Degus

These are our resident degus. Two of these guys come to us courtesy of CLAWS--an exotic animal rescue located in central NC. These guys are very friendly. They come from South America where they are considered pests. They do like to chew and can make quick work of anything they can get their teeth on. They learn to recognize voices and they themselves are very vocal. They are closely related to chinchillas.  They have no fear of anything.  They also have a peculiar situation that can happen when they are picked up by the tip of their tails..they "deglove".  The skin and fur will actually detach from the tail...then the degu will chew the remaining part of the tail up to the bone.  Not the greatest thing in the world to have happen.  They are very active during the day...and are quite a treat to watch hopping between levels of their house or running in their wheels.  These are not the pets for everyone.  Vet care is very difficult to find and could be very expensive.