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Post by fred on Oct 4, 2011 20:07:21 GMT
It's good hear that Elune and Jadzia are doing so well together Degus eat normally until they are full, so you don't have worry there. As for their ungrateful rejection of all your enrichment ideas, just give them a bit more time. They can ignore something for a few weeks and then suddenly become very interested, and the other way round. Don't try to make sense of it, these are degus
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2011 19:12:09 GMT
Thank you for the answers, Fred I noticed they've been getting hungrier the last few days, perhaps they know that winter is coming soon. My flying saucer arrived from Denmark today, I was super excited to test it out - and when I opened the package it turned out the saucer was broken There is a large crack all the way from the edge to the middle. I think I can fix it, but it's very annoying waiting for weeks to get it and then find out that the carelessness of the postal service has broken it.. Oh well, I've temporarily mended it with strong tape on the underside and right now I'm waiting to see whether or not they will take to it. They've both tried it with varied success I'm going to leave it in their cage for an hour or so to see if they can figure it out, and then take it out again as I don't want them to chew on it. To be so very curious, it's odd that they care so little for new stuff. The ways of the degu is mysterious... I also got a hammock for them, and Jadzia is absolutely loving it. She's been lying in there the entire evening looking adorable
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 5, 2011 22:25:00 GMT
Awwwww, she really is looking adorable. If she starts batting her eyelashes at you, just assume she wants something. LOL!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2011 13:16:13 GMT
I can almost hear her: "Bring me dried carrots, millet seeds and.. a shrubbery!" I have barely seen her since I put in that hammock, and both of them have slept in it tonight aswell Almost makes me want one myself ^^
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 6, 2011 15:11:12 GMT
LOL! Will you also go for royal purple, or do you like to accent your decor with another colour?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2011 19:23:47 GMT
deguconvert I hope to keep the decor of their cage mainly to purple, it's my favourite colour The hammock was custom made by a Danish webshop specialising in rodents (LUX-shopen). And here is an update on my two goos: The past weeks I have been down with the flu, so my degus have been valuable company I have spent much time watching them and I find their social life very interesting. The last few days they have become very vocal, and Elune seems determined to assess her dominance over Jadzia over and over again. She will get onto Jadzia's back and hang there while Jadzia squeaks. Sometimes they will box for a little while, and then Jadzia gives up. Funny thing is, Elune seems not to care that Jadzia has already given up, she continues trying to mount her anyway. I hope this is what girls usually do, we only have the petshop's assurance that Elune is actually a girl - she is not hand tame so I cannot pick her up to check for myself. She has become bolder these last few weeks, but I dare not pick her up in case that ruins any chance of gaining her trust. When I first got the natural food from JR Farms they loved it, but now it seems they've got the taste for nuggets again. They ignore most of the dried flowers and herbs, but eat the pea flakes, the dried carrots and millet seeds. I suppose they get bored of their food from time to time aswell I have made a nice mix of nuggets and natural foods and seeds, and they seem happy with this. Jadzia figured out how to use the flying saucer, but she doesn't seem to like it very much. Elune ignores the saucer for now. They had many heated quarrels over the small green wheel however, so I had to take it out of the cage. The large one is still in there, but neither of them likes it very much. Tomorrow I'm getting a new wheel just like the green one and will put these two wheels in the cage. I hope that will satisfy them. The green wheel is actually too small (only 23 cm in diameter), but both of them love this wheel. They will not use the large one if the green wheel is in the cage. Right now they're not running as much as they would have, so they have a bit of an energy build-up. Other than that I think things are going well. Even though they seem to bicker a lot I have never noticed them actually hurting one another, and they almost always end up with a grooming session and then go to sleep next to each other. I have taken a lot of footage of them and I'm planning to make a short video, but at the moment I have a lot to do at the university so I'm afraid that will have to wait! I will continue to watch over them as they progress, and I hope that they will one day become good friends. Right now I think they're mostly together because they don't want to be alone, not because they actually like each other that much But, given time, it's not impossible that they will be real friends
