Getting Degus from Pets at Home?

[GoosofCamelot]

So, Im thinking of getting 2 or 3 degus from Pets at Home, but I'm just a little anxious. I have heard bad things about pets at home in the past, and people say they inbreed ALL of their animals.

Has anyone got their degus from Pets at Home?

I just want mine to live as long as possible, and be healthy. I live in Cornwall (UK) and I've looked around for Degus for sale from others places but I can't find anywhere. Most of them seem to be people breeding their degus.

Is Pets at Home a good idea?

[petmadness]

I have two from pets at home and they're fine x

[swiffermuis]

Mine are from Pet At Home as well but I definitely don't promote them. Their staff is incompetent and their animals are often ill (I'm not just talking about the degus). I know there are some staff who know the basics but that definitely doesn't come from their training. Unfortunately I found this all out when I already bought my two first ones. The other two are rescues.

I do recommend to wait a bit longer and see what comes in. There are lots of degus in shelters and being offered online on Gumtree or pets4homes.co.uk, or call a couple of shelters near you. They don't tend to put every animal on the website or they might have some new ones in.

[moletteuk]

I haven't noticed that PAH have shorter lives, but we do get cases of sick animals being sold, and degus being mis-sexed and also the vet care they offer in some shops is not great. You could visit the shop several times and see what state all the animals are in, there can be big differences between shops.

I do understand your options may be limited in Cornwall though. Have you checked for rescues near you? here's a list deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15497/small-animal-rescue-centres-mainly

After that, I think you need to ask lots of questions and use your gut instinct. Private home breeders can be just as bad as pet shops. Have you any decent independant pet shops that could be an option?

[saddlers]

Quite a few of mine came from P@H and from varying experiences, I think it can depend massively on the store itself.

[klbishop]

2 girl degus turned out to be boys, then my boy bee died of a stroke at one.
I still look at it as its better to take degus away from the wrong conditions at p@ h even tho u r buying from a store that will deliberating breed more. My youngest is a rescue. I am seriously considering adopting 4 from p@h as I'm sick of seeing them needing a dust bath in a tiny thickets cage.....

[redheaddegu]

Whereabouts in Cornwall are you? I'm Plymouth, and the way things are going may need to rehome 2 of my girls. I have 4, but 2 of the girls have fallen out for a second time, so I'm considering splitting them permenantly. There are a couple of other places around Plymouth that do have degus, but it depends how close you are.

[alyvb]

I have 3 boys who are 3 but i have to get rid due to landlords new wife, where abouts in cornwall are you?