Degus in a French Pet Shop - Paw Talk

Sammy H · #1 01-27-2006, 03:04 PM

I'm over in france at the minute, and went shopping today in a french pet shop where i wanted to buy Rum, Raisin and Jerry a present!

I went to this shop and ended up quite upset, as they unexpectedly had NINE degus in there. They were all quite young, males and females in together kept in a glass and mesh enclosure, half a hexagon, about 70cm long at the longest point and probably about 30cm wide. I'll give them credit because the cage was clean, but some of the degus were obviously ill.

For a start, most of them had parts of their tails missing, in some cases, they only had about 3 or 4cm of tail left. This may be due to handling, or possibly due to the all wire wheel, and several degus all trying to use it at once.
At least two of the degus had bald patches, one has red scratches/bloody area around his chin, most likely from fighting. A couple of the degus were huddled in the corner, or under the one twig shelter they had between them.
Whilst i couldn't get a really good look, at least half of them had white teeth, with very little yellow on them.

The good news is that most of them were still quite active, playful and curious as degus should be.

I don't speak french and suspect that if i did, i may have lost my temper... i would have said a heated few words to the owners...

I felt awful knowing that these gorgeous young little degus had already gotten off to a bad start, and i hope that whoever takes them home actually does some research into how they should be kept.

I also discovered that there are at least three degu companies that produce degu food in france... i checked out the ingredients on one of them and they had lots of peanuts and locust beans in the packet.... a bit high in fat??? I only use those as treats. (The degus in the shop looked as though they were being fed on a mixture of sweetcorn and some sort of pellet.)

The place is called Zooland near Geant in Angouleme, Charente. If we had come by ferry... i would have smuggled them home despite the fact they were 25Euros each (£18?)!!!

It was very upsetting, and it made me miss my guys even more!

DorkyChantelle · #2 01-27-2006, 03:09 PM

Poor things

I absolutely hate to see degus (or any animal) in pet shops that are obviously not getting the care that they need. I wish there was more we could do.

Amethystbelle · #3 01-28-2006, 03:01 PM

aaaawwwww thats truly awful, i would have been like you if i was on the ferry smuggling them back if i had seen them. Its so sad about the food too being full of the wrong things, i do know hopefully this year there is going to be a new degu food on the market for people in the UK not sure if its just going to be a mail order thing yet or available from shops but worth keeping an eye out for

kandy · #4 01-28-2006, 05:49 PM

Aww poor little degus

I hate to hear sad stories about degus (and any other animal for that matter). I hope the best for them all

Phawn · #5 01-29-2006, 12:31 AM

I wish i was a gazillionaire because i would buy a farm and take in every single animal that was mistreated.
*sigh* unfortunately that will never happen and even if i was rich it would be impossible to help every single animal, its a nice thought though.

Thank you Sammy H for your post, wouldnt it be wonderful if someone from france read your post and gave those degu's the good home and proper food that they so desperatly need. It's a long shot but you just never know

Sammy H · #6 01-31-2006, 04:55 AM

I'm playing the euromillions lottery at the mo in the hope that i win the £125000000 jackpot.... if i do.... i'm going back for those degus and will search for others!!!

It was really sad seeing them in the shop and i really wanted to do something for them, but really couldn't. I reckon i would have succeeded in smuggling them home on the ferry too!!!

I wish someone in france could help. they just don't seem to have the same attitude towards animals as other countries. there were loads of ice/gerbil/hamsters etc in the shop too. they had puppies in large plastic "display" cabinets too.

It was very sad!!

Amethystbelle · #7 01-31-2006, 09:50 AM

Thats the sad thing though a lot of european countries don't have the same attitude to animals as we do. I studied Spanish and Spanish culture and i remember learning how they have little to no laws regarding the treatment of animals compared to us in the UK, hence some of the more risque things they get away with in the name of culture which is wrong to us because of how we see animals but is acceptable in their eyes. I think its a lot to do with our society and the way we are brought up to love and respect animals and the fact we have societies to protect animals that makes us what we are

Keppeh · #8 03-08-2006, 12:19 AM

Actually, french people are supposed to think of animals as more important than their children. I've talked to them, and seen surveys and researched their culture, but now I'm starting to worry. If they treat animals like that, how do they treat children...?
Maybe it's just a bad store, or maybe the surveys were wrong?

Keppeh · #9 03-08-2006, 12:20 AM

And don't diss Europe.
Sweden is probably the best place on the face of Earth.
Spain is pretty bad, Germany and Russia and France aren't
very good either, but some places there are like sanctuaries.

Sammy H · #10 03-08-2006, 05:23 AM

Maybe (hopefully) it was just this one store!

Hanlou · #11 03-08-2006, 06:07 PM

Regarding Germany, the best degu cages I've ever seen are on a German website. Degus seem much more common there than here in the Uk, and they certainly seem well looked after over there! The German degu food (JR) that you can buy in the UK has also been praised as being of an excellent quality.

Check these cages out from the German forum:

http://www.degus-online.de/kaefig_gaeste.htm

I have found *generally* that French pet care isn't so hot as here - the zoo I visited over there wasn't too great either, but I have limited experience so I don't know how strict animal care laws are there.

I mean, our local pet shop isn't that great to be honest, here in the Uk! Nothing you could say that was outrightly cruel and neglectful, but I don't go in there as I find it upsetting.

Poor little critters.

Keppeh · #12 03-08-2006, 06:13 PM

Yes, Germany is good with animals, but I've never liked its society.
Oh, and Europe is a good place, really. You can't judge just on that pet shop...We have horrible pet shops here, too!

Amethystbelle · #13 03-09-2006, 05:52 AM

Everywhere has good and bad places and good and bad people and people all over the world see animals differently to others, thats the way of life i suppose. Thanks for posting the link to that site Han i was looking for some inspiration as i'm looking to build the babies a huge mansion as they have now decided 5 tiers just isn't big enough

I love the freestanding glass one and it has given me some inspiration

Hanlou · #14 03-12-2006, 06:33 PM

No problem amethystbelle! (I knew taking A' Level German would come in handy one day!) Some of those cages are like zoo exhibits!! I wouldn't want my three to see them....... they'd be making serious demands, lol! Let us know how the plans progress on your babies' cage.

Sammy H · #15 08-19-2007, 12:38 PM

I know it was a while ago, but i just thought this deserved an update!

As of last week, THE PET SHOP WENT OUT OF BUSINESS!!

My dad came to visit and updated me!