The Degu: The Cutest Rodent Ever

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 5 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #6,969 in Animals, #168,589 overall

I think that amongst the little rodent a degu is the best, because it likes to be cuddled a lot!

What is a Degu?

The Degu (Octodon degus) is a small caviomorph rodent that is native to Chile. It is sometimes referred to as the Brush-Tailed Rat (although not closely related to the rat family) and is also called the Common Degu, to distinguish it from the other members of the genus Octodon. Other members are also called degus, but they are distinguished by additional names.

Degus have become popular as pets, though until very recently they were seldom found in pet shops. Their advantages over traditional small pets are their diurnal habits, bubbly personalities, the haired tail (as compared to rats and mice) and their lifetime: they are said to live up to 13 years under ideal circumstances (though a poor gene pool/genetic background often reduces a pet degu's lifespan significantly). The average lifespan of a degu in captivity is said to be around 5-8 years of age. One disadvantage of the degu as a pet is that they gnaw much more than most other common rodent pets, especially through plastic-bottomed cages typically found in pet stores. Untame degus, as with most small animals, can be prone to biting, but their intelligence makes them easy to tame. Degus often 'groom' their human owners, by a gentle nibbling action, but they can give a defensive bite if they feel threatened.

 

 

 

The Top Five Reasons Rhaegar The Degu is the Cutest Rodent 

  • Degus are friendly
  • Degus are funny and noisy
  • Degus are only vegetarian
  • Degus sleep at night, like us
  • Degus love us!

As you can imagine, keeping a degu is quite easy BUT... 

...there are some books detailing begu behaviour and care, so have a look and choose on of these!

Barrons Books Degu Manual

Barrons Books Degu Manual

Pet hobbyists looking will be fascinated by Degus, more...1 point

Gesellige Degus. by Anna Sporon

Gesellige Degus. by Anna Sporon

Pet hobbyists looking will be fascinated by Degus, more...1 point

Videos about The Degus... as you can see most of these evil beasts are attention whores... 

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Happy Degu Coma!

Runtime: 2:01 | 43026 views | Comments

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My pet degu yawn

Runtime: 0:50 | 31060 views | Comments

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Clever Degu

Runtime: 1:15 | 111672 views | Comments

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Degu Boys

Runtime: 0:57 | 34213 views | Comments

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the Degus: Degu battle

Runtime: 3:12 | 15133 views | Comments

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Degutopia Melissa - Laughing D...

Runtime: 0:36 | 43605 views | Comments

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Don't keep degus solitarily!

Runtime: 5:32 | 27728 views | Comments

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Degu Dust Bath (FUNNY)

Runtime: 0:54 | 48619 views | Comments

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Degu daredevil

Runtime: 3:23 | 771 views | Comments

automatically generated by YouTube"

So what is YOUR favorite Rodent ? :) 

They all nibble...They are all cutey but..

Who's your daddy rodent ? :) Vote your favorite or share your less-than-famous specie of pet rodent :)

Degu

Enter the star of this page, the Amazing and playf more...2 points

Hamster

A classic favorite. There are many species, probab more...2 points

Fancy Rat

A rat as a pet rodent ? Specially bred rats have b more...2 points

Rabbit

The rabbit is the Battleship of the rodents. They more...1 point

Chinchilla

Another rodent from originally from Chile like the more...1 point

Gerbil

Overactive and cute rodents. Easily frightned too, more...1 point

Mouse

Cute and easy to tame, but has a really short life more...1 point

Guinea Pig

Looook at those eyeeees!1 point

lemmings

They love to read.0 points

Your turn: Am I right? 

Kaczie wrote...

Enjoyed your lens! I'd love to get some degus in the future but they don't seem very easy to find in the US.

ReplyPosted August 03, 2008

garethjax wrote...

They are incredibly playful... you tend to spoil them :) Infact they emite cute noises when they need attention :)

ReplyPosted January 30, 2008

Evelyn_Saenz wrote...

My Lemmings just came over to visit your Degus. We had never heard of you before. Are they as gentle as hamsters?. Greetings to you in Chile from all of us in the Arctic North.

ReplyPosted January 30, 2008

EverythingMouse wrote...

I had never heard of these animals before - you are right they are pretty cute for a rodent!

ReplyPosted January 10, 2008

garethjax wrote...

If you like me, love degus, leave your mark!

ReplyPosted November 29, 2007

by garethjax

Gareth Jax was born in italy during 1971. Somebody says that he was already connect and it was disconnected for the first time when they cut his umbil...

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