Degu & Chinchilla

[warah]

Hi all,
Looking for any advice you can all give. My friend has offered to take in Dipstick (Degu) as a companion for her Theo (Chinchilla) would this mix work? They are both male

Thanks
Sarah

[deguconvert]

Well, it is not something that is advised or outright encouraged. There are those who have degus and chins together, and they get on OK. However degus and chins have different waking and sleeping patterns, and they eat a very different diet, chins being allowed sugar and fruits, which degus as you know can not. The degu may be fine with the arrangement, but it can be very hard on the chin, as degus are diurnal and will tend to keep a chin up during the day when they are naturally designed to sleep. This can make for a grumpy chin, and can raise their stress levels, which can in turn affect their overall health. When it comes down to it, a chin will be happier with another chin, just as a degu will be happier with another degu. Yet . . . animals have been known to form strangely tight bonds with animals well outside their species, a hippo and a turtle, a cheetah and an antelope calf, horse and goat, ape and cat. I don't think that kind of bond can be anticipated though, or fostered. They are kind of a "love at first sight" thing. Personally, I wouldn't encourage it, but when it comes down to it, it is really up to you and your friend, and both of you knowing your lovely furries well enough to have an idea if it would work.

[iamlina]

I have both chinchillas and Degus but I would never put them together. Their moods are totally different, and chins can get really moody if woken up. Its 7.25am here and the girls (degus) are up, but the boys (chins) have just gone to sleep. Our girls don't really have a sleep pattern as such lol. Chins can also be pretty aggressive, and I WOULD NOT like to see a fight with chin v degu. So yeah...I wouldn't recommend it =] but again, it's up to you what you do.

x

[warah]

Thanks for this info gals I was just looking for a solution to a problem, was YET AGAIN wrongly informed by staff at PETS @ HOME who advised me that this mix could work, this coming from the same store that questioned why I was so picky over feed, they said degus could eat fruit, nuts & seeds!!
XXX

[smux]

A well worded letter to their head office should be the first thing on your mind for Monday morning :-)

Also helps to get the names of anyone you speak to, makes any complaint much more specific about where (who) their problems are so they can deal with them.