telvi1:

Put an assumption in my ask. I’ll confirm or dispute it. I’m not gonna be mean or anything, I’m just very interested. You can go anon if you want.

Hi, I’m so sorry for your loss 💜 yes, all of the information out there seems to say that a degu absolutely shouldn’t be kept alone, but I don’t think it’s quite that straightforward. They are social animals as a species but it depends on the individual degu. How is your remaining degu coping? Are they still eating and active? Have they had any interactions with degus aside from the partner from which you could guess how they might react to new companions? They need some time to grieve before being introduced to new degus, I wasn’t able to find anything on how long this might be, it’ll depend on the individual.

When one of my pair died I tried to introduce him the my other lone degu who had been separated for fighting and the aggression from the separated one was unbelievable from the moment they were in the same room. The recently lone degu was fine, mostly just curious about this other degu. What I would have liked to do is take him to a local shelter to see how he reacted to the degus there; I was hoping that the staff would have an idea of the temperament of the degus there and would be able to help me find him a suitable companion. Unfortunately all of my local shelters only had females at the time.

You could try getting pups to introduce him to, but make sure you get more than one do you’re not left with a lone degu again soon. Make sure you know how to sex degus yourself, pet shops are notorious for getting this wrong. There might be a falling out once they hit puberty though even if initial introductions go well. I’ve read that even having degus in the same room, if not in the same cage, can help a lone degu to feel less alone.

Introductions can take a long time and if it doesn’t work out do you have the time and space for a separate set of degus?

If you don’t want to try to introduce new degus, can you give your degu sufficient time and attention? My aggressive degu seems to be quite happy alone and is affectionate towards me, he just seems to have decided that he doesn’t want to be around other degus any more.

Another point to consider, as I’m sure you’re aware, is that this degu is already over 7 years old. Do you want to continue keeping degus after this one passes?

You know your degu best and I think that only you can make the right decision for your degu and yourself. I hope that things work, whatever you decide to do.