Degus and chinchilla question

I have read that Chinchillas and degus can be kept together. Is this true? If it is does the sex matter in either species, for instance Male chins and female degus? I don't believe they could cross breed but could the female degu estrus cycle cause problems between 2 male chins or since they are different species would they even recognize it?

This is one of those contreversial questions, you will get different answers from different people.
When I got my first chinnie, he had a degu living with him with no trouble what so ever. I do not believe there is anything wrong with it personally, but I got so much flack from some people that I stopped, and they were SO HEARTBROKEN! I think the only concern is the food, what I did for that, Is I fed them mazzuri and the Blocked guinea pig pellets, they would take the blocks out and hide them, so the chins never got them anyways, but as i said, you will get different opinions

[possummomca]

Oh that sounds priceless Ten, must have been soo cute

Well, I hadn't tried it yet because I wanted some opinions on the subject first. I feed my chins Mazuri chin pellets. I have given them to the degus as well. Is there more Vit. C in Guinea Pig pellet than chin pellets? If so I don't understand because I have read many times that chins need the extra Vit C to keep their teeth healthy.
I may try putting them in for a while today while I can watch them to see how everyone reacts. I didn't know because Degus are suppose to be daytime animals while chins are more active at night as well. That and the size difference:-)

Degus shoould receive a 50/50 mix of both mazzuri and guninea food...

if you are planning on housing them together, try to find the guinea BLCOKS because the chinnies will leave those alone
good luck

[Sassy]

Quote: What are guinea blocks? I have never heard of them.

I would like to know that too. Do you mean the Mazuri rodent blocks (some call them Lab blocks)?

no, perhaps these are only available in canada, they are small whitish beige blocks of food for hamsters and guina pigs.. they are only available in smal bags.. i will try to find the info for you, but it has been some time since I bought them, since my degus have new owners

I tried putting them together but they didn't like each other. Both the degus and the chins acted like they were afraid of each other. I can understand the degus feeling that way but I wouldn't think the chins would. Anyway I seperated them so it wouldn't stress either out. Maybe cages close to each other for a while might help so they can get to know one another without having contact.