[kazzyx-x-x]

Hey all i have written this twice now!!! New to forums and i'm getting a little confused!
So I am worried about my little degu Mr Degu ( lol not very inventive but i think its cute )
So my degu was off my mums friendsdaughter and he arrived on his own and i didn't know until recently after looking up information that they are very sociable creatures and shouldnt live on there own! Now he has been alone for a few months i have had him and god knows how many months before i got him! To be honest i Don't think he was very well looked after as when i got him he had no nesting box, his tail was hurt it looked as though it had been snapped and his cage was filthy! he had maggots in the bottom of his cage!!!!!:mad2:
So my worries are firstly that i am running low on funds at the moment and can't afford another degu for a few weeks! He lives with me in my bedroom and gets lots of attention! ( he moved after he lived at my boyfriends house but my boyfriend works quite alot so we thought it best he come here) Will he be ok for the few weeks? Also when i get a degu how do i go about introducing them? now i know you separate the cage but my cage only has one door on the right hand side and if i separated it i would only be able to get to one degu! Any ideas would be muchly appriciated :thumbsup:
Also his behaviour is quite disturbing i'm not sure if it's normal he will sit on the top shelf for quite some time and do nothing! he just sits and stares! i am wondering is this normal degu behaviour?
Anyways any replies will be appriciated thanks x

 

[Sasami]

He'll be fine alone for a little while although that behavior sounds typical of a single degu. He'll be more active and alert with a buddy.

If possible, I would get a baby (male, of course) or as young a degu as possible. Adults aren't likely to fight with a baby.

Start by having the two cages next to each other so the degus can see and smell each other. Mix bedding between the cages and let them use the same dust bath. The key is getting them used to each others scent. After a couple weeks of this, try introducing them in neutral territory (a place that neither degu has spent a lot of time in). I usually use the bath tub for intros . Keep the first meeting very short, you don't want them to fight because that'll make things much harder. Do the meetings daily and slowly increase the time they spend together (how long will depend on how comfortable you are with their behavior). When they've been consistently getting along, place them back into the main cage together. The cage should be freshly cleaned out first and it's useful to place the shared dust bath in there.

Welcome to PT, by the way!

 

[kazzyx-x-x]

Thanks

Heyyy thanks for the reply i cant wait to get him a little friend now . The pet shop were i'm going to get one from only sell evry young degu's so that should be fine i have also heard that an animal rescue centre near me has got some in so i may go have a look there too and rescue one
Anything i canm get to prevent him nibbling on the cage bars too lol? Never relised how noisey they are until he came living in my room haha, many thanks kazzy x

 

[Sasami]

Chewing the bars is usually a sign of boredom. What does he have to play with and chew on? He might just need new/more interesting toys . He'll also be less likely to chew the bars once he has a friend.

 

[Elliriyanna]

i know its not a degu but for my hamsters i give them cardboard and tp rolls and those log things. there are apparently also some balls and bird toys you can use to avoid boredom.