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2011 22:51:45 GMT
Time for another blog update! It's a long one, so I've split it into three I woke Jadzia up too early...The last few weeks have been interesting, but I can't say it's been peaceful. Elune and Jadzia have, after the initial pleasure of being with another degu, realised that they don't really like each other that much. They don't fight and they still groom each other and sleep side by side or in a pile, but other than that they will more often be apart than together. I think this may be because they have such very different personalities. Also, there have been some very heated arguments between them. Somehow, it seems like they still haven't decided who really is top degu. Every so often I will hear them squeal, and find that Jadzia is trying to hump Elune, or the other way around. If Elune is the one getting humped, she will sometimes get annoyed with Jadzia and pin her down, to which Jadzia immediately responds with submission. But most of the times whe will just run away while squealing and whining. If Jadzia is the one getting humped, she will mostly run away too, but sometimes accepts it. This goes on day after day. They have also become very protective of their food and can have loud disagreements over it. It ends with a lot of squealing and one degu pushing the other away (it varies which one). I've tried feeding them in two places, but they will insist on sitting in the same spot. I have therefore spread every meal all over the top floor, so that they don't have to sit on top of each other while eating. This seems to be working thus far. Jadzia sitting on my leg.I took out the large wheel, it simply wasn't used. Instead they would argue about the small green one. I therefore got out and got another one just like it, only in red. It's been a lot more quiet after that, now they know that if they get chased away from one wheel, they can always go to the other. Jadzia figured out how to use the saucer and she seems very happy with it I tried having it in the cage, but she didn't use it much there. When out in the hallway, however, she'll use it a lot! I think Elune got the hang of the basics too, but she doesn't seem that interested really. Jadzia on the saucer.I keep on making improvements in the cage, just this week I found two large birch branches that fit really well in there, one on the top level and one on the bottom level. I also moved the hammock down to the bottom level. I put and old scarf of mine on the upper right platform and they quickly made a nice bed of it. Now they will sleep nowhere else Here is a photo of the bridge I made out of a playpen that turned out to be way too low for degus: It works really well and both Elune and Jadzia use it to get in and out of the cage as they wish. I keep on searching for things to entertain them while being out in the hallway. They have gotten a cardboard box which I've stuffed with hay and dried basil. They like to go in there once in a while, but most of the time they'll just sit on the "roof". Jadzia and Elune on their shoebox.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2011 23:01:57 GMT
Part two. Elune in the hallway.One thing they've been hard work doing at is pushing away the bedding in all the places they like to pee :/ This, of course, meant that the urine seeped straight into the untreated wood and made smelly white stains that were very difficult to remove. Therefore, I put sheets of newspaper (not glossy ones) in first and then put the bedding on top of it. It worked for a while, and then they figured out that newspaper shreds were great for nest material! It's been pandaemonium in there, they've been so busy "redecorating". Here is an example of what it looked like after they were done one evening: Luckily, when the cage I am planning to build is done I won't have this problem anymore, since the platforms will be made of metal and there will be room for a much thicker layer of bedding Here is the sketch I made for the new cage: I'm not sure that I have time to build it before Christmas, but I do hope to get started as soon as possible. I have also been hard at work creating a layout and design for my Norwegian degu information page. It's looking good now, all it needs is lots of info I'm going to work on it when I can, but since I have exams coming up it might not be online for quite a while yet. I'll let you all know when it's done Now follows some random photos (as I thought, there are already loads of degu photos cluttering my harddrive ).
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2011 23:17:40 GMT
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Post by fred on Oct 31, 2011 11:03:19 GMT
Great pics; in particular early morning Jadzia and Elune with the measuring tape I really like how you have made good use of the space available in the cage (and am looking forward to updates how the building project will work out).
