[Pawman]

Hi Guys first time I joined and need some help with the two stubborn boys.

I've had Bobby and Taco about 2 month and they were 4 month when I got them. Anyway They do come and greet me and my wife and we spend a good hour a day playing with them outside the cage and the rest of the day we interact through the cage and open the door for treats and such.

However they both don't have any interest in eating treats when we open the door, they just want to escape, now I know that is the nature of Degus but what I mean is when I open the cage door they aren't afraid of my hand they jump stright on it and then immediately try to escape down my arm totally bypassing the treats, they won't eat treats when I put my hand in the cage because escape is always on their minds. I put my hand in and they run right up my arm skip the treats and onto the floor.

I see other people on youtube and they seem to just sit on their hand take the reats and run back in the cage or just sit on the hand and eat them. Mine do neither they just use my hand to escape.

anyway any help would be appreciated, do you think it's because they are young boys, are female Degus different, or do they calm down with age. I mean I know they constantly like to move and look around, that's fine but it's like they have no interest in me at all. It's very frustrating, I didn't expect it to be this hard to bond with them but I can't give up, I didn't get all these scratches for nothing.

Thanks guys

Shaun

 

[Sasami]

One thing to remember is that degus are wild animals, they weren't domesticated. It can take a lot of time to bond with them and some never become "tame" (although every degu I've worked with has shown at least some interest in people).

That being said, the ones you have are very young. Young degus have a ton of energy and would rather play than hang out with boring humans . They do calm down with age. I couldn't even handle my first pair until they were over a year old. Once they were mature adults, they became more interested in being with me, getting pet, learning tricks, etc.

The best thing you can do for now is hang out with them in a degu-proofed area and let them get used to you on their own. What are you offering them as treats?

At one point I had two young adult degus and a baby. I remember opening the cage and having them all fly out! So I definitely know where you're coming from . Patience is really the key here.