Degus for dummies.

A lot of people don't know what a degu is this is a instructable that tells and shows you what a deagu is. I've had a pair of degus before and their nice animals they just aren't well known.

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Step 1: What's a Degu?

Degus are rodents from Chile. They are herbiovres that eat leaves, and vegtiables. They live in colonies of 10-25 degus. They are about the size of you're hand , and look like a gerbil, a hamster and a chichilla combined.They can have 5-10 babys in a litter. They can start walking in almost two hours and start eating food in about five days to a week.

AndyGadget says: Jul 23, 2010. 10:44 AM

We're looking after a friend's two degus for a couple of weeks. They're in a large wire cage with various extra modules linked to it and containing a hammock, wheel, various tubes, walkways and shelves. Truly a degu paradise.!
They are incredibly friendly, intelligent and endlessly curious and will immediately explore anything new in the cage. They also have a very good mental map of their environment - one of their favourite treats is tiny bits of shredded wheat and if you hold a piece near part of the cage they will immediately go the quickest route to it, even though this may mean heading directly away from the treat to start with because of the walkways and tunnels.

ViperisLT says: Apr 5, 2010. 1:23 AM

You should give them some grass, apples, carrots.

terriann says: Apr 4, 2010. 10:14 AM

I use one of those "green" plant based spray cleaners (the Cholrox Grernworks) to clean out my degu's cage because it's a 29 gallon tank with a cage topper so it's hard to move it to the sink to tub to clean it with soapy water. Your degus are adorable BTW!

terriann says: Apr 4, 2010. 10:11 AM

Why are a degu's teeth orange? A degu's teeth are orange because there is a chemical reaction between the cholorophyl in their diet (hays and grasses) and their saliva cause their saliva to turn orange and stain the enamel of their teeth. I posted about it on my degu blog the other day: degucage.com/information/why-my-degu-teeth-orange-yellow/

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Kiteman says: Oct 18, 2008. 11:33 AM

I'd like to see more details here - housing, bedding, feeding, handling, legality (I've only seen them in a zoo - are they endangered?).

And you never mentioned that special thing about their teeth...

cocodlicious says: Feb 12, 2010. 12:19 PM

Illegal in PA that didn't stop me from rescueing three of them on two seperate occasions. Had a total of six. WATCH THE FOOD!! no beet, Molasses, sugar, or sugar cane. Sweet=Very bad things for these little guys. Keep in a group and don't expect anything tame as they are not domesticated. You might get lucky but the best I could do with mine is get them to take food from my hand

cocodlicious says: Feb 12, 2010. 12:20 PM

OH-Yah! they RUN like Forrest Constantly with out rest.

pyro13 says: Oct 18, 2008. 12:56 PM

Whats special about their teeth? Is this the same animal as a chinchilla?

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Kiteman says: Oct 18, 2008. 2:29 PM

These aren't chinchillas, they are a separate species. Their teeth are naturally orange.

JerryMopar says: Jun 11, 2009. 6:53 PM

kinda like a gerbil and chinchilla... very cute though!!!!

ellnbchristi says: Oct 31, 2008. 9:37 PM

Degus are wonderful pets! Very sweet animals that really don't bite.......very shy too. If they do bite they won't let go. They are also known as "Chilean Squirrels" but are not in the squirrel family. They are more closely related to rabbits. They originally come from Chile. Just Google Degu. They were originally brought to the US and other places for diabetes research. They can't process sugar or fats at all. You feed them a combination of guinea pig and chincilla pellets.........reading the label and making sure they don't contain any sort of sugar such as molasses...........and plenty of timothy hay. You can feed them small amounts of certain raw veggies and an occasional bite of apple for a treat. I wouldn't recommend anyone to get a degu without first researching them. They can live 5-15 years and require lots of care. An aquarium is not a great choice for a habitat and not nearly large enough. Also, you must be careful of what the cage is made out of as they chew to keep their teeth trimmed........they have teeth similiar to a beaver. When a degu is healthy his front teeth are bright yellow/orange............if they start turning white he/she is dying. These are very social creatures and live like prairie dogs.......in colonies and keeping them alone is cruel. Also you can't keep two males or two females together unless they are from the same litter or they will kill each other. And they can breed like mice and rats............lots and lots and lots so you don't want a male and female together unless you are willing to get them spayed and neutered. You need to find out if there is a vet near you that is knowlegeable about degus..........not many know a dang thing about them! Like chincillas, they require "sand" baths. And you never want to bath a degu in water......they get hypothermia quickly and can die. Never get your degu wet!!! They will also eat their poop..........to recycle the nutrients that weren't digested......it is a survival mechanism that is built into their DNA. You must keep their cages extremely clean! Another note............a degu tail is extremely fragile.....if you mistakenly grab it, it will come off and cause terrible pain to the little thing and it will not grow back. To summarize....a degu is a marvelous pet but unless you are going to make a firm committment to learning all you can and caring for them properly.....DON'T GET ONE! I'm glad to see this instructable but I wish you would go much more into depth about degus. There is a whole lot of important info missing. Thank you.

ellnbchristi says: Oct 31, 2008. 9:45 PM

I forgot....lol.....they make the coolest chittering sounds for different things. Males will boast about mating..........or they will call out when lonely or in pain. Kind of sounds like a bird...but not quite and can be quite loud. My little degu Quincy died a few months ago and I miss him so much! He was the sweetest little guy. I never could find a female for him and I was sure looking forward to having little Quincy's everywhere lolol. We spent many many hours together everyday. He liked to sit in my lap on a towel and play burrowing into the folds of the towel. His little penis got an infection and he couldn't retract it causing it to dry out and harden. He died of kidney disease. He was sick when I got him.....a rescue....and I soaked his pellets in a bit of water and made mush with antibiotics and fed him with an eye dropper a tiny bit at a time every hour or so. This is how he became so attached to playing burrows in the towel in my lap. When he was better it became a daily game. They are smart and inquisitive and so much fun to watch!