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Post by kat1elb on Feb 27, 2010 17:18:42 GMT
Im thinking of getting another degu for my 3 boys and was looking at the different colours. I like the patched white and brown degus but can't find them anywhere? does anyone know how to get hold of them in the UK preferably northwest? thanks, katie
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Post by emz on Feb 27, 2010 20:42:09 GMT
Although patched degus are becoming more common in Germany and places like that I only know of one UK source that's ever really mentioned a lot about it and that's degutopia. I am not sure if they sell patched or if they just sell agouti you would have to contact them. They have quite a long waiting list though. I know it's kinda nice to have a rarer colour degu other than agouti but I would just look about for any fella that needed adopting instead of having more bred into the system. It is entirely up to you. In the north west I have only ever seen 2 blue degus at a pets at home and the rest have always been agouti. In fact, finding degus full stop is pretty hard in the north west so you might struggle to find rarer colours. You may get lucky though!
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Post by kat1elb on Feb 27, 2010 20:50:27 GMT
yeah i know i should adopt, i adopted my 3, i just struggle to tell the difference between mine as it is! may look into a blue one but just loved the look of the patched. not sure im even going to disrupt my trio yet, was just a thought... thanks! x
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Post by emz on Feb 27, 2010 21:43:30 GMT
It's ok I wasn't having a go or anything sorry if it seemed like I was. I more meant instead of having a patched goo bred at degutopia if they do that it'd be better to look about for them but I feel the chance is extremely small. I know how hard it is to tell goos apart but after a long time you can. My two I can tell by their personalities now. I guess with 3 it might be harder lol. You have a much higher chance of finding a blue goo to adopt than a patched. I have never seen one about the northwest (am in merseyside). I found my degus to adopt over the pre-loved website you might have some luck there or on other online sites. Check about the adoption board here also lots of people end up with accidental litters that need re-homing.
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Post by smux on May 9, 2010 12:30:49 GMT
Although patched degus are becoming more common in Germany and places like that I only know of one UK source that's ever really mentioned a lot about it and that's degutopia. I'm pretty sure degutopia has nothing to do with selling or breeding any form of degu except brown (I didn't even know they bred degus, though, I might be wrong). www.degutopia.co.uk/degucolours.htm discusses the different colours of degu and it says at the top: "Before we get started, it should be pointed out that breeding degus for their coat colour is not always a good idea, and should always come second to breeding degus for their health. Many colour variations are caused by a recessive gene, meaning the degus have a history of being directly inbred to produce the colour strain. This means that the health of these coloured degus often suffers, and many have a greatly reduced lifespan as compared to agouti varieties." A breeder that knows the risks and prefers to look after the degu's health over their looks...surely they wouldn't breed inbred pups and reduce their potential lifespan?
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Post by DegutasticJen on May 9, 2010 18:37:43 GMT
Just checked this out, and Degutopia, definately breeds and sells degus as there is a waiting list.
Im not sure what colours they breed, but they definately do breed them.
I have seen only one patched Degu before and that is currently at my local pets @ home store up for adoption, As many know on here, I am unable to currently take any more however it was hard to leave the shop leaving the lil fella on his own.
But at the moment I currently have 4 degu cages in my house, due to introductions and having male and females.
I have recently adopted a degu on here who is a dark grey colour, she has some patches of the normal brown on her but are very dark. I think she looks goregous, Im currently introducing her with my females, However as Degutopia suggests its not a good idea to complete introductions with pregnant females, and I could possibly have 3 pregnant females, and I dont want to cause any stress to any of the degus, However they all do have fun running around together in our run :-), and shes sitting right next to them so she gets a lot of interaction with other degus, the same with my male which im also introducing...its all going on in my house :-) lol Deguland!! haha
However my main point is, I understand the attraction with different colour degus, the ones I have seen/own are just gorgeous! :-)
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Post by smux on May 9, 2010 18:50:15 GMT
Actually, after posting, I remembered that there was a waiting list on degutopia, but the point of the matter was that they wouldn't breed anything but brown degus.
I agree that certain coloured degus are beautiful, I personally love the white ones (they're like big mice) and the blue ones do look unique, but as I pointed out it's a choice between longevity of life & health and aesthetics...and if people want aesthetics over health, get a bloody poodle, you'll probably mess up trying to look after a degu :-)
(different if you adopt them, of course, rather than getting them bred for you...but someone somewhere had done so beforehand)
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Post by DegutasticJen on May 9, 2010 18:56:29 GMT
I understand, Myself personaly I would never breed from them, As i have heard that other than the norm agouti, blues and other colours can have more health issues and live a much shorter life, some have some abnormalities and all sorts, again that is just from what I have read on the net.
Because I adopted one, I was very interested in the background, but as I said she has brown agouti patches, so what im thinking it that her mum was a dark colour and her dad was agouti, could be wrong.
But she is gorgeous non the less, but yes because of what I have read regarding health issues, I would never breed from her, I dont mean to have bred with my others, complete accident, due to the place where I got them from promised me they were all girls, obviously not as we had our first litter in march, so one male 3 females, bound to all be pregnant, so possibly another two pregnant ladies, they have been seperated but im sure he would have impregnanted more than just one of my ladies? lol
But I am hoping to keep all the babies myself depending how many they all have, my first litter there was only two that made it, she had 3 however one sadly passed away after day 1, so we will wait and see how many the other ladies have and go from there. I have made two large wooden cages in preperation. :-)
Sorry gone completely off the point. But yes I see what you are saying due to health issues.
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Post by deguconvert on May 9, 2010 21:52:50 GMT
The blue, sand, and black degus are rare and genetically weaker that DO come with health issues. However, the patched degus have dominant genes for their colors, just like the agouti do, and it is recognised to be as healthy and "normal" as the agouti. If you come across a degu that has the patched colouring, you have no reason to fear for it's future health, and it is NOT a product of inbreeding.
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Post by DegutasticJen on May 9, 2010 22:31:56 GMT
Ah thank you convert, my patched degu, which I think would be classed as patched is very healthty was just worried for the future after a lot of what I've read on other sites but thank you for clearing that up :-)
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