I popped into one of my local pet stores in Chelmsford, Fins and Feathers, on Friday. I sell my Degus Delights through this store. While chatting with the owner, he told me of this rat that he had rescued from the dumpster. A woman had come in on her way to the Lowell Humane Society, when she spotted his pet store and thought she could leave them here with him. He declined the offer and she left. Shortly after he started to see these two pet rats near the complex's dumpster. He began feeding them and unfortunately the most timid of the two perished from injuriesbefore he was able to capture them. He finally was able to get the hooded one and moved him into the store. Of course since my son had rats and we loved them, when he offered him to me, I said yes. He seems to be adjusting well, but a little lonely. We will give him the love and attention he deserves. The shop owner named him Dumpster and unfortunately for me, my 19 year old will be nicknaming him Dump.

I heard that there were degus available up in Methuen, MA at Nevin's Farm. I drove up there yesturday to offer some degus delights, thinking that it was only a few pairs. Yikes it was more like 17 total. The males and females have been seperated in two seperate window cases. They look relatively young still so, if you are thinking of adopting from another rescue organization, this is another great option. I offered them some of the degus delights to give out with adoptions. I also have to take back one of my lone males who had been placed out to companion an older lone male, who had recently lost his buddy. The older male has since passed on and now my friend Yeti needs to return, since this was the original agreement. I might have to take on one of the males at Nevin's to give him company or have him neutered also and introduce him to another female/females. I still have lots of degus available here if anyone is interested!

I travelled down to White Plains, New York to assist my friend, Deana from My Hopes in You Small Animal Rescue for a show in September and returned with three males that were not getting along as they got older. I had them neutered at the vet for a mighty penny and since have been waiting for those hormones to settle down. Since mating season began I have delayed even longer with the hope of having a smooth reintroduction. Winkin and Nod are very timid and it has taken a while for them to gain some confidence, Blinken however lets me scratch and rub him.

I spent some of November making up more degus treats using timothy hay and the ingredients from degutopia's rescue diet. Are you ready for this? I ground the hay down in my small coffee grinder to get it just the right consistentcy! OK, I'll admit it, I am goo goo for goos. It was a nice lower calorie treat to offer them. They love them! It is a bit labor intense, but I thought of adding a few to the packages of Degus Delights I sell in the local pet store.

I still see the occasional degus on craigslist and wished it wasn't so. I still have a few females here that I would love to find a new home for. I don't put them out there on craigs so I can let those there have a better chance to find a home first. Well anyways it is good that I have a place for them here.

I wish every colony of goos and humans a safe and happy season into our new year!

Last month my good friend Libby from www.shawsheenrivergerbils.com was still looking for a companion for her Sasquash and I needed to find a home for my solo male pup born as part of the livestock auction rescue this spring. The pup was named Yeti and has been sucessfully merge with his new older friend! Libby has helped in the rescue and adoption before and I am so happy that this has worked out.

I still have one more to go with Rob and Alex in Haverhill. They took on two of the baby girls from the same rescue to merge in with their lone female after the death of her companion and are going to leave the girls seperate for a while until they attempt introductions. I will be continuing to assist them with this merge to everyone is comfortable and safe.

I still have some female adolescents available for adoption.They are around 6-7 months old as of this day. Please give me a call if you are interested. 

I have been busy and haven't posted in a while so I wanted to share with you about the fundraiser I attend in N.Y. state to represent Mill City Degus. It was for Safe Haven Animal Shelter and Wildlife Center. I joined my friend Deanne from My Hopes In You Small Animal Rescue. There were groups there representing all types of animal care with loads of animals to interact with. It was a great day for everyone and I got the opportunity to speak with many about degus. I made myself a poster and display what is need inorder to house and feed a degus! It was a great day to meet other people who are concerned about abandoned animals. Rescue people rock!

I had to work this past Monday and needless to say after finally going to bed at midnight did not appreciate the noise from the large cage 12 inches from my head. In my usual manor I yelled out, 'Cut it out!'. As it persisted I discovered one of the rescues from March was in the process of giving birth and neurotically chasing off her nosey cage mates. Luckily, she finally settled down and allowed the colony to check out the new arrivals. There was one male and one female pup and both are doing very well. I will need to find a home for the new male in about a month, so if anyone is out there in need of this little guy let me know!

It has been a wonderful successful week for adoptions. Daniel in Nashua has taken on the two four year olds from Billerica. The boys seem to adjust very quickly and calmly. They were reunited with their old cage and I am certain that made them feel more at home.. I know Daniel will take good care of them. As always I left him with a good supply to start and he has some ideas as to how to improve their healt and environment. A creative man indeed.

On Friday I had two boys adopted ny CaSandra from Billerica. One was from the livestock auction and the other from my Mother's Day p/u from Poughkeepskie. They have moved into a GIANT cage and are now living with an experienced owner. I am thrilled to see them go to someone who undetstands the need for patience with a degus. My boy from the auction needs more confidence, which started to build while he was with me. These two are destined to be spoiled! I would like to thank her for her very generous donation. I greatly appreciate it.

