Degu Facts

June 18, 2009 | By NightwishRaven999 | 1 comment

Here are some weird and interesting degu facts that may surprise some of you.

We humans strive to have white teeth (most of us, that is)
Healthy Degus actually have yellow-orange teeth.
An adult degu with white teeth is a sign of serious illness, ususally resulting in death.

In the wild, degus have many predators, the worst being birds.
If a bird tries to grab the degu by the tail, the degu will shed its tail.
The same will happen if you pull on the tail yourself.
It is a painful thing for a degu to experience.
Once the tail falls off, flesh and bone are exposed.
It will heal quickly, but the tail will never grow back. A degu with no tail can live as long as a normal degu, however, the degu will often fall and lose balance.
Degus often jump and climb...their tails play an important role in keeping them balanced.
Without a tail, degus will often find themselves, losing their footing and being unable to jump great distances.

Degus, like cats, are very clean animals.
They clean themselves on a daily basis.
Another way they love to clean themselves is by taking sandbaths.
They will roll in the sand and play in it for minutes.
The dust in the sand, penetrates their fur and dries up the oils produced by their skin.
This provides them with great amounts of pleasure !

Here is a video of my degus taking their sand baths.

It is very easy to tell your own degus apart.
With time, you will note their physical differences, but most of all their character.
One degu will have qualities and traits the other does not...therefore, telling your degus apart is very easy once you get to know them.

Degus are diurnal (awake during the day) but they are also "cat-nappers".
This means that they have no true sleeping pattern. They will nap for a few minutes all throughout the day. They sleep on each other, to provide warmth and security.
They will either rest or nap on a high ledge under a heat source (lamp) or sleep in a pit they dug in the bedding.

Unlike other animals, degus do not have the ability to sweat.
This means that temperatures exceeding 25 degrees C can be fatal for these rodents.
They can die of heat strokes or heart attacks.

These are just a few of the interesting things about degus.
Comments (1)

6 years ago

Degus are very socialy developed creatures...they form their own hierarchy.
Providing your degus with one food bowl, will result in the "Alpha" degus eating before all the other ones. Degus do not bite...they will simply push humans, degus and other animals away from their food bowls. They have very strong paws and legs and use their strengh to push "would be intruders" away.
I am not allowed to touch the food bowl when they are eating...or else they will loudly object by emiting very loud noises, and will forcely push my hand away.

Here is a video of Ginger "the Alpha of my group" protecting her food bowl.


Note that this video was taken before my degus had their new home.

You might also enjoy:


Meet the Breeds
Find the German Shepherd Dog!