August 31, 2012
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Degus
The book I read to research this post was the Good Pet Guide to Degus which is a very good book which I bought from my local petshop. Degus live wild between the chilean coast and the lowlands of the andes. The farmers consider them a pest. If you want them as a pet you must buy at least 2 preferably same sex and they like climbing so they like a very big cage preferably room height. There are best kept indoors at room temperature they hate excessive heat or cold. If you are unable to locate degu food, guinea pig food is very similiar. They are close relatives to the guinea pig. You should spend plenty of time interacting with them and they can become quite tame. If you offer a tidbit on your hand they will often go on your hand to take it. You should never reach in from above to pick it up as they are nervous of birds of prey swooping down to pick them up and may bite. They like to use branches but not cedar which is poisonous and will also use paper to make a nest. Don’t use newsprint as the ink is poisonous. They can’t digest caffeine or sugar and these can do harm. They love the rope toys sold in petshops but make sure they are made from natural products. They also love a hamster ball but must be supervised in case they try to escape. If you give them an exercise wheel which should be of the enclosed variety they will run upto 2.5 miles a day in it. They only live upto 12 months in the wild but in captivity can live upto 10 years. You should never grab it by the tail as it will break off and can become infected also it will never grow back. Both the male and female degus make excellent parents. If you have 2-3 degus you should clean the cage once a week and obviously if you have more you do it more often. For their size degus are quite clean and are cleaner than many smaller animals.
