New Degu owner, need advice

[deguconvert]

That's a really good thing to have confirmed, and I bet you feel relieved! At least their names are not gender specific, so you don't have to change them.

[monobrowjoe]

Hi there, i am a new member and a new Degu owner as of about 24hrs ago!! I'm a little confused with a couple of things i'd love some help with....
1) I know i've only had them 24hrs but they seem quite scared of me they even try and stay out of my line of sight whether the cage door is open or not, i'm keen 2 start the process of offering them something so they can muster up courage 2 rush forward and get and then dart away again, but how can i do that if they won't come near me?!?!?
2) I'm feeding they degu nuggets they are eating well i think as they've eaten the 2 'teaspoon portion each' meals theyve had. The book i bought from pets @ home 'The Degu - Top tips for a happy healthy pet' says that they CAN have carrot, apple, broccoli and cabbage in moderation, but people on here are saying differently - HELP!
3) Theres a dof in the house, has been for years would I smell of dog, might that be why they avoid me, hell if i move next to the cage they get scared and huddle :-(

[NightwishRaven999]

Hello ! Welcome to the forum : )
You will find many helpful members on here.
To start out, it is normal for your degus to be very scared of you. After all, you have only had them for a very short time.
There are many ways to go about the taming process.
Here is one way you can do this. This video has proven helpful to many and hopefully it will help you as well.



Be careful what you read in books. You will find many contradicting sources of information on degus. I suggest you learn as much as you can about them...speak to other degu owners and then you can judge what is safe or not for your own degus.
Most degu owners refuse to give their degus apple or other piece of fruits. Of course degus can eat them...they love fruits, but giving them fruits is only elevating the risk of them becoming diabetic.
Personally, I know people who own diabetic degus and I have seen diabetic degus. After seeing this I decided I would never give my degus any fruits besides a small piece of cherry tomato once a month.

Carrots are not bad for degus. But they should not be fed regularly. Although a carrot is a vegetable, it is sweet.
If you want to give them carrots, limit the amount to a small slice/per week for each degu. I also use a bit of brocoli to enrich their diet.

If you want to feed your degus fresh veggies, I suggest spinach, lettuce, celery, parsley, brocoli, zucchini, cucumber, green onions and herbs like basil, rosemary and thyme.

Most degus dont like vegetables at first...but after a while, most of them learn to enjoy a platter of veggies.
I dont consider vegetables to be snacks, I actually think of them as diet enrichment.

For snacks common choices are Oats, corn flakes, small bits of dried corn, small pieces of dried wholewheat bread.


I am not sure I understand the last question...but to reassure you, degus are not afraid of dogs or other pets. Degus are very curious animals.
So even if they pick up the odour of a dog, this would have little to do with their behavior.
Keep in mind that they are behaving normally.
Give them another day to settle in and then start the taming process.
Follow the steps in the video and I guarantee you will have success.


Hopefully you will get more advice from the other members here.
Hope this helps...keep us posted on your degus

[monobrowjoe]

thanks i was thinking maybe im being a bit (well... very) impatient with them i just didnt want them 2 b so terrified of me after all, the people on here (who all seem fantastic btw!) all say theyre so naturally interested in you especially if you're holding carrot or something straight away. Cheers for clearing up the dog issue for me our collie poppy doesnt like the attention the big cage on the dining table is getting lol

[monobrowjoe]

Heh guys thanks so much 4 your help and encouragement again. I came home 2day opened the cage and threw in a few sunflower seeds, and rather than hide they came out and ate right in front of me! I was so happy, they went 4 a snooze when my wife got in but they seem to be getting more active again now just gonna give them some 'degu nuggets' for dinner this first step has made me very happy indeed.

On a side note the only thing they seem to like so far other than their nuggets is sunflower seeds, they've sniffed at cucumber, lettuce, celery, cauliflower leaves and broccoli and not been interested lol oh well! :-D

[NightwishRaven999]

Try oats. They are very safe for degus and are one of their favorite snacks.
As for the veggies, most degus dont like them at first. But with time they learn to appreciate fresh greens...

