Degus

[Lynternette]

I was just curious to know if anyone had ever had degus. I've seen them in P@H and they seem incredibly friendly.

[racinghamster]

They are very cute and intelligent, but they live a long time (around the same as guinea pigs) and are not for everyone. I took on two from someone who wasn`t able to care for them anymore years ago and they had been kept in a shed. I ended up with a male and a female, but luckily, the male was older and never bred with the younger female. He also had to have his penis put back in by my vet and treated twice for a urinary tracy infection. He eventually ended up with a very nasty abscess and when operated on, he sadly had to be put to sleep as his front leg would have to be removed as the tumour was so deep. :( My suspicion was that the female bit him and caused the abscess to form, which ended up infected. He was a lovely lad too and the friendliest of the two.

I was left with the feisty female, who I had to (reluctantly) rehome to people who kept chinchillas as degus can co-habit with chinchillas but only if you know how to do introductions and have experience of keeping both species. I didn`t want her to live alone and decided it was in her best interests.

Here is a link to Degutopia for anyone needing anfo on these lovely animals: DEGUTOPIA -('):(')- For all your degu needs (http://www.degutopia.co.uk/)

Also, Degu Information Sheet. (http://www.erodent.co.uk/DeguInfo.htm)

Degus are best kept in same sex pairs of small groups. Pets At Home and other places sell them, but unless you have the time, money and space to keep them, it could be a costly mistake and they are not the easiest pets to rehome, even though there are commited people who love them. My friend took on two babies because they were `free to good home` and ended up rehoming them to someone on a farm that she knew and got her daughter two guinea pigs from a breeder instead. I did pre-warm her before she took the baby degus on, but it went in one ear and out the other. Degus are much like chinchillas. They can be affectionate and trainable, but they don`t like being held and will growl or give a high pitched squeal that frightens the life out of me if they are nervous or allerted about something! Not a pet you want in your bedroom! :mad:

[samzyzg]

I believe everything has been mentioned just thought it'd share my opinion that they can make good pets although troublesome at times, my step-mums used to get behind the fireplace...

[Lynternette]

Wow! and they come up to the bars to have their noses stroked as if butter wouldn't melt.
I think I'll stick with hamsters.

[racinghamster]

:mad: They would cost more at the vets aswell because they could be classed as `exotics` by some vets. Some vets don`t know a lot about degus and they as a species also need a no-sugar diet due to being like chinese hamsters and can be prone to develope diabetes. The vitamin C issue isn`t such a worry, but they are closely related to guinea pigs, so who knows...

[samzyzg]

Hmm i never realised they were closely related to guinea pigs... that is news to me.

[Lynternette]

I should have said how sorry I was about the male degu. Poor little guy. xxx

[racinghamster]

Thanks. He was a great wee guy actually and would hop onto my shoulder and take a treat and then hop back into the cage if I sat at the cage door. The female on the other hand would nip and be more interested in getting onto the room floor and making an escape!

[PICKLES09]

Wow! and they come up to the bars to have their noses stroked as if butter wouldn't melt.
I think I'll stick with hamsters.

Your comment made me laugh! I too thought the same about Degu's, have read up on them and sadly aren't the right pet for me... It's sad, as lots are up for Adoption in pet stores near me... Definitely look like butter wouldn't melt. :-)

[Amethyst_ice]

im degu sitting next month for a friend, i always wanted them but the diet element bothered me..im hoping they will teach me much, thanks for the links, i want to do a little read up for my own benefit before they come x

[racinghamster]

Oh good luck Amethyst! I`m sure they will keep you well entertained! :mad: They are a great pet if you take the time and effort, but as far as diet goes, many people use a guinea pig mix or a degu pelleted food and good quality hay 24/7. I would say stick to a well formatted (non-molassed) chinchilla pellet food or a specially made degu food. There are better foods available for degus now since I had my two and Degutopia has a good knowledge base for continuing tto look at what to feed.

Degus teeth are naturally orange in colour. If they appear white, it can be a sign of deficiency or illness or age.

[Lougarry]

I'd love some but I've been warned they are incredibly destructive - and judging by the state of the things in their cage at P@H I suspect the warning is correct.

