Pet Profiles: Ruby & margaRita

I've decided to do the Pet Profiles for the Degus in pairs, since we acquired them in pairs. Ruby and margaRita, arrived on December 12, 2019. A week or so earlier, my husband (fiancé at the time), had been talking to a coworker at work when he asked if we might be interested in a pair of Degus because they just didn't have time for them. When he came to me asking if the girls would like these little critters as pets, I immediately thought... What is a Degu? I don't even know what they are let alone how to care for them! He briefly described them to me and then I went to the good ol' world wide web to research them. I instantly became intrigued and thought, they don't seem too difficult, let's give them a try. 

When the girls arrived, they were skittish and not really used to much contact. The cage they were in had very little enrichment and the exercise wheel was was too small for them. I immediately went into decorator mode and searched the web high and low for things I thought would help them become happier little critters. I also changed their diet up, they were being fed Guinea Pig feed, and while it was ok for them, it wasn't really meant for Degu. We did a little research and discovered that Degu are food motivated and finding their favorite snack would be the best way to tame our new girls.

Peanuts, lots and lots of peanuts... those were their snack of choice. I'm pretty sure ALL Degu will do ANYTHING for a peanut. Ours have started to recognize the sound of the peanut container when you tilt it and they come running to the front of their cages even before we ask if they want one. It is literally like crack for Degus. We did go through a time period where we fed too many peanuts and the girls got REALLY fat, we slowed it down and they got back to a more reasonable weight for Degu. 

Rita, is our fat girl, she eats a lot and isn't as active our other. We can tell the difference between her and Ruby by her left ear. We aren't sure what happened to her, but at some point before we got her she had a chunk taken out of her ear. Rita is usually boss lady of the females, she is the one in charge, but she also doesn't fight much at all. 

Ruby has always been a little more laid back and friendly. She was totally enamored by Rosemary's babies when they were little. She would frequently take on the role of beloved Auntie and snuggle with them regularly. Both Rita and Ruby took to Rosemary right away and I'm pretty sure its because she was super young as well when she arrived. I'm almost positive that if I had a large enough cage I could house SO many more females with them and they would just take care of them because they love babies so much.

The more research I did and the more time we spent playing with Ruby and Rita, they more I wanted more Degus. I learned quickly that they came in other colors and that led me to our next to Degus, Patron and Pyrite, and Rosemary and Pepper.

I hope you enjoyed this little bit about our first two Degus!

Have a wonderful day dear followers,