New to degus

[Cyanide_]

Alright. So since the death of my last rat more than a year ago, I've been looking for another pet to love and cuddle, I wanted more rats but the whole average lifespan of 2 years destroyed me. So I wanted a new animal, preferably rodent. I searched around and came upon degus. I'd always seen them in pets stores and thought they were adorable until I saw the rats, but when I read up on them I started looking at them closer.
A few months ago a local pet store had a litter of degus that were just born, and I decided that I'd wait until they were ready to be sold and then choose whether or not they would work out. Last week I went back to the pet store and bought two little boys. The sales person didn't know how to sex them so I had to try and remember. I got it mixed up at first and thought they were females, then later realized my mistake and so I have two boys (that's what I get for not sleeping after working all night).
They're currently in a plastic rabbit cage which is temporary until I either find a metal cage or have to put them in my 33 gallon aquarium which will just need a proper lid. I'd rather get a metal cage because I've kept rats in an aquarium before and it was terrible to clean.
Now. I've only had them for a week and I'm absolutely in love with them. But I find them so different from rats, I'm having trouble reading them. I bought some chin sand, but they didn't seem to like it in the least, they went in the bowl and then hopped out and started rolling around on the floor. Is that normal?
Also, what's the best substrate for them? I've used pine shavings when I first got them, then decided to try carefresh.
Any help you folks can give me would be wonderful.

[mulder]

carefresh or aspen are great. pine and cedar are toxic. the bath sand will just work out eventually, they do it instinctually, don't worry. for cages....you'll need a bigger one than that. no tank. goos LOVE climbing, so get a rat, chin, ferret or bird cage. they also love hammocks and ledges to jump to and from. goos are very active and love to run about, they're also very smart. i'd let mine run the apartment then they'd go back in their cage when tired. they're also chewing monsters so watch that plastic rabbit cage, my goo nearly destroyed one in a day, yes, one day. lol. welcome to the goo world!! it's so fun

[MañasMom]

Congratulations on your new Degus!


Yes, they are totally different from rats. In fact, they're totally different from any other rodent out there. They need a much bigger cage than the average rodent, so if you do decide to go with the aquarium, you'll need to get a cage topper (rather than a lid) so they'll have extra room to climb. (Something like this: http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/toppers/ ) Get the largest cage you can afford, and accomodate in your home. Degus are not domesticated like rats, gerbils, hamsters, or guinea pigs. So they need a lot more specialized care than those kinds of rodents.


The bathing thing you noticed is quite normal. It sounds like they're not yet comfortable enough to really get into their sand baths, but that will come with time.


Mulder is right, cedar and pine are toxic, so it's a good thing you switched. They can cause severe respiratory distress in Degus. Carefresh is an excellent bedding for them.


You may already know about their dietary restrictions, but since you're new to Degus I wanted to mention them anyway. Rats are famous for eating just about anything, but Degus need a much stricter diet. No sugars of any kind, and they should only eat a plain guinea pig (or Degu) pellet for their base diet (with no molasses in it) and lots of fresh Timothy Hay. They develop diabetes very quickly if they eat too much junk food (seeds, carbs, etc) or if they are fed anything sugary (too much fruit, any kind of small animal treat, some human cereals, etc).


I hope you'll enjoy them! Some Degus are never interested in cuddling, but some are. So time will tell how your 2 boys feel about it! Please keep us posted on their progress, and welcome to the exciting world of Degus!

[Hibbleton]

Hi Cyanide That's so cute your degus hopping out of the bath and rolling on the floor lol

My guys are grown but weren't accustomed to being cared for properly and they had a similar reaction to the bath, only they wanted to use it as a toilet.
But they've figured it all out by now .

Lots of fun

[Cyanide_]

I knew they would need something much larger when I bought them, I just have problems with buying stuff from the internet, but since the pet stores out here really don't have much in the way of large cages (other than bird), I may be stuck borrowing a credit card or getting a bird cage. I'm guessing Martins Cages is a reputable site so they would be the best place to go with.
I have them eating what they were fed in the store I got them from, A guinea pig and chinchilla mixture, and I did get them timothy hay. I knew about the diabetes thing and am taking care not to give them sugars. I was just wondering if they could have vegetables though, since they're lower in sugar than fruit.
I'll just give my boys time with their bath and hope they eventually come around. Though it was funny watching them roll around on the floor.
Thanks for all your help, and if anyone has any other information that would be useful, feel free to tell me. Can never have too much information when it comes to the well being of a living creature.

[Sasami]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cyanide_ I knew they would need something much larger when I bought them, I just have problems with buying stuff from the internet, but since the pet stores out here really don't have much in the way of large cages (other than bird), I may be stuck borrowing a credit card or getting a bird cage. I'm guessing Martins Cages is a reputable site so they would be the best place to go with. I have them eating what they were fed in the store I got them from, A guinea pig and chinchilla mixture, and I did get them timothy hay. I knew about the diabetes thing and am taking care not to give them sugars. I was just wondering if they could have vegetables though, since they're lower in sugar than fruit. I'll just give my boys time with their bath and hope they eventually come around. Though it was funny watching them roll around on the floor. Thanks for all your help, and if anyone has any other information that would be useful, feel free to tell me. Can never have too much information when it comes to the well being of a living creature.

You should definitely check the ingredients for the mixture as many pellets contain cane molasses which is of course a sugar. You can feed vegetables, in fact, I would recommend doing that . Just limit the more sugary ones such as carrots. Non-iceberg lettuces are good for degus (and tend to be popular, mine love lettuce). They also like herbs such as mint, basil, and parsley.

Congrats on your new degus!

[MañasMom]

Clean dandelions (the leaves and the flowers) are a really nutritious food too, and most Degus love them!