i introduce them?
How do i make sure the degu is defiently female that im putting with her?
And is there anything else i should know.
Im going to get her a friend in the next couple of days so any advice would be great
thanks everyonex
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Post by lincolnsmommy on Oct 12, 2009 10:07:09 GMT
anyone can help me?
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Post by Philip on Oct 12, 2009 14:33:58 GMT
if you look aroung the other threads there are lots of tips and pointers, i'm sorry that i can't really help you myself though, cos i haven't had any experience with introductions and so forth.
Hope louise is ok!
Philip
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Post by gemmagreaves on Oct 12, 2009 20:05:44 GMT
heya i'd try and get her a young goo friend as the younger ones are easier to bond i find, they submit very quickly to the older goo. the problem you may face is nowhere is likely to sell one goo. so you might have to have 3-would that be a problem? if you only have one cage then you need to get another, or maybe borrow one for a week or 2. ideally you would let the new goo(s) settle down for a few days and then i find if you drop a drop of vanilla essence into the palm of your hand, rub your hands together and pick up Louise, rub your hands on her back and belly and put her on the floor/in her exercise space, then pick up the new goo(s) and do the same thing, you might find they bond straight away. i did this and also put the sand bath on the floor with them and splashed a couple of drops of vanilla essence into that and after half an hour i put them all into one cage with the sand bath! i monitored them for a bit but no problems whatsoever. this also worked for someone else i recently suggested this to. Make sure you have a towel and some water to squirt at them if they start fighting. if they start fighting then return them to their own cages and try again in a couple of days etc etc. the easiest way to sex your goo is to have a look at their bits. theres a video on this forum, in meeting place, called how to sex your degus. basically the bits are immediately next to each other and theres about 1cm gap between the boys bits - but watch the video as its very helpful! if theres anything else you need give us a shout, i hope this has been of some use? we could lend you a cage for a couple of weeks and give you a hand with sexing etc if you're near lincoln? good luck anyway x
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Post by emz on Nov 1, 2009 2:28:19 GMT
A female under 8 weeks old would be (in theory) the easiest introduction for her as under 8 weeks old they should be submissive and there shouldn't be any dominance fighting. However it means they can be pretty tiny so you must be careful when introducing them to older/larger goos.
I think most degus who've lost their partner and are alone are an easier introduction (just from observations of other peoples intros posted) as they want some company. As for how to introduce them gemmas advice covers that brilliantly already.
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