Handfeed them regularly, you will gain their trust this way.

[deguconvert]

Sounds promising!! Degus are an exercise in patience, but are so well worth it! They don't jump in your face and love you to death like a puppy will, but they will love you as they grow to know you and you invest time and patience with them. Right now I have one of our three sleeping inside my shirt, his belly to mine. LOL! He loves to have a snuggle with me like this. I love it too . . . until he startles for some reason and claws his way up to my shoulder to see what is going on. LOL! They are such sweethearts . . . and a little sassy to boot.

[smux]

(new member and a new owner of 4 lovely degus, each 4 months old)

I guess I was lucky with my degus, in a way. I bought four of them for myself and my flatmate yesterday and they were pre-handled...same day I had them running over my shoulders and climbing on my head and allsorts. Only two of the four seemed interested in being friendly but it only took a day of perseverance and letting them out of their cage to explore the front room (not a good idea if you haven't degu-proofed everything) as they pleased and now all four of them seem at home with us...they ran around playing together for hours, and I plan to let them stay out all day when I think they're ready for it. The least interested of them I kinda "forced" to come out of the cage and interact with the others and us, he is a wheel-hog and runs around it all the time (flatmate decided to call him Gizmo) so I just put my hand into the cage and slowly moved towards the wheel to pick him up, he didn't even try to escape until I was carrying him out.

Downside to all this is I've noticed that they all suffer from congenital cataracts (at least I think all 4...3 definitely) so I've adapted their diet slightly and I don't plan to breed from them...if I do decide to, I'll get new degus, male and female from different breeders...I'm glad that *I* got them rather than someone who doesn't understand how to look after degus with this issue.

[harpic01]

Hello me and my partner have just become parents to two degu boys, Chilli and Pepper. Chilli is quite happy racing around etc - pepper is very quiet in the cage. We saw them in the pet shop and both were racing around like lightening. We have bought the cage recommended - put ladder hay bed and food and dust bowl in - is it just a settling in thing. They got a bit upset on the way home and chewed through the boxes and my finger !!! We have only had them a few hours and i am probably worrying unncessarily but better safe than sorry. Also at the moment the cage is on the floor as we dont have a shelf made - can they stay on the floor or should they be up more - we have nopets andno drafts etc . Help please - but dont regret them at all they are lovely

[DegutasticJen]

Hello and Welcome.
Dont worry esp as youve only just brought them home, I had the same situation when i picked first brought mine home, However try and entice the shy one out with a few treats on your hand, so it can take the treats and realise you are not going to harm them. It just takes time and effort however they will both be fine.

Also do you know for certain that they are both boys..only asking because some pet shops dont seem to know how to sex degus...if you need any help post pics and we can tell you :-)

I hope all goes well but I would think in a few days when he has settled in he will be racing around like your other one :-) regarding the fact they are on the floor im sure that will be fine, a few of my cages are on the floor because they are far too large to be put on a shelf..esp at being 5ft lol!

[deguconvert]

Welcome to the forum, and to having and loving degus. Pepper is acclimating, as DegutasticJen said, and should begin to look more relaxed and active in the next few days. I'm sorry to hear your finger got chewed as well as the boxes. Degus really CHEW! LOL! Hopefully you have had a chance to read through this thread that you have posted on. It has great information and will help to get your feet somewhat grounded about degus.

May I ask . . . what kind of cage was recommended to you?

[smux]

Also who recommended everything to you, because not everyone (I'm talking about pet shop staff) knows how degus should be treated and treat them like a hamster...which is bad!