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 31, 2011 15:19:34 GMT
I love it!! A very entertaining read and the pictures are great!! Sounds like Elune and Jadzia have been keeping you busy and filling your days with laughter and fun. Degus do seem to go through stages where they suddenly decide that absolutely NO bedding can be allowed in certain places. It can last a while, and then suddenly they leave it all be in place. Our boys did that and only one would spend hours each day "sweeping" his particular corner free of substrate/bedding. He did this for months . . . probably 5-6 . . . and then all of a sudden he tired of it and hasn't done it since. PHEW!! LOL! I have a better cage now too, so it wouldn't be so hard to clean up should he suddenly decide to do it again.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2011 15:37:32 GMT
@fred Thank you, photographing them is such a rewarding pasttime, they are great subjects ^^ That photo of Jadzia you mentioned cracks me up every time. She can be so grumpy in the morning deguconvert Thank you, I really enjoy making this blog. You are right, they have been keeping me busy, but mostly in a good way I enjoy sitting out in the hallway (got myself some nice big cushions now!) and writing my rather boring academic theses, because they always do something entertaining (or naughty ). Sometimes they even try to help me out by peeing on or eating my textbooks I hope that my degus will get tired of moving all the bedding too, especially Elune. Anyway I think that when I can make this new cage that problem will be gone. I can't wait to get more doors.. Right now I have to sit on my knees on the floor and bend my arm at a really weird angle just to get it all cleaned out, it's not at all comfortable ^^
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Post by malteser60 on Nov 2, 2011 23:23:22 GMT
I love that morning photo, brilliant!! I keep on trying to take interesting photos of my girls but evertime the camera comes out they become very interested in it and I keep on getting the same type of photo.
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 3, 2011 0:56:37 GMT
The "out of focus giant fuzzy nose in the middle of the picture" picture? LOL!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2011 20:32:01 GMT
The "out of focus giant fuzzy nose in the middle of the picture" picture? LOL! You mean.. like this? I have my camera stationed next to their cage now, and I take so many photos of them all the time, they are getting quite used to it Since last time, I think they have quieted down a bit. There is not so much dominance play, although it doesn't seem like one of them is definitely in charge. I have, however, noticed that they spend a little more time together now than they did last week, which is good I am worried that they might be getting a little picky about their food though! They tend to eat all the crunchy stuff (seeds, pea flakes, dried carrots etc), but leave most of the herbs. They also do not eat a lot of hay. Their main food is the JR Degus Special, and I usually sprinkle with millet seeds. They also get the additional fresh herbs such as basil and parsley, which they munch down at once. Jadzia and Elune enjoying fresh basil.Otherwise, things are going well. Elune finally figured out how to use the saucer and she seems to be enjoying it very much. She sometimes runs so fast I'm getting dizzy by looking at her, and the saucer itself starts shaking. Problem is, Jadzia loves the saucer too, and while there is room for both of them on it, they can't figure out how to share it. Elune runs quite a lot faster than Jadzia does. Yesterday they did try running on it simultaneously, which led to Jadzia being stuck in the middle while Elune ran on the edge. Poor Jadzia, spinning around in there, she seemed a little put off afterwards. I have to admit though, it was hilarious to watch I am going to try and make my own saucer soon, I have scheduled a visit to IKEA (I'm going to be so broke..) on Friday to get the suggested materials. Two degus, one wheel. It could never end well.On the other hand, my work with the Norwegian degu information page has progressed well so far. I'm not going to be able to finish before Christmas, since I have my exams coming up in the next few weeks. I do, however, have a really good layout and I know how the structure of the page is going to be, so it's all about adding all the pages with info, translating them and then add a bunch of pictures. (If you were wondering why I tried measuring my degus, this is why - it's for an article on degu appearance and size). I have also made a new sketch for my up-and-coming DIY cage. I've added a fourth level as suggested, and heightened it to 160 cm overall. I'm going to build it all from plywood. After some excellent advice from Kins, I have decided to make the platforms plywood as well, and cover them in tiles. I couldn't find self-adhesive ones, but there are several cheap ceramic alternatives that I can get, so that won't be a problem Here is the new sketch (it's not 2d, because I couldn't be bothered): The new cage, take 2.So there is now one 50 cm level with a 25 cm drawer, two 40 cm levels and one 30 cm levels. I am happy with this layout, I think it will work quite well for my degus' and my needs I have also put in an order today for two larger wheels (ø28 cm) of the same type as the ones we have now. They love these ones, but they are having trouble running properly in them now. So that will be their Christmas presents. Also, I heard a rumour that my mom is getting them a nice digging tower for Christmas, they are so going to love that ;D This will probably be my last blog entry before December, but then you'll get to see their cage all decorated for Christmas Elune and Jadzia in a quiet moment.