[CAB]

I have had degus! they are gorgeous but personally i dont think they make very good "cuddly" pets! they can be rewarding, dont get me wrong, loved em to pieces. but could never recomend them as a pet. :)

[StarlightSerenity]

Random question, are there proper Degu breeders in the UK? I will be getting either Degus or Chins in the next few years or so (long time off yet but thought I'd be cheeky and post a question :p) and always wondered. I won't buy pet shop animals so if I can't get them from a breeder then I won't even consider getting any.

[kyrilliondaemon]

I'd wondered this too! I've looked into it and I'm pretty confident there are degu breeders out there in the UK, but I'm struggling to get specific details for them at the moment, and don't really want to ask the degu forum when I have no plans of buying them for years yet.

[Mikayla]

They are very cute and intelligent, but they live a long time (around the same as guinea pigs) and are not for everyone. I took on two from someone who wasn`t able to care for them anymore years ago and they had been kept in a shed. I ended up with a male and a female, but luckily, the male was older and never bred with the younger female. He also had to have his penis put back in by my vet and treated twice for a urinary tracy infection. He eventually ended up with a very nasty abscess and when operated on, he sadly had to be put to sleep as his front leg would have to be removed as the tumour was so deep. :( My suspicion was that the female bit him and caused the abscess to form, which ended up infected. He was a lovely lad too and the friendliest of the two.

I was left with the feisty female, who I had to (reluctantly) rehome to people who kept chinchillas as degus can co-habit with chinchillas but only if you know how to do introductions and have experience of keeping both species. I didn`t want her to live alone and decided it was in her best interests.

Here is a link to Degutopia for anyone needing anfo on these lovely animals: DEGUTOPIA -('):(')- For all your degu needs (http://www.degutopia.co.uk/)

Also, Degu Information Sheet. (http://www.erodent.co.uk/DeguInfo.htm)

Degus are best kept in same sex pairs of small groups. Pets At Home and other places sell them, but unless you have the time, money and space to keep them, it could be a costly mistake and they are not the easiest pets to rehome, even though there are commited people who love them. My friend took on two babies because they were `free to good home` and ended up rehoming them to someone on a farm that she knew and got her daughter two guinea pigs from a breeder instead. I did pre-warm her before she took the baby degus on, but it went in one ear and out the other. Degus are much like chinchillas. They can be affectionate and trainable, but they don`t like being held and will growl or give a high pitched squeal that frightens the life out of me if they are nervous or allerted about something! Not a pet you want in your bedroom! :mad:

No, no, no, no. Degus and chinchillas cannot live together. Chinchillas are much larger then degus and can be quite intimidating. Degus are much more active than chinchillas and this can be quite annoying.It isn't fair and it isn't right. I've seen that you've mentioned in other posts that we should try to keep things as close to the wild as possible, and this is most definitely NOT normal. It would be like keeping a robo and a pure WW together, they eat the same food and everything, but that would be abnormal and just...wrong.

Please, never do this, ever.

[racinghamster]

It`s not something I would do personally or advise anyone else to do, but I DO know of a few people who run rescues (privately) who have kept chinchilles they had with degus and had no problems. I do agree with you initially though and I don`t want anyone to read too much into this. They are different species yes, but in the right hands with the right knowledge, it can be done under certain circumstances. For example, a lone female chinchilla who won`t accept another female chinchilla as company, but will accept two male or female degus. It`s a fine line really and as I said, not something that`s done on a whim.

They are however best kept to their own kind. Just to clear that up, although I did mention that this should only be done if you have the experience and the knowledge of both species.

[Mikayla]

It`s not something I would do personally or advise anyone else to do, but I DO know of a few people who run rescues (privately) who have kept chinchilles they had with degus and had no problems. I do agree with you initially though and I don`t want anyone to read too much into this. They are different species yes, but in the right hands with the right knowledge, it can be done under certain circumstances. For example, a lone female chinchilla who won`t accept another female chinchilla as company, but will accept two male or female degus. It`s a fine line really and as I said, not something that`s done on a whim.

They are however best kept to their own kind. Just to clear that up, although I did mention that this should only be done if you have the experience and the knowledge of both species.

It's good that you know not to do it. But no matter how knowledgeable you are about both species it is not safe. I consider myself very knowledgeable about chinchilla, and mildly knowledgeable about degus. They are totally different animals and should never, ever, under any single circumstance be kept together.

