Our 2 Degu Fosters are Ready For Adoption!

See: chirlababies.blogspot.com for more about the degus and chinchillas we've rescued!

In a previous post, I talk about our newest house guests: two degu males.  These are two of the cutest, most interesting and most intelligent animals I've ever cared for (and I've cared for most every animal you can think of!).

Much as I love Sophie, our chinchilla, she is a lot like a cat - that means, she sleeps 20hrs a day.  When she's not sleeping, she runs in circles demanding out attention (or chews on EVERYTHING).  The degus, despite their reputation as "destructo-rats" are much less destructive than any of our chinchillas.  In general they are content to chew exactly what they're meant to (ie toys) though Alpha's teeth remain quite overgrown from lack of proper chew toys at the rescue, so he will run his teeth along the metal cage to trim them.  The boys also play all day long, random spurts of excitement followed by long naps, so they are much more likely to be playing when you want to watch them.  They make the most adorable noises in the world, but are generally so quiet our tv shows drown THEM out.

I see a lot of people buy guinea pigs or rabbits because they're cute (and hardy!), only to be disappointed by their lack of interaction.  In short, they're boring.  Degus, however, are a million times more entertaining and ready to interact with you.  (Omega, for instance, loves my robe and will climb back and forth from one sleeve to another endlessly).  We are giant jungle gyms for the little monkeys.  Our boys readily come to the cage door when it's opened, excited for playtime (and treats).  They are also far more resilient than people give them credit for: provided they have proper chewing objects, they are pretty much indestructible.

It continues to shock me that people turn to more traditional animals, like dogs and cats (which need HUGE amounts of attention) or guinea pigs and rabbits (which are generally more interested in hiding than they are in playing), when "exotics" like degus would better fit their needs.  Going partying?  Fill the food and water, give them a little playtime, and there's no problem if you don't come home for 24 hours: do the same with a dog and you'll come home to a huge mess.  Do the same to a cat and you'll find a mess AND get the cold shoulder for days!

(photo: thanks to Rick Leblanc for the pic, taken the first night we brought the boys home.)

Degus do have very specific needs, but they are simple and easy to manage:

• tall cage (not even terribly large, just big enough for climbing and preferably a deep bottom for burrowing)
• pumice stone and branches (to keep teeth under control - Alpha and Omega, without this before we fostered them, cannot close their mouths properly due to overgrowth, but this is self-correcting now.  Branches also provide much needed calcium)
• fresh food and water (chinchilla pellets, a water bottle, and a handful of hay every other day - what's so difficult there?)
• dust bath (this isn't really a chore: it's more like the most adorable playtime ever that you get to schedule once a week!)
  

Our boys also adore their hammock, (in particular, they like to cuddle on it and watch my spouse playing WoW all night long), but luxuries like hammocks and exercise balls are not necessary.  All they truly need is space, noms, and hugs.  They are happy to run around a SAFE room (read online about chinchilla proofing, the same applies to these boys) without a ball, if you cannot afford one (if you do, we found a chinchilla or ferret ball works well, as it does not hurt their spines and will not overheat, being so large).  They need to be kept away from plastic at all costs, but that just means their toys are cheaper and easier than any cat or dog: simply grab a branch off a tree! (To be fair, it should be a tree that doesn't see a lot of traffic - and thus pollution - nor any pesticides, but that's not too hard to find: I have a number of friends more than happy to supply our fuzzies year round).

The best part about a small animal is that they go in a cage when they're done playing.  No worrying if the dog ate your slippers, no hairballs on your couch - just two adorable little friends stacked on top of eachother quietly snoozing! (Which is precisely what our boys are doing right now).  The only mess is their clean and scent-less poops, which they often accidentally fling from their cages with their tails, but even this is FAR more contained than with a chinchilla, and nothing a quick dust-buster attack won't fix (some cages will even remove this problem all together).  Cages need to be wiped down once a week, but it takes only a few minutes with the proper cage set up.

As you can tell from this rant, I adore these two degus and would be happy to keep them forever.  Unfortunately, my spouse (and more importantly, the man who pays for animal food!) is terrified of them.  Male degus do tend to dominance fight a few minutes of the day - this is akin to dogs growling and wrestling, and perfectly safe/normal/etc - however, this fighting can be unnerving for some people.  Since I love my spouse more than my fuzzies, I've decided to remain fostering rather than adopt the boys myself....  which is good news for you!  Why?  Because that means they're up for adoption!

(photo: again, thanks to Rick Leblanc for the pic.  This is the house the boys came with from the rescue: we immediately removed it, as they were clearly chewing it and accidental injestion of plastic is deadly.  Sophie has a large version of the same house but never chews it, so we've decided to leave it for her.)

The two boys are fostered from Autumn Hollow Sanctuary , which means they cannot be bred, killed or taken to another rescue if you don't like them.  (Which, all in all, sounds pretty practical to me!)  They are FREE to adopt!  However, they do not come with the large cage they are currently in (Autumn would be happy to find you another suitable one from her collection).  We will, however, happily provide you with some food, bedding, dust bath, toys, and pumice stones.  If you ask nicely, I'll even throw in the tiny water bottle donated to us by friends and their adorable little wooden house!  I'm also attempting to learn to make hammocks for the fuzzies this month, so if you get lucky I might have a spare when I'm done. (The degus spend about 80% of their time on or in their hammock house, so this is an important luxury for the fuzzies).

Caring for the degus over time is incredibly cheap once you have the basics we are donating: we spend less than $10 a month on their food (not including the occasional seeds for treats and training) and another $3 for pumice stones.  Bedding is bought in a large bag: $20 worth lasts us roughly 3 months for all three cages, and the same goes for hay: a smaller bag ($7-$12) would be fine for the boys alone over the same period of time.


If you're interested in adopting Alpha and Omega (or any of the other degus at Autumn Hollow), please contact myself at froghaven@gmail.com or Autumn at the website above.  We are in North/Central Edmonton and happy to have visitors by to check out the boys, and the rescue is in Alberta Beach.