degu injections

[pedro2010]

Hi, I'm new to the site and I'm planning on buying a pair of blue baby Degus. I have been researching the past week about caring for Degus on the internet but haven't found any information as to whether they need jabs to prevent the transmission of diseases between each other and humans. Just wondered whether this is an issue or not?

thanks for any input

[smux]

If it is, it's not something I've come across...however, are you aware of the inherent health issues from non-agouti (agouti's the normal colour, brown) degus because of the method by which fur colour is achieved?

[pedro2010]

I had no idea there would be a difference between Agouti and non Agouti in terms of health problems. Thanks for the info I'll have to look into this. Do you think its better to own brown Degus in terms of overall health? ty.

[smux]

It's really a judgement call you'd have to make. Agouti degus are "proper" while non-agouti get their colour from genetic mutations forced through inbreeding... www.degutopia.co.uk/degucolours.htm has all the info you should need.

I have to admit that blue degus are cute looking, but once you have owned a degu for a length of time their coat colour will be of no importance to you regarding how cute you think they are as everything else wins through :-)

I guess it would be best for you to think about WHY you would want a blue over a brown and decide if it's worth it compared to the downsides to having a blue degu (shorter lifespan, health issues, et al)