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Post by degualot on Dec 10, 2011 16:31:41 GMT
debdegu, that's something I also wanted to include, that's a great idea. Although I want people to know where Degu's come from, what they are like in the wild, I also want information about what they are like as pet's, what it takes to look after them. That kind of thing, I could even mention things such as how Degu's are housed and of course Mention CARA. These are just a few of things that will be covered.
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Post by davx on Dec 10, 2011 19:37:00 GMT
In my opinion it would be useful to set focal points. Even the field "degus as pets" is a huge topic for many hours film. And it is relatively easy to produce such films, especially here in Germany it is not uncommon that several broadcast companies introduce degus in their pet broadcasts. Often it is not very comprehensive, but the most important facts are compressed.
Thus for me and I think also for many tv viewer, it might be more interesting to focus on wildlife of degus combined either with information of current researches and projects or eventually it might be also interesting to tell a story of a degu family through the year, how they mate, how the offspring emerge, how the young grow and how they migrate etc.
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 11, 2011 19:36:37 GMT
I think it would be interesting to contrast some of the differences between the wild and pet degus that have come about as a result of domestication. One such being the huge change in the female cycle and degu mating habits.
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Post by fred on Dec 12, 2011 22:14:03 GMT
It may be worthwhile to try to find out whether there is a zoo or animal park in the UK or Europe where a large colony is kept under reasonably natural conditions. Just in case you don't get enough support to spend a year in Chile As far as degus as pets are concerned, I would find it important not to paint too rosy a picture, but rather a balanced one. Taking on degus can be a huge commitment and I would suspect that most new degu owners don't know what they may be in for. For example, even very experienced owners aren't immune from fighting degus or recurring teeth problems. To me it would seem a shame if a too successful documentary resulted in an overflow in rescues some time down the line.
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Post by davx on Dec 12, 2011 23:44:18 GMT
I assume that it is more likely to find a degu owner perhaps in the Netherlands or in Germany, keeping a bigger colony under semi-natural conditions. All zoos I visited keeping degus had usual enclosures with common bedding as substrate (but most zoos I visited had no degus).
Good point, but I think this isn't the big problem because I can't imagine that such a film will be a similar blockbuster like "finding nemo", "Rattatouille" or "101 Dalmatians".
In addition I have the impression, that it would be a big difference, if the film deals with degus as pets mainly or predominant with degus in wild and mixing this two fields together perhaps isn't such a good idea, because it is so much different. I say this as documentary fan and not as degu owner... also I know the principle of popular pet documentary soaps. BBC documentary works with awesome pictures, with enormous beautiful pictures, with superlatives and with amazing stories. The intention is a unique experience...
In contrast a typical pet documentary don't focus on all this issues. Mostly it is entertainment, a mixture of feelings and emotions: anger (against heartless pet owners), joy, surprise, fear,... It is more like daily entertainment...
This are the two concepts I know, working well here in the german speaking regions for a broad target group (tv viewers). Beyond this areas I think it might be hard to establish a concept that works comparably well.
But what probably works is to tell a good story about degus, their owner, enriched with useful facts. Perhaps your story about finding out more about degu research here in Europe, how they are kept here and how it differs to their life in wild and let experts also talk about degus as well as laymen and degu owners. Or more close for us, the change in degu keeping, we actually can experience and the view in the degu keeping of owners in different countries around the world. Important for both cases is, that there is a leitmotif and a clear target and the viewer can experience during the film, how this target comes closer. Finally it is like a puzzle, you have to find an order making the big picture complete.
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Post by makeriotsnotdiets on Mar 2, 2012 17:02:01 GMT
amazing idea. sounds like it could be a Degu version of meercat manor on animal planet. I'm in! If you were to go the route of wild to domestic, you would probably have to get hold of some archive footage from the testing centres, from what I have read, that is how they started to come to Europe etc(?) as for the wild, i have friends in a few places of Chile that could look after us (hehe) in exchange for several (actually multiple) bottles of pisco... I'm sure of it just need to save up enough money for the flights and all that pisco
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luna1
Burrowing Degu
Nozzle, my miracle!
Posts: 143
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Post by luna1 on Mar 2, 2012 21:46:45 GMT
Here in the UK, there used to be, a few years ago, wild Degu's in Edinburgh Zoo. Unfortunately through ignorance, the keeper managed to deglove nearly all of their tails as he wasn't educated in how to handle Degu's. The colony of 100 or so was soon moved down to a zoo in the South of England due to their much better Degu experience.
Longleat wildlife park in Somerset Uk, I think have wild Degu's, or they did around a year ago.
I entirely agree with the comment about the commitment involved in keeping Degu's. They are seen alongside other small animals, as an easy option, much like a gerbil, hamster or rabbit. As most experienced people know, this couldn't be further from the truth! The responsibility and commitment involved in keeping these creatures is not for the faint hearted. I am sure that none of us will ever stop learning about them as they are very complex to the uninitiated.
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Post by makeriotsnotdiets on Mar 3, 2012 15:20:52 GMT
this could also be an idea for you, if you don't already know about it. www.kickstarter.comif you have a good enough plan and can offer an adequate gift for each level of investment, then this could be a possibility.
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Post by maddy4moos on Mar 4, 2012 22:53:22 GMT
Sounds great! I look forward to seeing it!!!
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Post by littlebrooksy on Sept 6, 2015 14:43:09 GMT
Hey all
this is a real long shot but I have a 10 year old daughter who is saving to buy herself some Degus and being Homeschooled has decided to research them first this week is is hoping to find out what wild degus are like and I am struggling to find footage of them wild. Did anyone manage to get them out in the wild and if they did would they be willing to share their footage for my daughter?
thanks all
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 6, 2015 19:42:47 GMT
I don't have any memory of anything being found or done. We have a member, Davx, that has done a lot of travel and has explored many aspects of the lives of degus, both in the wild and in domesticated situations. Davx has given us much excellent information, and I will see if I can reach him. He is a very busy man, and we don't see him much these days. The amount of any formal study done on wild degus, however, is next to nothing, and as you have discovered, it is very hard to find.
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Post by degumomofmany on Sept 7, 2015 6:10:10 GMT
degualot, anything happen with your documentary? Just a note that you might mention the differences between have degus as pets in the UK/Europe vs. the USA. They are illegal in many states here.
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 9, 2015 12:51:52 GMT
There has been some field research in Chile, but I think it was to do with stress and not necessarily in the best interests of the degus, but there were some good habitat pics and descriptions, I think this is is: degustress.blogspot.co.uk/
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Post by littlebrooksy on Sept 9, 2015 18:12:34 GMT
Thanks we have found it next to impossible most info tend to come for experimental research into depression it would appear that they use degus in these studies! I have found it really hard and I feel knowing how animals behave in the wild is important to understanding an animal. I have reached out to a friend of a friend who lives there and asked if they knew of any and they said no but they have seen quiet a few so would try and get some snipits for me but not really knowing the person I don't want to nag or pester them. Hopefully as they are becoming more popular pet choices some will start to show up if not we might just have to save the penny's for a family trip to chille and let jess make her own ?
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