Hi! > >Degus look like big gerbils. But they are not. They are South American > >rodents and their nearest relative that is commonly kept as a pet is the > >chinchilla. The most important thing about them is their diet. They > >cannot easily metabolise carbohydrate and are very prone to diabetes. You > >need to keep them to a very strict diet. > > They are also climbing animals, not burrowing ones. Their needs for > housing, diet, entertainment etc are totally different to gerbils. There > is no guarantee that if you like gerbils you will like Degus. I want to add that degus are extremely destructive. Often when pet shops get Degus for the first time, they don't get themselves informed about the animals' habits. This time it's their bad luck. Often the degus gnaw their way out of their cage in the night, eat everything they aren't allowed to and damage everything in their reach by gnawing it thoroughly. Even the cage in Nuremberg zoo was obviously repaired after a degu escape. I laughed so hard when I saw this. I mean, I would have thought zoo people should know what they are in for when they aquire their animals. Thank goodness they aren't as negligent with their tigers and elephants ;-) The two degus we had at the shelter a few years ago destroyed two of our best and most spacious cages :-P The last time I saw degus in a pet store they were in an all-metal cage. Anyway, if you think gerbils can cause a lot of damage chewing you haven't seen degus. I agree 100 percent with what Julian has said above. Degus are VERY different from gerbils. Eva
