Degu belongs to the family of rodents. They are very
friendly and intelligent pets when compared to other rodents.
They are hassle free and demand less maintenance. Some people
compare degus to chinchillas, squirrel and even gerbils. They
have a tweed brown color and have a long tail with brush like
hair at the end. The tail is nearly one to two third of the
body’s length. They use it to maintain balance while climbing
and while walking they keep it in upright position. Their belly
is creamed color and there are circles around their eyes. Their
ears are surprisingly big as well as their whiskers. They hinder
the growth of their claws by nibbling on them, so they the claws
don’t require grooming. Degu’s forelimbs are longer than their
hind limbs. They are born with yellow teeth that turn orange
after reacting to the chlorophyll present in plants, which also
turns their saliva into orange.
They are originally found in Chile and are exported to other
countries. There are some import restrictions on degu in
America, so it is uncommon to find degus at pet shops, but they
can be found in pet stores, all over Europe. Initially other
countries brought them not as exotic pets but to conduct
laboratory experiments. They do not have the ability to digest
sugar, so they were used to test diabetes.
When young, their size can be compared to hamsters and when they
grow to their full size they can be compared to hamsters. They
grow in size within few months, so all the equipments should be
bought with keeping these constraints in mind. The cage should
be big and must have a running wheel. Their average body weight
is 160-230 gram when they grow into full adult.
Degus are very playful animals and lots of toys are generally
kept in their cage. Baby degus do not fight at all and are
always involved in playing. It would be a bad idea to keep their
cage in the bedroom, as they will keep people away with all the
noise they make. Although they are diurnal, they sleep for short
periods and chances are that they stay awake for few hours at
night. They are at peak of activity in mornings and evenings and
otherwise, shut their eyes a little. Since they are sociable and
not afraid of humans, it is recommended never to keep a degu
alone. They should be kept, at least, in pairs. If they are kept
alone, they life period decreases and they get really depressed,
in spite of human attention. They also become aggressive.
Degus have the tendency to shed their tail in defense when
animals attack them. So it is recommended never to tug the tail.
The tail bleeds and nearly half of the tail dries slowly and
falls off or gets chewed by the degu. Even worse is that the
tail doesn’t grow back. They even don’t like to be held very
tightly and for a long time. Never lift them from top as they
have the natural tendency of getting scared as the degus in
forests get carried away by birds. Owners can gain familiarity
by stretching out their palms and calling out to them calmly.
The degus develop voice familiarity and get trained to climb
onto the palm of the owner.
In the forests, the degus can live up to less than a year and
less than one percent live up to two years. But in captivity,
they can live up to five years and more. Females, who live with
males, die fast as they become weaker because of constant
pregnancies. Their pregnancy periods last for eighty seven to
ninety three days. Therefore, it is recommended that members of
the same sex should be kept together as pets. If the owner is
interested in breeding them, opposite sex can be kept together,
but should be careful about not exhausting the female with
regular pregnancies. Keep In mind, that they shouldn’t beget a
child more than once a year.