My group of three boys from the livestock auction took a trip to Coventry, RI. Jessica is the young lady who will be taking care of them now. I did need to loan her a cage since the one she has would allow and escape from the two little ones.  She is going to configure the larger cage later so she can transfer them into a fun packed environment. She is off to a good start with them.

There are still some degus available if anyone is interested!

Please feel free to call me if any of you have any questions or concerns.

I spent a wonderful Sunday driving over to Poughkeepski to pick up a lone male baby boy degus from my friend Deane, of myhopesinyou@yahoo small animal rescue. Between us we now have two trios of boys and two groups of two bonded males. She has a bonded goup of three females and I have four baby girls available for adoption.

A wonderful dinner was prepared by her husband and I enjoyed every last bite of it! I got to tour all her current rescues and hope that anyone out there looking to adopt in her area give her a ring. She has baby guinea pigs and rabbits galore!

I spent last week dealing with a man who I thought was interested in adopting and later found out he was a pet store owner. I did not like him not being up front and honest about it.

I am willing to work with a petstore who has a client interested in degus as pets. I do insist that I speak with every possible adopter. I am going to ask questions and will not just deliver without having a lengthly discussion first, like any responsible rescue group.

As Deane says, a rescued pet should only be rescued once!

I will be picking up one of the two bonded males group on Friday from a surrender. I have been offered $60 in donation to help support them and I have decided to take this. I do not ask for an adoption fee and I think this is a good way to help with the costs of the supplies.

I think I will insist on some sort of assistance if I run into another surrender, except of course from my other rescue organizations.

I spent last Sunday, March 28 in RI helping my friend Deana from NY rescue rabbits from a livestock auction. Much to my surprize and disappointment there were 9 degus up for auction. Every animal there was pulled out of its crate and held up for everyone to see. When the employee go to the aquarium with a lone male, I yelled out, "Don't take the top off!". The poor thing would have either bitten him, jumped or both. There would have been no way he would have survived.

I also ended up with 6 babies and a pair of male and female juveniles. They are more than likely siblings. The pair have white spots on them. This is the first time I have seen this in my neck of the woods!

I have sexed them and all are living with same sex except for the aquarium male who seemed more terrified of the baby I put with him. The other older male is living with the two male babies.

I have the female with the four female babies. All the babies have been trying to nurse anyone, be it the male or female. They are tiny and probably needed more time with their momma.

This auction was suppose to start at 11 am and the animals were left until 3 pm in the cold weather. They were stacked on top of one another and some were left to die outside with out any concern. My friends saw animals thrown into the dumpster still alive to die because they were too sick to go for auction. They are suppose to be humanely put down in that case.

It was very upseting to be at this show of mankind just trying to make a buck! The only good thing about being there was having someone who knew what a degus is let along bidding on them.

I think if my friends and I were not there they would have been thrown into the dumpster to die because no one knew what they were.

I an socializing them and given them some time to settle in. They will be up for adoption but absolutely NO breeding. If we have come to the point where they are found at a livestock auction I think that means there are too many already.

I have been contacted by a Elaine who is looking to have her three 8 month old boys adopted. If you are interested please contact her at edotphil@hotmail.com or myself at dianamvpa@hotmail.com if you are interested. She is looking to get thm rehomed by the middle of April.

Since my last posting the new female has merged in quite easily with Peanut and Olive. She has been officially renamed as Sunflower, the three oil sisters. Little Peanut, the degu dwarf stands up to either of them. I have also spent some time working on a new degus snack. I used the ingredients from the degutopia rescue recipe and added some timothy hay so it can be used as a regular treat. It has altered the consistency to a harder treat, but I found by adding a few drops of water, it softens it up enough to be used for an ailing degus. I might package it later for sale.

I have been keeping my vigil for other owners in this area and at times advising where needed. I am constantly addressing those who are attempting to have opposite sex pairings. After my experience with the original big rescue I see warning signs! I still find many degus up for adopting on the internet and wish that those were taken care of first.

My friend Deana in N.Y. has also rescued some guinea pigs that were being auctioned off at an animal auction. If you have any desire to adopt these lovable animals please call her. She is listed in the available section.

For all of my caretaker friends, I hope all is well this year for you and your colonies.
 
Diana

I picked up my latest degus from the ARL of Boston a few weeks ago. I am still counting the days to see if she is pregnant since she was housed with a male and seperated three months ago. He is doing well with his new male friend who was looking for a new buddy after the passing of his original friend. Deana is doing well with her babies out of NY and has made a connection for adoption of one of her little girls. The three baby boys will have their bags packed pretty soon and move to their new digs. Deana also has other degus and gerbils available is you are up in that area of NY and looking to adopt. Her number is listed in the available section.

I drove down to Dedham yesterday  to pick up a lone male degu called Chipmunk. He had been split off from a female that had been dropped off at the Animal Rescue League of Boston facility there. I will be meeting up with Tabitha who has a lone male herself after the recent passing of his companion. Fingers crossed they will like each other and settle down.

