[BLOG] Meet the team

Historical post first published on 24 January 2021. Events, figures, plans and appeals describe that period.

The first month of 2021 has been a busy one for Octodons.fr. We have been preparing many articles, including a guide to introducing new degus, comparisons of foods and bedding, and more besides. Alongside the writing, we research new enrichment ideas every week. Keeping up our target of two weekly articles — one information article and one enrichment project — is difficult. Enrichment still matters greatly, but the website needs much more foundational content before we can devote ourselves to it comfortably. We will try to prepare plenty of projects in advance to keep up the weekly schedule, then concentrate on the main information articles.

The introductions between Toupie, Tempi and Tipi had been going very well during shared outings, but then took a turn for the worse, with a violent fight and aggressive behaviour. Last Saturday also brought a painful bite to my hand. There is no infection, but it still hurts enough to slow down my typing. We need to start the introductions again from the beginning. An article on the subject will appear soon, but will need revising quickly: primarily a translation and adaptation of Degutopia’s guide, it does not yet take enough account of the animals’ individual behaviour. Substantial changes will be needed to focus more closely on the degus themselves.

But that is not today’s subject! In this second blog post, we want to tell you about the website’s history and its team. We are going back to 2009.

Who is behind Octodons.fr?

The size of the team has changed over time. It began with one human and one female degu, then gradually grew. Brindille was my first encounter with degus. She arrived as a Christmas present in December 2009, but had a few more surprises in store. Those first months were magical. We quickly formed a close bond, despite her strong personality. She slept for hours in sweatshirt hoods and spent her time out exploring. Then she began to grow rounder, and bigger, and BIGGER… until one day, ten babies suddenly appeared! Eight survived. Degus have eight teats, but that alone does not establish why the other two died. After that difficult night came two months of learning about degu motherhood, with eight little devils running everywhere, followed by separation while we waited for neutering and reunion.

Discovering degus also meant starting to search online. At the time, they were barely known, even on English-language websites. The lack of information led to many mistakes being repeated on forums. I first found Dingue des Dègues, which soon closed after its owner abandoned it. Then came Dingue des Todons, still online at the time of writing, but inactive. I became increasingly involved, spending a great deal of time on the forum, and wanted to build a website to inform other owners. Work on that first website began in 2010; it was due to close once this new one had enough content. I spent two years working on Dingue des Todons and its wiki, which has since disappeared.

Life moved on. Sadly, most of my degus died between the ages of two and five, from what I understood to be a genetic illness. Only Parabolle, one of Brindille’s daughters, spent nine years with me. Her death in October 2018 left an enormous gap. Brindille, Surprise, Ça Alors and Parabolle were four wonderful, very different females. Pirate, T’es Pas Possible Toi!, Moustache, Foulbazard and Le Musicien were five irresistible males, so gentle and so untroubled by territorial disputes. Those nine little whirlwinds had a lovely, if often short, life together. They left nothing but wonderful memories.

The degus with us in 2021

A few months after Parabolle died, I spotted Tipi in a corner of a pet shop and fell for him. I visited three times in three days, hesitating because I oppose buying animals from pet shops and animal markets. But I missed the company of degus. His little face and tiny cage won me over. My position on pet-shop purchases had not changed, but Tipi was love at first sight. On the third day, I went to collect him with trembling hands, terrified he might already have been sold. He was still there, and came home with me.

The first months were difficult. My love for Tipi was far from mutual! After ten years with my previous degus, I understood their language, and they knew me. I could read Tipi’s behaviour, but he did not understand me. He was less sociable than Parabolle and her companions, froze in my hands, bit my fingers, and refused to come out or be picked up. It took several months of patient work before those difficulties eased. He became an adorable, affectionate male who loves exploring — a perfect little dog! But he is also very, very territorial and can quickly become aggressive towards intruders who do not follow his rules. That is making introductions with Toupie and Tempi difficult. He seems convinced he can beat them, but, being rather plump and inexperienced in fights, ends up on the receiving end. This is an account of our difficulties, not a reason to allow animals to fight.

Toupie and Tempi arrived in spring 2020 after a hard start in life. They had been abandoned beside a bus stop in two tiny cages. Possibly brothers, they were battered and covered in scars. Mistreatment, poor feeding and impaired growth were suspected, rather than established. Both males were very fearful and insecure, with substantial behavioural difficulties. I am working slowly on socialisation, but there is a long way to go before they trust people again. Progress comes in small, gradual steps.

That is the website’s team at the time of writing: three male degus, Tipi, Toupie and Tempi, each with his own difficulties to work through — and the challenge of their introductions!