Degu needs help - please

Hi

I'm new to the site and in need of help for my daughter's degu. We had two lovely dagu's but unfortunately one passed away last night. I know that they do not like to live alone and the remaining one is likely to die of a broken heart. As she is now away at uni I really don't want to get a new one so I am looking for a loving new home for him. He's around 7 years old and is a lovely fella, unfortunately he has cateracts, but the vet says he's fine. Does anyone know of someone who could rehome him please.

Thanks

It seems a bit unfair at his age to give him away, he cannot have that many years left can he? He may have problems adapting to a new friend, especially if he is short sighted - he may be frightened by different smells and experiences. I personally would concentrate on making his last years as comfortable as I can, rather than causing him stress by moving him to another home, and a new, possibly not very friendly companion.

It seems a bit unfair at his age to give him away, he cannot have that many years left can he? He may have problems adapting to a new friend, especially if he is short sighted - he may be frightened by different smells and experiences. I personally would concentrate on making his last years as comfortable as I can, rather than causing him stress by moving him to another home, and a new, possibly not very friendly companion.

they like to live in small colonies so actually the OP is correct in trying to find him a mate , I would see if theres another male in rescue somewhere he could bond with .

aww poor lad

Ive got 3 female degus and they are simply the most entertaining little critters. Ours are totally unfazed by living in close proximity to furry predators (the cats and the doberbeast) and they love to sit up in their viewing box whenever there's a movie on the tv to watch.

The jury is out on how long they live he could still have a few years in him and they are very social animals, so it would be great to find him a companion (I don't know how easy they are to bond Teeny?)

Sorry I dont have the physical space for a second cage in my living room, but I think they make fab pets.

My friend runs the facebook site Anything Degu

She said that 7 is a good age for degu and really you should just be making it's last days comfortable. She said you can join the group and ask on there if you want, but I think the basic message is just give it lots of attention and look after it.

It is a hard one. I had degus that I rehomed from someone and I had them for 4 years. The first one died when it was about 7 years old, I was a bit unsure what to do with the second one as like you they love to be around other degus as they are friendly little critters. I just decided that it was best to keep the remaining one occupied as well as I could, we actually brought a new baby brother fro him and they got on lovely, though sadly he died suddenly after not even a year:( We decided at that point we would not get another, the older one lived another 3 months but I do think he lost his spark once the other one died and kind of gave up.

I think either is a good idea x