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Post by blossombrooks on Nov 9, 2011 23:38:26 GMT
Im sorry i havent commented so far but I'm really enjoying reading your blog and looking at all your photos of your beautiful girls! They really are excellent photos. Lol, I love the signature 'we are degus, resistance is futile'. They do kinda 'assimilate' us into their colonies.
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Post by NightwishRaven999 on Nov 10, 2011 3:44:40 GMT
Those photos are precious and I hope you include some in your Nowegian articles. I get a lot of feedback about the photos I posted on our website. Readers are really loving the examples of cages and dietary mixes we have posted on there. To many, they have proven inspiring...so be sure to use some in your website.
The cage plan looks fabulous and I am glad to see you will add a fourth level. One thing I could not help notice is your banner ! I love it ! Would be funny if you could photoshop Elune and Jadzia and add all the borg implants and wires ;D
Can't wait to see the progress you have made with the website ! The fact that your's will be one of the few sources of info in the language is especially great.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2011 13:16:39 GMT
Thank you, blossombrooks and Nightwishraven Seems this blogging is turning into a little hobby of mine. I had this idea about the banner for some time, it fits them so well ^^ You can't escape the squee! I did actually consider "borgifying" my degus, but then again, they only assimilate us with the power of cuteness, so I decided to let them stay that way And not to worry, there will be loads of photos on my website when it's done! I have several gigabytes of degu photos on my main computer, and they will be put to good use The only thing is it takes a lot of time to resize and properly link all of them, and that is why I'm putting it off until after my exams. I hope it will be useful to Norwegian owners. Petshops here are rarely interested in the welfare of the animals they sell, and they never bother to tell people if the animal they want to buy needs a big cage or another of their own kind. They also have no problems with selling animals to kids that obviously treats them as toys.. I often see degus up for adoption on the web - they are often alone and living in a hamster cage It's a sad fact, but I guess that attempting to enlighten people though this page is about the most useful thing I can do right now.
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 10, 2011 20:29:07 GMT
I have no idea why I haven't see your blog until, but I'm glad I found it, I very much enjoyed reading it and looking at your amazing photos. What camera do you have?
You've done so well getting the girls together, I wouldn't worry too much about the boxing and squabbling and differing personalities, my 3 gu sisters boxed a lot for probably 5 or 6 months as they did most of their growing, and now they are best of friends and I virtually never see them boxing.
I also enjoy just hanging out with my degus and watching them, they are so fascinating and I learn so much about them, but stay hooked because their interactions with each other seem so mysterious sometimes.
If you are concerned about selective feeding, it might be worth looking for a nugget type food to supplement their diet, or if that's not really possible in Norway, perhaps you could investigate different seeds. Have you looked at bird seed mixes? Alternatively, you could just look in human shops, buckwheat, quinoa, oats, barley, brown rice flakes, linseed, amaranth could all be useful additions. You could also make 'biscuits' from wheatgerm and oatbran mixed with water and baked.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2011 12:53:27 GMT
Thank you, Molette I have a Nikon D40 that I got a couple of years ago. It was somewhat expensive when I got it, but it's been excellent for my use I hope Elune and Jadzia will outgrow their boxing too, at least it's comforting to me to know that this is common in degus that are growing up. They are about 7 months old now. They were born in April, but I don't know the precise date. They have quieted down a little over the last week, even though they still have these boxing rounds accompanied by lots of squeaking! I have watched them do this a couple of times now, and they are not hurting each other at all. It may just be my imagination, but it feels like they are spending a little more time together as well. When I got them they were on a diet of nuggets (from Versele-Laga), but I slowly introduced them to a more natural type of food (the JR Degu Special mix). However I have loads of nuggets left, so I have started giving them some of those again, and they are eating it. I guess they just get bored with their food from time to time I'll try and make some degu biscuits when I start baking Christmas cookies, sounds like fun!
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