Degus

[Jaina_Organasolo]

So does anyone keep Degus or know where I can get more info on them (Good info!). I am considering getting some.

To explain, my other half suggested we get some instead of more Chinchillas when my two Malo boys pass on ( Ted has confirmed root elongation and Bill has suspected elongation). He says I shouldn't get anymore Chins as Im clearly cursed. I've been keeping Chins for almost 5 years, in that time I've owned 6. Im down to 3. My first pair, Leroy died of stasis, having been x-rayed for eye issues and it caused him to stop eating. He died of stasis after having been put under 3 times in a week. He was 2. Stitch his cagemate was PTS aged 2 1/2 with root elongation. Lucky recently got a URI, broke a tooth and died of possible stasis aged 4. I have Bill, Ted and Spooky left. So Spook is my only healthy one left.

He's heartbroken and doesn't want more. He's suggested Degus as an alternative so I said Id look into it. Personally I don't think they are much of a substitute. But hey.

 

[Gabby88]

I was doing research on degus the other day, and there doesn't seem to be much information on them out there. I just know that they live 9-13 years and take dust baths. They're very social, but I don't know that they bond to humans as much as chinchillas do (but I could be wrong about that).

They seem like interesting pets! I'll be interested to hear what other people have to say about them.

 

[menagerie]

Degus are no substitute for chins. They can be friendly but boy are they dirty and they take great pride in peeing for distance outside of the cage.

Where have your chins come from? Perhaps get some from a different/better breeder.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Degus can be sociable with their humas, but as with chins, it takes time.

The love to borrow under their shavings.
Takes dust baths (but not as often as a chin would)
Food must contain Vitiamin C - Most feed a mix of chinchilla food or guinea pig food (high qualities)

They also love to climb.
Need to be keep in groups.

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

I know they are not at all the same thing, but I promised Id consider.

Menagerie, They have come from different breeders, all NCS breeders and all have good ethics when it comes to breeding :-( That's part of what is so sad. I picked people I trusted and somehow it still turned out wrong. They were all unrelated to each other.

Leroy and Stitch were Sapphire carriers, whether that had something to do with it, I don't know. Lucky was from same breeder but parents by a different highly regarded breeder. Bill and Ted were from a second breeder, Teds lines were clear but he had trauma as a small baby that damaged his lip and nose. Bill I knew his Dad developed Malo, that's why his breeder quit but his Dads was thought to be trauma induced. I was told about that.

Spooky is from a 3rd breeder. From good lines, again known reputable breeders bred the parents. *sigh* I've never bought a pet shop chin and all of them had pedigrees known to me (even though Billion Ted and Lucky were all rehomes)

I know a lot of breeders. I think I've been unlucky. He says that its fate and Im not meant to have them. A friend who has Degus put the idea in his head. I said id love some - but not in place of chinsing.

 

[arf2184]

I had two degus sisters for nine years. They died earlier this year of old age. I'd go visit the friend's degus and see if their personalities are right for you. Watch their owner interact with them first, then see if they'll let you hold them. My girls were nervous of some strangers.

Caring for degus is pretty much the same as properly caring for chins (no sugar, eat chinchilla pellets, hay, same bedding requirements, they take dust baths, etc). Some people say to feed them a mix of guinea pig and chinchilla pellets. The only reasoning I could find behind this is for the extra Vitamin C. I found it much easier to just supplement with vitamin C (my chins get extra vit C too).

Caring for them is about where the similarities stop though. Personality-wise, they are very different. They are awake much the day and much of the night, just napping here and there. They LOVE to run on their wheel. They love to shred things and build nests in their cage. They chew, but not as much as chinchillas. They pee everywhere. They sound the 'alert' when they feel alarmed. They talk to each other (very cute unique noises). And you want to make sure to get nice ones that are used to being handled because if/when they bite it hurts like h*** and can get badly infected.

You must get two.

 

[Gabby88]

I saw this website earlier today on how to build a great cage for degus. If you do decide to get some, it could be helpful.

http://octodondegus.weebly.com/index.html

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

I had two degus sisters for nine years. They died earlier this year of old age. I'd go visit the friend's degus and see if their personalities are right for you. Watch their owner interact with them first, then see if they'll let you hold them. My girls were nervous of some strangers.

Caring for degus is pretty much the same as properly caring for chins (no sugar, eat chinchilla pellets, hay, same bedding requirements, they take dust baths, etc). Some people say to feed them a mix of guinea pig and chinchilla pellets. The only reasoning I could find behind this is for the extra Vitamin C. I found it much easier to just supplement with vitamin C (my chins get extra vit C too).

