Degus

What is a degu?

Degus are a little larger than gerbils and are classed as exotics pets.

Degus are best housed in groups of 2 or more as they are social animals and are easily tamed. Degus are intelligent, playful and curious and love interaction and exercise. Degus make little chirping noises when happy or talking to each other, but are generally silent other than this.

KEY INFORMATION

Lifespan: 6-8 years
Size: 12-18cm
Colour: brown and/or white
Most active: during the day

Download our Degu Care sheet (pdf)

Degu care

Degus can live from 5-9 years and beyond. Before you take them on, it's important to consider whether you will be able to commit to them for their whole lives. They don't generally make good pets for children, who often lose interest as they aren't cuddly lap pets.

Additionally, they can be quite expensive to keep. Over their lifetime (after the initial cost of housing) food, bedding, accessories and vet bills could amount to over £4,000 per degu.

Diet and nutrition

Degus are herbivores so need a degu specific hard feed, e.g., Science Selective, plus unlimited hay, dried herbs and a species appropriate seed mix.

You shouldn't feed degus fresh fruit - it can cause an upset stomach. Fresh vegetables and fresh herbs can be fed in very small quantities.

Degus are prone to diabetes so you should avoid feeding them anything too sugary. However, there are lots of treat available for degus including Good Degu Rice Puffs, Veresele-Laga Complete Crock, rolled porridge oats, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

Degus require unlimited fresh water. This should be provided in a water bottle with a metal tube or a very shallow bowl.

Accomodation and environment

The minimum recommended cage size for a pair of degus is a cage such as the Aventura, Liberta Explorer or Savic Rat Royale XL. If you have a group larger than two, these cages will need adapting to make the half shelves into full shelves.

Wire/metal cages are the most suitable - they can chew through plastic or wooden cages. However, wooden custom builds can be suitable if corners are protected.

Degus should be kept indoors. They are very temperature sensitive.

Degus are very sociable animals and should be kept in pairs or, ideally, groups.

Degus need a large cage to live in, e.g., the Savic Royal Suite 95, with multiple levels made of metal or kiln dried pine.

IMPORTANT: Degus are avid chewers so cannot be housed in a plastic as they quickly eat their way out - wire/metal cages are the most suitable.

Degus are very environment and temperature sensitive. They should be kept in a quiet area free from drafts, chills, artificial scent, extreme heat and sudden temperature changes.

IMPORTANT: the ideal temperature for degus is 18-22°C.

Degus need hides, huts and hammocks for sleeping.

Enrichment

Degus should have access to a solid surface exercise wheel, e.g., a metal TicTac wheel, minimum size 14 inches. You should provide two wheels for larger groups.

Degus love to burrow, so will need a tub of sand/hay or paper based bedding, e.g., Softacard, Finacard or Bedmax, to keep them entertained.

Shelves, ropes and tubes for climbing will go down a treat with degus.

They also enjoy toys and chews that they can gnaw on. Sticks and small branches made from pear, apple, ash, beech or oak are all great for degus, as are sisal and corn toys.

Bedding

Suitable bedding materials for degus include chopped card, paper bedding, coco fibre liners, aubiose, hemp or kiln-dried wood shavings, e.g., Bedmax.

IMPORTANT: any bedding or substrates used for degus should be dust-extracted.

Wood shavings and sawdust are not suitable bedding options as they are toxic for small animals.

Keeping clean

Degus need daily access to a sand bath to help to keep their fur clean.

Degus don't smell, but the toilet area in the cage can have an odour if not regularly changed.

For a pair of degus, it is usually sufficient to spot clean every couple of days to a week and replace dirty bedding when necessary.

The entire cage should be thoroughly cleaned about once a month (though it depends on the size of the cage and the number of degus). However, you only want to clean dirty pee areas with a cleaner. Everything else can just be brushed off, turned over etc, degus are very sensitive to smells - removing too much of the groups smells can cause them to fight.

Out-of-cage time and handling

Degus enjoy time out of their cage but must be supervised to prevent any accidents such as chewing cables and falls.

Letting your degus out of the cage for free roam time each day will make them very happy. Provide hides, boxes and sand baths in their free roam area.

Degus aren't always keen to be handled but will rarely bite you - they can be quite speedy though so just be careful not to accidentally drop them. They often happily perch on you whilst having a run around outside their cage and will take treats from your hand.

IMPORTANT: never grab a degu by the tail as they can shed half of it as a way to get away from predators in the wild.

Children and other pets

As with other prey animals, degus can sometimes be jumpy so they're not suitable for young children or homes with curious/excitable cats and dogs unless they can have a separate and secure room.

In general, degus will never make cuddly pets for children.

They require patience to slowly build up a relationship of trust before you can handle them, and some degus might never enjoy being handled.

If you are letting a child handle a degu, or any other small pet rodent, it's important they know to be extra gentle and not hold them too tight - this can cause fatal injuries. It's also a good idea to have them sitting down to reduce the chance of injury from fall.

IMPORTANT: children should always be supervised when handling animals.

How to health-check your degu

This video from Wood Green Animal Shelter provides some great guidance on how to give your degu a health check.