A health degu group  consists of at least three animals, which is why we started out with Candy, Estelle and Katja. After poor little Katja died so early, Candy and Estelle were left alone, which is ok, but not ideal, so we got a third one this Wednesday: please meet Grace, or Gracie as she is affectionately called.

She is still so tiny, and very shy. Now the degus need to get accustomed to each other, and that takes time, patience and good nerves. Sadly the last element is in short supply right now. We put a fence up between the big part of Degustan and the small adjacent compartment and gave Gracie the small one. They need to get used to each other , so we let them out together yesterday and man, Candy was brutal. She’s the leader of the group and right now, Grace is an intruder who needs to be chased away. Today we didn’t let them out together. they can see each other through the fence, smell each other, and hear each other.

And then I discovered some soft poop in Gracie’s part and nearly freaked out because that was how Katja went. But fortunately our breeder reassured me that for the first few days that’s nothing to worry about. That lady is really how a breeder of pets should be: I can always reach her by mail with my questions, and she’s always happy to receive pics of the degus. She really cares about the animals, not just about some money on the side.

And here’s a bonus pic of Candy, who is lovely, but not the smartest cookie, as she found the jar with the food open, nicked her favourite treat, and then buried it in the jar for later…