Since I joined and posted about my pet degu I have noticed that I have been given a negative karma point. Could someone explain how the system works and how I might have come to have acquired it?
I could almost understand if it was based on my post about having a lone male. Perhaps someone saw this as me being cruel? However in that thread I was asking for advice as I got him from the adoption centre in my local Pets @ Home store and was told he had been brought back because the original pair were fighting and so he had to be kept on his own.

I have spoiled him rotten and spared no expense. I work full time but I spend lots of time with him, rubbing his chin and tummy (which he absolutely loves) and stroking and handling him a lot. I give him lots of things to play with too and he goes through so much toilet paper it's unreal (he loves torn up toilet paper to shred for his bedding).

Since I have split up with my girlfriend, who was adamant that we mustn't try to introduce other degus in to him as we had been told not to, I'm now desperately trying to arrange to get either a single female around his age (approximately 4 years) or a pair (or more) of younger females (to avoid a single female massively outliving him and then being lonely herself).


It might only be a (-) next to my name on a forum but it seems like something really personal against me. I try my best to keep him happy and I love him unconditionally and only want the best for him. Am I a bad person for having kept him on his own so far as I was specifically instructed by P@H?

- Tristan.