# Degu question



## AmyCruick (Jul 20, 2009)

Hello!

I am asking a question on behalf of a friend. She bought two Degus recently....well she went to buy one but was told they are sociable animals and must be kept in pairs. They are both female. After a few weeks they started fighting, she separated them and has tried on several occasions to put them back together. My advice to her was to squirt them with water whenever a fight broke out so that they would learn its wrong (this works on rabbits when bonding them). She said this worked to start with but then they just ignored it and continues to rip chucks out of each other and so they are now living in separate cages.

Is it true that Degus should be kept in pairs? And if so is there anything she can do to try to get these two to get along?

I'm afraid I know nothing about Degus- have only ever kept rabbits and mice so any advice would be welcome 

Edit: - Just realised there is a rodent section for Degus -doh!


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2011)

AmyCruick said:


> Hello!
> 
> I am asking a question on behalf of a friend. She bought two Degus recently....well she went to buy one but was told they are sociable animals and must be kept in pairs. They are both female. After a few weeks they started fighting, she separated them and has tried on several occasions to put them back together. My advice to her was to squirt them with water whenever a fight broke out so that they would learn its wrong (this works on rabbits when bonding them). She said this worked to start with but then they just ignored it and continues to rip chucks out of each other and so they are now living in separate cages.
> 
> ...


First thing that springs to mind is, are you 100% they are both female? (or at least the same sex)

If the answer to that is yes, then it sounds like they are reaching sexual maturity. Has there been any blood drawn?
If the answer to that is yes, you might find that your friend will never be able to get them together (yes they do need to be kept in pairs or larger groups as they are very social animals, and when kept on their own they can develop serious depression that can lead to self mutilation in some cases)

If the answer is no, then your friend will need to start bonding from scratch.
Put both cages side by side, so they can see, hear and smell each other. Foe the first few weeks you need to swop all the toys and their sand baths (do this once a week for about 3/4 weeks), then start swopping the Degu's between cages (again do this every week for 3/4 weeks, then every 2/3 days), so they get used to each others smell more closely.

Once things start to settle with this method, as in you stop seeing any aggressive behaviour (tail banging, teeth grinding and shrieking) and they start chattering to each other and chose to sit next to each other you will be ready for the next step.

Next you need to have a completely neutral area (I find the bath works best for this), a towel and a water pistol. Put the least dominant in the bath first, followed by the other one, if their is any bickering just spray them with the water pistol to distract them. After about 10 mins put them back in their cages, go back to swopping Degu's for 2/3 days and then let them meet again in the neutral area for 10/20 mins. Keep repeating the process until they are together without showing any aggression to each other. You can then clean their cage with white wine vinegar making everything neutral again and put them back in together.
If they fight, pick one up with the towel (believe me Goo bite hurt so the towel stops them latching on to you) and put them back in their cages and go back to swopping once a week for a few weeks and try the process again.

Bonding Degu's can take months but once you see them cuddling up together and playing it is all worth it


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## AmyCruick (Jul 20, 2009)

Thank you very much, I've copied and pasted your response into an e-mail to my friend. I know she'll really appreciate it as she wants them to get on and is willing to spend time with them to make it work.

When they have fought before they have drawn blood but I said to her to try bonding them to see if it works - they sound a bit like rabbits but more fiesty with the bonding process!

Will let you know how it goes 

Thanks again for the advice, much appreciated -I knew coming on here would help, the pet shop she got them from were useless and just said put them together and let them get on with it but she knew they would kill each other if she did that!


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