[racinghamster]

I bow to your experience then MMMTDF. I`m just reporting on what happened to me in the past and have seen others do this. Not that I would personally keep chinchillas with degus. Your right, they are totally different species, but do have similarities in diet and care.

[p_anda]

I remember in school we had a degu in a tiny cage, and there was a boy from another class who came in and decided to pick him up by the tail...guess how that ended...by me chasing after a frantic degu with blood dripping from the remains of his tail, as no one else was willing to catch him. I think I sellotaped some tissue over the wound till the next day when one of the teachers took him to the vets. He never came back. :(

[racinghamster]

That must have been a shocking experience for you p_anda. Stupid kid. No animal should be dangled or pulled by the tail because they can de-glove and cause the bone to be exposed. If this happens due to an accident, the tail bone goes necrotic and usually needs amputating. Gerbils are a good example of this. Some people don`t realise that theit tail fur can de-glove as a flight escape mechanism, but it`s not something that should happen in captivity. Poor degu. :(

[p_anda]

Well, that teacher told us that the degu was re-homed, I think it's more likely that he was put down...I think I believed that re-homing story, I was only 9 at the time, but now I'm more cynical. :eek: There's no way that teacher would've forked out for veterinary treatment apart from having him put down

[Mikayla]

That must have been a shocking experience for you p_anda. Stupid kid. No animal should be dangled or pulled by the tail because they can de-glove and cause the bone to be exposed. If this happens due to an accident, the tail bone goes necrotic and usually needs amputating. Gerbils are a good example of this. Some people don`t realise that theit tail fur can de-glove as a flight escape mechanism, but it`s not something that should happen in captivity. Poor degu. :(

It's actually recommended to hold chinchillas by their tails because they will slip fur if crabbed around their middles. It does not hurt them the tiniest bit.

[racinghamster]

I`m not talking about chinchillas I`m talking about degus and gerbils. I don`t have a clue about chinchillas! Never kept them.

[Mikayla]

I`m not talking about chinchillas I`m talking about degus and gerbils. I don`t have a clue about chinchillas! Never kept them.

I was under the impression you were talking about animals in general. Just thought I'd point that out :)

[Lynternette]

Thanks a lot everyone. Its certainly a very informative discussion. Sadly I don't think I'll ever have one now:( I just adore rodents!

[p_anda]

It's actually recommended to hold chinchillas by their tails because they will slip fur if crabbed around their middles. It does not hurt them the tiniest bit.

Surely you mean that you hold them by the base of their tail? It's ok to hold one like that, but you're certainly not meant to pick any animal up by the middle or end bit of their tail...tails can't support the animals whole body weight so they just break off

[racinghamster]

No, just degus, as the title suggests. Chinchillas and gerbils just happened to enter the conversation somehow...

P_anda is right. Supporting the end of the tail can sometimes be useful with certain animals but I would never do it. Even if I thought it was safe. I prefer to bodily scoop or lift an animal to make it feel secure.

[StarlightSerenity]

No, just degus, as the title suggests. Chinchillas and gerbils just happened to enter the conversation somehow...

P_anda is right. Supporting the end of the tail can sometimes be useful with certain animals but I would never do it. Even if I thought it was safe. I prefer to bodily scoop or lift an animal to make it feel secure.

You did say "No animal" :p

Does anyone know of any specific breeders in the UK?

[Mikayla]

Surely you mean that you hold them by the base of their tail? It's ok to hold one like that, but you're certainly not meant to pick any animal up by the middle or end bit of their tail...tails can't support the animals whole body weight so they just break off

About 3/4 down from the end, yes :) If you grab too close to the end you can slip fur.

RH- picking a chin up around the middle is dangerous actually, they are floating ribcages and they can be crushed very easily, if also frightens them to be picked up around the middle.

[kat13/5/91]

i have had two degus (they like company) and they are friendly and intelligent, the only thing you should consider is they need a far bigger cage than the one they are in at P@H which can be heavy and hard to clean

the other thing that was a big problem to us was when they pee they seem to stick there bums out and spray this means that it would go up the bars of the cage and all over the floor outside the cage and it can be very pungent.

Im not trying to put you off just two things you wont get told at the shop ;)