I also visited the female at the foster family's home and so far she has shown no evidents of being pregnant. Let's hope not!

I also spoke with Deana today from Poughkeepskie, NY, who through her own valiant rescues of small mammals, ended up with an unexpected litter. I shall list them on the up for adoption page with information if you are looking for baby degus.

It has been a while since my last post and I wanted to catch any and all up on how adoptions have been going. Everything went spectacularly!

I have to thank Kiki very much for her helping with this adoption. A non-degus owner who braved the cargo with all her family and went out of her way for the drop off. Her son didn't have much time to spend with them so I returned later and brought Goodboy and Deathclock (blame my son for that one!) for some up close and personal time. 

I ended up with three healthy boys and two females born in May that have birth defects. One is normal sized and only has one eye (Olive) and the other is a degus dwarf (Peanut), very petite, but very bossy! I shall hold on to them because I don't know the life expectancy of Peanut and will do what I need to if and when the time comes, to find a new friend for either of them.

The three boys were adopted up in August and now live in the northern part of New Hampshire with Janine. Unfortunately during the transfer one of the boys got out of the cage and could not be found! Janine and her husband helped me track the bugger down after an hour and on one of the hottest days of the year. We were lucky he didn't escape the car!!!!! 

Another road trip is planned for this Friday July 10! The group of four females and six females are hitching a ride along with Kiki from Chelmsford on her way down south. She will be meeting up with Anne and Tina along the NJ Turnpike. Erin will be taking on the six and will get them later from Anne. Tina is adding to her already growing family of four! Thank you all for providing wonderful homes for these lovely girls. A big thank you to Libby for her continued support of this rescue and her AMAZING contacts!

I now will only have a group of three 10 week old boys. Any takers?

I received some lovely email regarding Tyson, who is doing well in his new home.Yeah! I have also been contacted by a lady with degus up for adoption in Virginia, if anyone is looking in that area. She has both male and female for rehoming. If you know of anyone interested please contact me and I will send along her information.

I just got off the phone with Laura from Conn. who will be adopting Tyson. Here is a situation that is a bit unusual. I NEVER recommend adopting just one degus, but in Tyson's situation it is a must! Some degus can't live with others and will battle until the other is gravely injured. This is what happened with Tyson. He lived with his brothers until one day he attacked them. He had to be seperated and was never able to be successfully reintroduced to another male. The cost of neutering him is around $100 and I would rather spend any money on emergency vet visits instead.

Laura has recently loss her degus companion, who had been rescued from a bad situation and was living on his own. She will be the perfect new mom for my friend Tyson, who is more human friendly then degus friendly. I have eorked enough with him to let me scratch under his chin and he will take treats from my hand with no incidents. I'm sure she can him to tame down more with all the one on one attention she will be lavishing on him.

We will be traveling Sunday to meet. I shall pack my usual degus-to-go bag with all his favorite treats and feed for transition. He shall certainly become one spoiled degus!

I will be fostering the last four females from the original rescue from Feb 08 this week so eventually they will be up for adoption. I hope that all will find good homes. There are many caring people out there who are interested in helping with this effort. You should all be proud of yourselves!

I have spend the morning following up on a concern for small pet owners. There is a bill infront of congress called HR 669 which would impact the pet trade dramatically. If you have not heard of it yet it would make it illegal to own non-native species. Please go to www.nohr669.com to help stop this bill in its current incarnation.

A very successful weekend with 17 degus delivered to their new homes. It was quite a flutter of activity at the hotel with three adopters there at the same time. It was good to meet everyone face to face, and share some degus stories. Thanks to everyone who came and thank you Johnny D for all the tourist info! You helped us get to our destinations.

Now for the next batch of adopters, I shall be contacting you as I recover from this trip. I look forward to speaking to you soon!

Packed the car, packed the teens and packed the degus. We will be heading off in a few hours. Last night, I dropped off at Libby's, the two boys for Brian in Vermont. Tracy from Cambridge has agreed to transport them up there. Thank goodness for rodent friends. One other boy went off with Patty from Winchester to meet his new uncles.

So down the road we go with, four girls for Eileen from Conneticut, three girls for Shelby ifrom New Jersey, five girls for Jackie from Delaware and two for Meg from Maryland.

Every delivery comes with feed,sticks and snacks to help them adjust in their new homes.

We look forward to meeting all our new friends and our new degus families!

I am lining up all my adopters for an Easter Weekend degus road trip. For some of you the Easter Bunny will be leaving you degus instead of ducklings and chicks. Should they then be called deguslings?

I will be travelling down to Philly and meeting up with adopters along the way. So those of who had never heard of degus before get ready. They are working their way down the coast!

There are going to be at least if not over 12 heading out with me. I will be prepackaging food for their new homes so they can have a familiar start. A degus can be quite shy when a change in environment happens. They are very aware of who their colony members are but luckily for their new moms and dads they usually adjust quickly with a few good bribes.