[harpic01]

HI

Finger is getting less sore, pepper has appologied of sorts. Yes you were all right pepper is far more active but obviously the shy one - chilli is on drugs and just loves to be handled and go down my top and have a climb - an interesting sensation to say the least.
We have got an all metal cage with two ledges - i did some research and read up about what to enhance their living quarters with. We are going to build a home for them - other half works in the local prison (not not in there - works there) so he is good with making things - but they adore the hammock we bought and i found them both asleep in it this morning at 5am - as i was worried they had had a good night !!!! they had more sleep than me
Chilli and pepper inspected and can confirm both boys had a look at sexing yesterday - they seem quite happy to display - typical boys .
I dont know the dimensions of our cage but its a fair size and we are thinking of extending upwards - after planning permission of course to give them more room - and install a wheel - small gym and other leisure facilities that they might like.
They went potty over the dandalion leaves i picked yesterday and also the dailsy's which is great as the garden is full of them - any suggestions for the winter - know about veg and herbs - does anyone use a lot of herbs.
Will get the other half to do the techincal stuff of posting pictures etc - i hold my hands up to computers and me not being the best of friends :0

[harpic01]

p.s

Just seen Chiili hiding food which i had read about - but he has done it in the dust bath -eowwwwww - no accounting for taste i suppose. And toilet roll went down a storm kept them busy for at least 15 mins !!!!
I read up on the internet most of the info but the pet shop was very good and one lad was very knowledgeable about them - think its a case of watch and learn and obviously you guys are the experts with all the experience so i feel so much better knowing you are all here to help with those OH MY GOD moments

[NightwishRaven999]

Hi there ! Glad to hear your boys are settling in
I am also glad to hear you will be building a cage for them...cage building projects seem to be getting more popular, which is great.

Many of us use herbs to supplements our degus' diets. The advantange with herbs, grasses, flowers and leaves is that they can be collected in large amounts, dried and stored for the winter months. If the supply is large, you will have enough until the spring.

You can find a full list of herbs, flowers and plants good for degus in this thread:
deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=food&action=display&thread=5408

Most degus will not accept vegetables right away. It takes time for them to get used to them.
They can be served either fresh or dried and depending on their diet, vegetables can be fed daily. Common choices are celery, spinach, cucumber, zucchini, salad, carrot chips/slices....etc
Herbs like Parsley, rosemary, thyme, basil are also fine.

Anyways, follow the link provided above...you should find the information most useful.
Hope this helps...
Keep us updated on your two degus

[harpic01]

Hi

Day three and well im not sure - thought it was a good idea to move the cage to vacuum, took them out of the room - that made them a bit upset. Not sure what the vacuum will do - presume i slowly introduce the vacuum to other rooms and get them used to the noise
Anyway Chilli and Pepper decided to ignore me for the next hour and then Chilli came out and had a nice time in my jumper and then nipped me under the arm - mum told off i presume.
Obviously they are getting used to us etc - but chilli is happy to come out into the hall and run up and down - pepper no chance. I am worried about letting them loose in the lounge - we have wires loads of places to hide behind, but i read about someone getting his degu to take her food back to her cage - really want them to feel at home and be happy - but not sure how the next step goes !
They love cauliflower and eat the dill having turned their noses up - celery no chance totally ignored it...... work in progress me thinks.
Currently the boys are in the hammock - chilli on his back with pepper on top of him facing the other way having a snoozeee - easy life being a degu me thinks.

[georgethedegu1]

hi i currently have two female degus ive had them for about two months, they are to scared to come out and theyre scared of everything and dont look happy. ive tried training them giving them treats and nothing works. one of them was really happy at the start and would happily come to the cage and on my hand but always wanted to escape so id let it around the front room as it was tame enough to come back when i would call it. i dont know if the other one could be affecting it as it has always been scared even its own shadow scares it . have any ideas or help?? would be greatfull

[smux]

This should be posted in its own thread instead of being piggybacked on someone else's, least of all because it'll make for easier reading. There are a few things you can try though, but I'll mention them in the other thread when you make it.

[deguconvert]

georgethedegu1, if you just copy your post from here and paste it into your own new thread, that will make it easy for you to have your own replies.

I'm going to make an "executive" decision on this thread however. I'm going to lock it so that there are no further additions to it. The main idea of this post being stickied is to have a quick summary of important degu information. We have sort of wandered away from that with the different questions that have popped up on the end of it. I may move some of these into another thread . . . but . . . not sure yet.

IF you have some degu specific information that you feel needs to be added to this, please send me a PM asking me to open/unlock it for a day, and I will gladly do that.