Caring for them is about where the similarities stop though. Personality-wise, they are very different. They are awake much the day and much of the night, just napping here and there. They LOVE to run on their wheel. They love to shred things and build nests in their cage. They chew, but not as much as chinchillas. They pee everywhere. They sound the 'alert' when they feel alarmed. They talk to each other (very cute unique noises). And you want to make sure to get nice ones that are used to being handled because if/when they bite it hurts like h*** and can get badly infected.

You must get two.

And NEVER hold or grab a degus tail. EVER!!! They will come off and it is not fun to deal with.

My girls love to shred cardboard and bamboo shredders to make their nest from.

Also, I think they chew more than chins

 

[Dragonflye]

http://www.degutopia.co.uk/

Here is a good site. Degus seem to be alot more common in the U.K. than they are here.

 

[rainey]

My roommate last year had 2 degus. They chewed through their plastic cage and escaped and then later chewed through the homemade pine cage my roommate built for them. I personally think they chew more than chins! But they are cute and make adorable sounds, the only problem is that they are loud compared to chins. Meaning that they seem to be awake all the time, and they constantly run on their wheel, chatter to eachother, and make alarm sounds (in my experience, every morning for several hours). My room was on the other side of the apartment and it still woke me up!

But that was my only experience with degus so I can't speak for all degus. My roommate also didn't care for them properly so they were underfed. I'm sorry about your chins, by the way

 

[ticklechin]

Degus have issues with malocclusion just like chinchillas.

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

Thanks everyone.

I did say that to him Dawn, as a chewing rodent I assumed that would be the case tbh. I would love some but as an 'as well as' rather than 'instead of'.

I didn't know they could shed their tails. ouch!!

I would say that you are probably right that Degus are easier to get hold of in the UK, and they are more common. You can get Degu food and I know of two pet stores locally that sell them. I've even seen blue degus in one store and they do discounts off buying several. They're about £20-25 each, so about $30-40 ish.

He seems to be coming round at the moment, my malo boy has just started eating for himself again, so oh likes Chinnies at the mo.

 

[3CsMommy]

Just to add some up-dated U.S. Degu information:

Resources for the proper care and maintenance of these little things are slowly emerging. Sunseed Vita Prima makes a degu food, as well as an acceptable guinea pig pellet for feeding degu. Brisky's, a company local to me in western NY, makes a degu pellet which contains animal tallow as a binder, which removed it from my list of acceptable feeds. I would choose that above any of the Kaytee guinea pig foods, but only if there were no other options available.

Oxbow makes an organic guinea pig pellet, BeneTerra Organic guinea pig, that meets acceptable levels for degu food. (Though I wonder at the inclusion of bentonite clay in the organic food. How is the primary component of cat litter a good nutritional additive for a strict herbivore/fibrevore? Is it added for mineral content, or an unregulated filler?) Generally speaking, though, even the *good* brands of chinchilla pellets such as Mazuri and PANR contain molasses as a binding agent, which degu cannot process properly, and so they should be avoided if possible.

What degu and chins have in common is dependence on grass hays like timothy, alfalfa, and orchard. In both animals, research says the diet should contain 50% or more dried grass hays. Degu in the UK and Germany (where they have been both pets and laboratory animals for decades) are increasingly being fed a mixture of specific seeds and dried vegetables in addition to an appropriate hay-based pellet and loose grass hay.

I've been trying to rig an appropriate diet for a pair of degu recently added to our home, and found that by digging through a number of pet stores and the bulk food bins at a couple of local grocery stores, I can put together a more or less suitable seed mix for them, based on the feeding chart on deguworld.proboards.com. I'll have to supplement with certain fresh vegetables that are low in sugar and high in calcium and certain micro-nutrients, as there is no suitable degu pellet available in my area. In a more metropolitan location, it may be possible to order degu pellets from Canada, where they're already a more popular pet. But over all, the information I've found for the care of these animals was UK-based, and thankfully very well-researched and documented scientifically. I wish someone had taken the time to break down chinchilla care in the same way! I cannot recommend the proboards site above enough for someone researching pet degu. The breeder who told me that "they're exactly like chinchillas" was sadly off-base. Thankfully, the pair I purchased are still very young, so a few weeks of poor diet will have fewer long-term negative effects than several years of misguided keeping.