As someone who fell in love with degu’s(they had some at one of the pet shops I visit occasionally and that I trust fairly well they take my favourite traits of gerbils and somehow make it even better) but also has very limited resources for learning about degus since they arent popular pets where I am do you have any tips you would like to pass on to someone who would like to get degus one day.

Hello! There are several degu forums and blogs out there who share information and are happy to answer any questions as they come up. The more you read about degus the better you’ll get at knowing what information to ignore (for example anyone recommending feeding degus fruit or encouraging predator-prey interaction), there’ll always be some misinformation so try to cross-check with multiple sources.

The main tips that come to mind are:

  • Find an exotics vet before you need one. A vet saying that they’ll see a degu isn’t the same thing as them actually knowing anything about degus. I don’t know what where you live is like but if degus aren’t popular pets it might be more difficult for you to find a vet who has any experience in treating them.
  • Do you want to get pet insurance (which is pretty pricey for exotics) or would you be better off having a savings account for vet bills? The older the degus get the more health problems they’ll develop and insurance often doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions so if you’re going to get it it’s best done sooner. How much can you afford in vet bills? A dental costs me £60 every time, one of my degus was getting these near monthly, this week I spent about £200 on investigations.
  • Do you have the space for a cage large enough (I think it’s best to work out space using CARA) taking account of the fact that some cages need the doors to be opened 180 degrees to get the tray out?
  • Degus can have vastly different personalities, on this blog you see more of the friendly ones who like cuddles which gives an inaccurate representation of my degus’ personalities. Would you mind if you got some who tolerate you but aren’t really interested?
  • Degus will sometimes fall out without warning, it would be useful to have a cage that could easily be divided in two if needed
  • Learn how to sex degus yourself! The main pet shop in the UK is notorious for sexing degus incorrectly!

Let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like more information on!

sillydegu:

At the end of their run when the degus go back in to their cage they get their seeds. Recently Thomas and Tobias have started to go back in to their cage part way through their run time and then they sit there. Looking at me. Where are the seeds? We had a run, we’re back in the cage. We would like our seeds now.