Over time I have noticed that there are several questions about degus that people always ask. These are the questions that pop up more then any other questions and can be classified as Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ. Below is a list of ten of these questions that can be considered to be FAQ.
What is a degu?
In short a degu is a small rodent from the coastal areas of Chile. To go into more detail a degu is a a member of the octodont rodent family in the rodent sub-order cavyomorph. This means that they are closely related to guinea pigs, chinchillas , agoutis and capybara. Their Latin name is octodon degus , the octodon refers to their teeth on which the orange chemical forms a figure eight.
What is the best diet for a degu?
In the coastal and lower Andes mountains, degus eat mostly simple forms of plant life and tubers. They do not eat anything with sugar in it. Because of this they have evolved in such a way that they are not capable of assimilating glucose into their systems. It is as if they are diabetic. The best food for them will not contain any sugar. Guinea pig food is a good idea with the occasional carrot. Hay blocks, timothy hay and alfalfa is also very good for them. Sweet potatoes are good as are other yellow vegetables. I have read that potato skins and roots are very toxic to them so make sure that when you give them sweet potatoes that there are no signs of roots or skin, only the yellow stuff itself. Nuts such as sun flower seeds and peanuts should only be given as a treat, if their food has either of these in it, take the time to remove then and give a few of them as a treat once a day.
Are they available in any other colors besides brown?
Currently as far as I know they are not. However they are available in different shades of brown, some are light brown and some are dark brown. It may be possible to establish different color types for them by selective breeding of the different shades of brown. Mating light browns to light browns and dark browns to dark browns may cause even lighter browns and darker browns to occur. After a while it is very possible that you could see black or gray or beige degus or maybe even white. Demand for different colors is the main thing that will encourage this.
How long do they live?
This is something that is up to great debate. A degus life span can vary greatly depending on several factors. Diet seems to be the most prominent one. Degus who have sugar in their diets will suffer from the same types of health ailments that diabetic people who don't get insulin suffer from. This will greatly decrease their life span. If they are given the diet listed under diet then they should be healthy. Because of this a life span of a degu in captivity can be anything from 5 - 9 years. 5 - 6 years is more realistic as of 1000 degus that were studied in captivity only 1 of them lived to be 9 years old. In the wild however that life span is greatly shortened. Of all wild degus only 50% will live to see their first birthday and only 1% will live to see their 2nd.
Okay you said for me to give my degus exercise, how do I do that?
First of all make sure their cage is nice and big, at minimum a 30 gallon aquarium (without water of course), or about a 30 tall by 30 cm wide by 60cm long aquarium (don't ask me what those are in inches as I have no idea of the conversions). The bigger the cage the better, a ferret cage can be good as can a guinea pig cage as they provide lots of running and even climbing space. Just make sure they cant fall and/or injure themselves with something in the cage. They need a well, a guinea pig wheel is the best as hamster wheel's a way to small. Also if possible make a room for them to run in. The room should be free of wires they can chew on and not have furniture they can get under and stay under for hours, letting them run it in for an hour a day is good for them.
How do I breed them
Degus are very social and have mates often for life. It's best to have a male and female degu together (but never with relatives!!!!) starting at a young age, this way they can bond and become attracted to each other. When the female is in heat if she desires to mate she will send the correct signals and they will mate, if not she may fight him off. Males can be badly abused by unreceptive females so if she says no then while she's in heat separate them with the mesh divider in the cage method.
How Long are they pregnant for?
The average gestation is usually around 90 days with an average litter of four babies. As many as twelve and as few as one have been reported though. Gestation can also vary depending on number and sizes of the babies and their mother.
Do I separate the male when their born?
You don't have to, but it is possible that he may impregnate her again. In the few days after birth she can get pregnant again. After this period he can be put back. He will help raise the babies, if he does get abusive or jealous then remove him and put him in his own cage, just give him plenty of attention.
When can the babies be weaned?
Even though it's not unusual for degus to eat solids and drink water at only a week old, it's probably best to keep baby degus with their mother for around six to eight weeks. Younger then that is probably too young to separate them. Female degus have been reported being able to get pregnant as early as six weeks old so if a mature male is in the cage with them, it's best to separate them to avoid pregnancies. Mature male degus will also attack the younger males if there are females present, so after around six to eight weeks, you'll need to separate the young males from their father if there are females with them. The younger males will likely also see each other as competition if there are females in the cage with them or nearby , so you'll need to use caution when decide where to house them.
How to they bathe?
They bathe by cleaning themselves like rats and mice do, but also they use dust like chinchillas, so make sure to provide them with chinchilla dust in a container they can roll around in it in.
Help! My degus are fighting! What should I do?
What you should depends on how badly they are fighting. If you have two males that are fighting and you also have females in the same cage or in another cage then they are likely fighting for the females. Male degus will fight to the death for females. If either male has been with a female then from then on he will she another male as competition for her. Because of this if two males are fighting for this reason then for their safety they should be separated. If neither of them has seen or been with a female or you have two females that are fighting then they may be fighting for dominance. this is normal to an extent. In a cage with multiple degus (which in most cases will be a normal degu cage) one degu has to be 'the boss'. Usually each degu in the cage will try to be the boss or dominant one. Most of the time the fights are minor and do not result in one of them being injured. However if you have two or more degus that are fighting and not stopping and are hurting each other then for heir safety they will have to be separated.
How do I tell the difference between male and female degus?
Unlike with most mammals it can be very difficult to tell the difference between a male and female degu. However with some effort it is possible.
The image below shows the difference between a male and female degu.
The top image is a male degu the bottom one is a female. As you can see on a male degu the distance between the 'cone' (which on a female
is not a penis but a urethral cone) and the anus is greater then on the female. See the small 'slit' under the females cone? That's the vaginal
opening. Obviously the male does not have this.