Friday, January 11, 2008

Meet the Kids!

To my surprise, the new members of our household have settled in more quickly than I expected.  I had thought it would take them quite a while to relax but that turned out not to be the case.  I’m very glad - I hate to think of an animal being unhappy.  I may know that time will take care of things, but I have no way to convey that to the animal.

First, meet Cocoa Puff :)

This little one is probably about four weeks old and had arrived in the pet store with all his gerbil brothers and sister only about an hour before we did :) So he had a very active day!  Most of his first 48 hours here were spent asleep with the occasional foray to the food bowl or the water bottle.

Now he’s begun to sit up and take notice.  As all gerbils do, he is beginning to manipulate his environment.  Using bedding and hay, he’s already developed a set of tunnels and stuffed his little house completely full.  He shows a fondness for toilet paper tubes, but isn’t interested in egg cartons yet - maybe when he gets a little bigger.  Right now, he’s slightly less than two inches long, though his tail more than doubles his length.

The reason there’s only one picture of him is that when he’s up and active, he never stops moving :) Makes him the very devil to photograph!  Oh, and I’m using the term he generically.  We won’t know what his gender is for a while yet :)

And we have a pair of newcomers - new folks to us, but more than welcome :) This is Butch and Sundance :)

They are degus and their progenitors came from Chile, originally.  In that part of the world, they seem to fulfill the same sort of role as squirrels do here and, like squirrels, are often considered pests.

However, as pets, they are gentle, active and curious.  They’re like gerbils in some ways - the long, furred tail with a brush on the end, for example.  In other ways, they are similar to guinea pigs - vocalization and dietary needs.

These came from a breeder and he knew (so we know) that they’re both male.  That’s fine, they won’t fight and degus require company as they are very social critters.  From everything I’ve been able to read, you should never get just one degu - always a pair.  A solitary animal will pine - be depressed and not eat. 

This is Butch - he’s a little larger and a little darker than his roommate.  He’s also a bit braver :) When we came home Wednesday evening, we discovered that Butch had managed to escape from his tank (did I mention they’re climbers?) and was lurking behind the refrigerator.  We did, eventually, manage to corral his little fuzzy butt and get him back in the tank but not before the both of us practically had heart attacks!  Of course, Butch didn’t seem to be bothered in the slightest - wasn’t frightened or anxious at all.  Which is good because, you know, one of us had to be calm :) Of course we took steps to make the tank more escape proof too!





Sundance is a little more timid.  He was longer to come to us than Butch, but we seem to be making real progress.  Sundance is extremely fond of blocks - little wooden baby type blocks made for small animals.  He chews on them, picks them up in his teeth and carries them around.  Now that he doesn’t bolt every time I put my hand in the tank, he’s also interested in my ring - always nibbling on it - maybe to see if it’s edible this time?

Degus are considerably bigger than gerbils and live a lot longer - 5 to 8 years on average.  They don’t have the fearless demeanor of gerbils, but they seem to adjust quickly :)

We are thrilled to welcome them all and hope they’ll be happy too.  Believe me, we’re wasting no time in spoiling them rotten :)

Chatters is on tomorrow night - the usual time and place.  Bring your knitting and come and relax :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

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1. Well, hey, a whole new animal.  I never knew about degus.  Imagining learning of the existence of a new animal.  How cool.  Hope your new babies settle in and enjoy their wonderful new home.

   Posted by Rob  on  01/11  at  01:45 PM
   Location : in a hotel in Philadelphia



2. So cute! And how cool to learn about deguses(?)!

   Posted by Opal  on  01/11  at  04:24 PM
   Location : Honolulu, HI



3. Awwww...what darling additions! Congrats & have fun!!! (And thanks for the Degus lesson.)

   Posted by Bron  on  01/11  at  05:33 PM
   Location :



4. Rob - We didn’t know about degus either until about a year or so ago.  They’re doing really well; the degus will eat out of my hand now (they like Cheerios).  The gerbil is still a bit skittish but hell - so would I be if I was only an inch and three-quarters long :)

   Posted by Robbyn  on  01/11  at  05:36 PM
   Location : Digging out from under the snow...



5. Opal - Oh these guys are all about cute :) And they talk to each other too - soft (mostly!) little wheeks.  Except when they’re squabbling over a treat - then the volume goes up a little :)

   And Cocoa Puff is about as cute as it’s possible to get - just delightful!

   Posted by Robbyn  on  01/11  at  05:48 PM
   Location : Digging out from under the snow...



6. Bron - Thanks - we like ‘em :)

   Posted by Robbyn  on  01/11  at  05:51 PM
   Location : Digging out from under the snow...



7. How adorable! After the last two weeks in our household where both humans and both animals were sick, I am not up to caring for an additional living being for a while.  But those guys seem like so much fun!

   Posted by Laura  on  01/13  at  08:28 PM
   Location :



8. Laura - Well, we’re well used to gerbils since neither of us seems to think that it’s home without them :)

   But the degus are new and we are all still getting to know one another.  So far, everybody seems to be happy!  They are really cute :)

   Posted by Robbyn  on  01/13  at  09:22 PM
   Location : Digging out from under the snow...

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