Sudden death now have lone Degu

[lizhibberd]

One of my boys sadly past away very quickly last night, He was healthy and active yesterday morning but whne I got home from work he was breathing heavily, huddled in a corner and off his food. He past away very quickly after.

I got both my Degus together, they were from the same litter and now 3.5yrs old.

I am now left with the dilema of Bill being on his own, he seemed fine this morning although looked like he was looking fo Ben.

Bill has had cateracts for about a year now, but has coped fine. But I am worrying if he will continue to cope now he is on his own and also if he will pine for his brother.

I have decided I don't want to get anymore Degus and I know that it is risky indroducing them anyway. Does anyone have any advice? Should I see how he copes or should I be looking at trying to rehome him?

Thanks.

[Kins]

So sorry to hear about your sudden loss of Ben, it is always hard to lose a pet, but seems even harder if they were young and appeared healthy. Sleep tight Ben.

Degus shouldn't be kept on their own. So really you have 2 options. 1. Rehome him with someone who may be able to introduce him to existing older goos or some new babies OR 2. Get a couple of young goos yourself to introduce him to. As a general rule older degus are accepting of baby goos (less than 8 weeks, I think) so introducing him to some pups shouldn't be an issue.

I don't have any experience with intros so can't help there, but I'm sure someone wil be along shortly who can give you some advice regarding that.

[deguconvert]

I, too, am very sorry to hear of your sudden and shocking loss of Ben. It must have seemed surreal to find him in such poor condition and then to lose him so shortly afterward. It is quite a change that has leaped upon you.

Bill does need companionship, as you already know and have stated. I think that since it is not in your plan to own any more degus, and since Bill may easily live another 3-5 years, it is best that you rehome him. The prevailing thought on here has been to find young pups to introduce to an older degu, but I have been really pondering this and thinking that in some ways it might be easier to introduce him to another same age or older degu, or multiple degus. My boys have really calmed down in their personalities, and they are 4.5 years of age. They still run, hump, dispute, but they are so much more stable than they were as pups, adolescents, and young adults. They seem to accept or adjust better than they did before. I know this is not always the case, as I've heard of 9 year old degus being just as fiesty and go get'em as they were as pups. However, it makes me wonder if they are more willing to accept other degus with age than they were as youngsters. So . . . as you are the one that will be looking at the homes you may send him to, this is part of what you'll be thinking over as you are choosing what you think will be best for him.