Degu Body Length

[savvy]

A question has been asked as to if degus in the UK have a longer body length than those is the US, or indeed other countries.

Now we all talk about weight and body appearance, but we've never really looked at the comparison between weight and body length before.

With this in mind, and so we can look at the data, I would be grateful if you can answer the following questions;

How old is your degu?

What is the average weight of your degu (taking seasonal fluctuations into account)?

What colour is your degu?

How long is your degus' body (minus tail)?

How long is your degus' tail? If it is not a full tail (accidents happen!) please state that it's been shortened.

What country are you in?

This will enable us to get an idea of weight to colour to body length ratios in differing countries.

Many thanks!  You're stars! 

[hpdegus]

So this is for the pups only.

They are approx 18months now.

Their average weight is ~240g.

Both are agoutis.

Body length is about 5in.

Tail length is just over 5 inches. Total, from nose to tail tip is 10.3in.

I'm in the US. To be very specific, this group came from somewhere in Connecticut. (I have two groups from that area, and the rescues are from NY).

[deguconvert]

Eldest degus we had were 8 years old, then 5 years down to 2 years in age.
On average all were between 275 grams and 310 grams. . . the males being the heaviest.
All were Agouti in colouring.
Body length was very consistently about 6 inches, some being very slightly smaller.
Tail length was also very consistently about 6 inches. There were two with shorter tails due to accidental degloving.
All in Canada.

[winic1]

Can't give you measurements as we never did more than a few weights on our second group, and I don't remember exactly (I think 270-300g is about it among the three of them).

But maybe another question to ask is about their breeding, if known.
Our first two were much bigger than the second group of three. #1 came from a person in my town. #2 was bought in from a pet store (shipped in) as we absolutely could not find another one within several hundred miles at the time. Tails were at least as long as bodies. They lived 5-1/2 and 6-1/2 years.

The second group of three (#3, #4, #5) were two years old when we got them. They were noticeably smaller than the first one (who we still had at the time, so side by side comparison was possible.) As I said, their weights were in the upper 200's to about or just over 300g. And you could see small, medium, large, and tell them apart by size when they were together to compare. So now I really wonder just how big the first two were.

But here's where the knowing about the breeding comes in. Degu #1 came from a careful, experienced degu person. #2 unknown. Both were very large.

Degu's #3, #4, #5 were brothers and came from an uncontrolled inbreeding problem. The rescue we got them from gave this history: A friend of theirs worked in a pet shop. One day someone walked into the glass vestibule (between the two sets of doors leading into the store) and put down a big cardboard box and hurried away. Inside the box were about 20 degus of various ages. All of the females were pregnant. By the time all the babies were born, they ended up with well over 60 degus. My three were the last ones born (I know this because I had asked them for the youngest ones they had, which were the three they gave me, who were just coming up on 2 years old.) So, I know that those three were definitely inbred, most likely by several generations (brother-sister-father-daughter-mother-son, who knows!). And they were visibly smaller than my first two.

And one had teeth problems, one just passed away one night with no warning and not at a very old age, the last one lived a normal lifespan.

So, if the breeding or source of the degus is known, it might be an interesting factor as well.

[hpdegus]

Ok, update on the other groups!

Age: Rescues and Mauraders are both just over two years old.

Average weight: About 250s for the Mauraders, though this varies by the goo. The rescues breakdown at about 205/215/230g each.

Color: Both groups are agouti.

Length: Mauraders are about 10.5in total. Rescues are closer to just under 10in.

Location: US. But taking into account what Winic said, here are some more details. The Mauraders and Pups came from the same lady, who rescued pregnant moms in the Connecticut area. I took them on when they were young. The Rescues were from a horrible situation in NY, I'm assuming they were purchased from a pet shop, but who knows. They also have a diabetes, which could be previous diet, genetic predisposition, or a combination of the two.

[moletteuk]

We've covered some of this before in the morphology survey although I don't think we specifically covered length deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17165/degu-morphology-survey

How are you defining length? Is it the length following the profile of the degu with a flexible tape measure or string from nose to bum, or is it the horizontal length in a relaxed standing position with 4 feet on the ground?

[hpdegus]

Thanks for the link to that survey Molette! Theres a ton of info in there.

I had the ruler on the ground since that was easier to measure by myself. That's a good point though, should make sure that's standardized.

[deguconvert]

When I "measured" my degus . . . they were standing on the palm of my hand, in a relaxed position. So, not stretched out, but not curved in either.

[savvy]

Jan 4, 2020 19:22:22 GMT deguconvert said:

When I "measured" my degus . . . they were standing on the palm of my hand, in a relaxed position. So, not stretched out, but not curved in either.

I think relaxed gives a better indication of true body length,  either that or you need to measure from nose to base of tail, going along the line of their back - not sure many degus will put up with that, lol.

[hpdegus]

So mine were definitely relaxed with no curved backs. I kind of want to try to see if they'll put up with a string down their backs if the treat is good enough!

[moletteuk]

Haha good luck with that.

[bouncy]

I'm not sure I could EVER get an accurate body length! Sometimes I look at Sausage and he's one length. Half an hour later, he's effectively doubled his body length!