What should I tell them?

[vicci23]

Hi! I have a male degu and a female degu, Todd and Chipette. Chipette is pregnant right now, with only about 2 weeks to go. I know what I'm supposed to do, but I have a problem...
The owners. I have found homes for them all, but they have no clue how to care for them. I told them all to look it up on their computers, but they havn't really gotten that far. I really want my baby degus to have good homes, but I'm afraid the owners wont care for them proporly. I think it would be best for me to tell them in person how to properly take care of a degu, but I'm not sure how. I just met them all, so I don't know how they will react when I tell them. Where should I start and finish? Thanks.

[woodchip]

Raystede and the RSPCA both have fact sheets you can download. Email them to the people you are selling/giving them too and ask them to read them before they take them. Ask them a couple of questions about how big the cage is, how often they will have them out for "play time" and vet them thoroughly.

[sophie9901]

Yeah I totally agree with woodchip, you could even put some little leaflets together yourself "how to care for your degu" and tell them that if they have any problems with giving them the amount of time and energy into looking after them properly that they need; then to contact you and you could take them back and rehome them. If you put it into a leaflet then it looks less rude!! You could take some info from this forum! I can't believe how much knowledge and stuff there is on here! I've learnt so much about my goo's!

Let us know how you get on

[amie]

If you're afraid they won't care for them properly, or think they can't be bothered to research the care of their pets, then I wouldn't home any animals with them. However, if they just seem a bit slow on the take up of research, but seem like caring people, I'd give them all the information in a paper based form, so there's no excuses as to why they aren't caring for there animals.

[sophie9901]

To be honest though when I got our goo's we didn't know anything about them and we probably seemed like those people that would like to home Vicci's goo's. I think it would be nice to let them know a bit about the goo's and see how keen they are to do the things that you advise them to. If they don't seem bothered though and if the accommodation they're going to be homed in doesn't seem suitable then I agree with Amie - I don't think you should let them. (Just say a friend has offered to take them all off your hands if they come across like they aren't going to be too bothered.)

It is hard because a lot of people don't understand the time and effort degu's need. When I first got ours I thought it was going to be a simple as a hamster; and then I realised the space and extra time they need and how affectionate they are to you when you do put all of the time etc in! It's so rewarding!

[dumbblondie]

when i went to get mine all the shop said was they have certain dietary requirements look it up on the internet i was thinking what if i didn't have the internet at the time? have a leaflet given before hand would be good i get them if i buy rats even though i've had loads of rats it's still nice to get info about animals

[Bexi87]

If you don't feel 100% comfortable I would invite the prospective owners over to meet your two before the babies are born (so you avoid the cute factor fogging their brain!) and see how comfortable/knowledgeable they are.

I also think the leaflet idea is great, as well as explaining that if they do take some babies and can't cope etc then you will take them back. That also gives the new owners security if things happen out of their control

[vicci23]

Thanks. I'm going to put together a couple of paragraphs of stuff they need to know and either print it out and give it to them, or e-mail it to them.