What you should know before getting degus?

Are you thinking of getting degus and want to know more about them? You're in the right place. I'm going to tell you, what you should know before getting degus.

First of all, you should think are degus really good pets for you. Owning degus is a big responsability. You have to be sure, that you want to own degus. Degus mostly live for 6-8 years, but can live even longer with the right care. They get attached to their owner/owners and changing owner isn't a good option, if you just start feeling like degus aren't the right pets for you. Degus need a lot of attention and their owner should be interested of spending a lot of time with them. A degu isn't similar to a hamster, which likes to spend time alone in the cage and doesn't need so much things to do as degus do. Do you have as much time, money and interest as a degu owner needs to have? If you come into the decision of getting degus, they're really amazing pets!

Now let's take a look on degu care. You should buy more than just one degu, because degus are social animals and they need to have contact with another degu. If you had only one degu, it could feel lonely, even though it had a lot of contact with people. 

Enclosure

Degus need a big enough cage or a terrarium or a cage and a terrarium/aquarium connected. Note: Degus can bite the plastic bottom of the cage so it shouldn't have plastic on it. 

They need a lot of things to do in their cage for example a running wheel. You can also take them to the running wheel outside of the cage, if they start biting the running wheel. However, the running wheel shouldn't be plastic. 

They need to have something to bite to shorten their teeth regularly/weekly. For example apple tree sticks are good for degus. You could collect wood sticks from the nature or buy from a pet shop.

Diet

Degus diet consists mainly of hay, pellets and vegetables, seeds, oatmeal etc. as a treat. (Not too often, but weekly some of these is fine.) Don't feed your degus any food, which contains sugar, so no apples, no honey. Even carrots contain a certain amount of sugar, which isn't good for degus. It's important to always have a water bottle with water for your degus.

Other important things to know

- Degu can drop a part of its tail, if it gets scared and it doesn't grow back. It's painful for the degu. Mostly the bleeding is stopped after 20 minutes, but in case it continues, you should contact a vet. If a degu drops its tail, it should be cleansed with water. You can put a little bit of water into a towel. After a degu has dropped its tail, it can have a little bit problems with balancing, but can live a normal life without a tail.

Here were some important things, that are good to know before getting degus.