being a degu replacement

[nubbin]

at the moment Eric is on his own and until he can be reintegrated with his brothers i am trying to fill the gap to stop him from becoming too lonely, I handle him regularly and get him out for some play time for at least 20 to 30 minutes a day depending on how busy i am, when in the play room with him i chase him and try to mimic the behaviour of another degu with my hand, he usually reciprocates by peeing on my hand and nibbling my fingers but if he bites me (which is extremely rare) i put him in the dominance hold. Is all of this helping or will it just confuse him when it comes to the reintroduction. any thoughts would be appreciated

[jbaglady]

just curious what is the dominance hold

[malteser60]

It's a bit of an unfortunate name that stuck. Basically when one degu is more dominant than the other and wants to show it they will 'flip' the other degu on the back, or the other degu will flop onto their back. This exposes the belly part which is very vulnerable. Basically either the dominant degu is saying look, i'm the boss here and I can easily get to your vulnerable bit. Or the other degu is saying I submit to you, I'm even showing you my most vulnerable part.

Now if a degu is being bossy with you, i.e. the degu owner, then you can mimic the whole hierarchy by flipping the degu onto it's back, essentially you're telling the degu that you're the boss. Now, it isn't as bad as it sounds. I got mine used to being flipped over and held for regular health checks. That way they won't get as stressed out. The way to do it is to have your degu on your hand, head pointing towards fingertips. Then place your other hand over the top of the deg - essentially creating a sandwich, and the flip the degu over. So if the degu is in your right hand with the left hand on top, you rotate your degu sandwich towards the left.

They don't like it and they will most likely struggle. To minimise this you have to be decisive. So when you flip the degu over you do it in one movement, and only hold it there for a second before making them upright. Trust me they will have the most shocked look on their face! I know mine do. When it comes to health checks unfortunately that takes a bit longer, and I let them struggle out regularly as I don't want to pin them down and force them i a position they don't like.

[lilladylu]

Hiya, This thread has been interesting for me. My degu Gordon died two days ago and as a result his brother Andre is on his own. I will look into getting him a friend after Xmas. But in the mean time I need to know how to keep Andre happy. At the moment I still think he is thinking about Gordon. He seems quite quiet at times. But I changed his cage around earlier, cleaned it all out and added plenty of hay to play in and he seemed to chirp up for a good hour or so while we sat and played with him.

Hope some of you can add some more advice to this thread as it will help me greatly.

Thank Lucy

[Kins]

Degu sandwich...*snigger*...

[nubbin]

hey Lucy,

the most depressing thing we found about dealing with a solitary degu after Bill died is that there wasn't those usual chirping and bubbling noises that we would constantly hear throughout the day. thats why we got Manny and Bernard as soon as we could. Now after 6 months of getting along fine they decided they didn't like Eric and hes back on his own again, he spends large portions of the day just sitting there looking sorry for himself then has to sleep by himself in his pouch hammock.

hopefully after the mating season has finished and they have all calmed down a bit we'll be able to reintroduce them.

One thing I have found is that Eric has become especially friendly now that he is on his own, as soon as i open the cage he leaps on my shoulder and will sit there for ages, a few times he has fallen asleep in my hoody pocket too

Luke

[aya0aya]

20 to 30 minutes outside and company for a day seems very little for me. I have both groups outside for an hour or more if it's possible and none lives alone. But I still feel that's not enough. I do aware that time is a problem at these days. But most of the day alone reminds me on the worst prisons about which I heard only on tv. I don't know the story about Eric, but maybe is possible to get him a submissive male or baby? As I understood he wants to be a leader.

[harpic01]

Hi Nibbin - why do i think ive spelt that wrong ahh thats cos its Nubbin sorry
When we had one on his own for a short while i noticed he was very sorry for himself didnt do much just lied there as if fretting. luke is correct they do become much more friendly as you are their new best friend. It all helps to keep them as happy as piossible but there is no substitute for the real thing. A baby or young youngster of the same sex is easiest . They hate being on their own and ideal the more the merrier umm i have 5 in one large apartment block and 2 in another. Yeah more time would be wonderful but in todays working environment etc you can only do what you can - mine come out every week if im on the wrong shift but they are out for hours - they are well loved and cared for and have a huge cage so i dont feel guilty just keep loving him and interact and get baby asap and then stand back for more as you are bound to get addicted ;D