The introductions between Tobias and the pups have gone really well. While they were in separate cages they showed interest in each other but no aggression, during their first face to face meeting in neutral territory Ben and Zach were both submissive to Tobias and again there were no signs of aggression. They’ve been in a cage together all afternoon and after a lot of mounting and other dominance behaviour they huddled up together. The whole process has gone smoothly, I was really nervous about putting Tobias and the pups together because Tobias is huge but he’s accepted Ben and Zach. Hopefully things will remain calm as the pups approach puberty, but at least for now things are looking good and Tobias doesn’t have to be alone any more.

Photographed: Zach, Tobias and Ben’s tail

Tobias update: further urine tests still show no sign of glucose so Tobias doesn’t have diabetes and the cataracts are presumed to be congenital. While Tobias will be affected by his reduced vision I’m glad that he hasn’t got an illness on top of that.

On our way back from the vet a passerby asked if Scott is a gerbil and then asked what the difference is between gerbils and degus. I went with degus are bigger and sleep at night so they don’t keep you up by running on their wheels.

On a related note, could someone please remind Scott that he is a degu?