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Post by davx on Oct 30, 2011 1:42:59 GMT
Hello,
I have a simple question, I'd like to ask you:
How popular are degus in your country?
Here in Switzerland they are quite common, but still not well known. Also other pets outperform them significantly, in particular hamsters, mice or even rats and most popular pets are cavies and rabbits.
I can't estimate the abundance in zoo shops, because I use only few of them, but my coarse impression, only bigger shops have them, if even and if there are several shops at the same location, one shop has perhaps some, the others not.
Apropos animal shelters I have a better overview. There are about 3-5 shelters of about 20 having degus. But a minority of them even have only cats and dogs.
In conclusion degus here in Switzerland are not hard to find, but you have to search them of course and they are regarded as animals with pretty high requirements. Most new pet owners prefer smaller animals like mice or hamsters. Cavies and rabbits unfortunately are regarded as pets for small children and often as a kind of living toy too.
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Post by NightwishRaven999 on Oct 30, 2011 5:13:00 GMT
I cannot speak for the whole country, but here degus (todons) have been gaining in popularity. Most people who are knowledgable about small animals and rodents are mildy familiar with degus. They are not uncommon in pet shops and are usually seen housed in square shaped terrariums filled with mopani wood and wood shavings.
They go by the name Octodon or Dègue du Chili, but whereas in anglophone areas they are called "goos", here they are called "todons".
My two younger degus have been adopted, but they are still rare in shelters.
I am afraid Cavies and Rabbits are viewed the same way here...
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Post by amie on Oct 30, 2011 5:39:04 GMT
If I tell people I have pet degus, most people reply "what is a 'degus'.."
I meet the odd person who knows what a degu is, but I've found they're still very unknown in England. The people I've met who know what a degu is, they *think* they know about them, but actually haven't got a clue about their care!
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Post by nindann on Oct 30, 2011 10:18:18 GMT
Yeah, I'm in the UK as well and even though they have degus in most pet shops that sell rodents not many people seem to know what they are.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2011 10:43:15 GMT
They are still somewhat rare in Norway. You can see the occasional degus up for adoption (private) on the web, and a few petshops can get them , but they usually have to order them from Sweden. It looks to me as though most degus that are up for adoption live in too small cages (think P@H type cage), and most cages advertised for degus is also way too small, especially the ones in the petshops. Everyone I've met have had no clue what a degu is, and there is no degu organization, club or forum. Information is very scarce, but hopefully I can help a little there with my future site  |
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Post by nuttz on Oct 30, 2011 10:48:11 GMT
here is spain they are not common atal.. i first ever saw a degu back in october last year, where in a small, smelly, dirty pet shop they had a cage jam packed full of them.. the pet shop didnt even know what they were and sold them to be as chipmunks, who was i to know any better? i went home with a little chipmunk and called him chips...lol soon after reading and flicking through tons of web pages i realized that he didnt look nor act like a chipmunk atal  i found a great chipmunk forum (much like this forum) and asked lots of questions, explaining what mine looked like etc.. within an hour of posting some nice man told me that what i had was a "degu" lol i then went on to research goos and found this fab site, it wasnt long before i learnt that degus cant be alone and need a companion. with-in a week i had chips a friend, his little brother chocs (we sadly lost chips last june due to a fight  ). when we lost chips, i went out and searched everywhere i could possibly think of to find chocs a friend, thats where i found stumpy, bless him, he was on his own and still obviously in that horrible pet shop since the october before, possibly longer? he hadnt be sold and he was in a desperate state, no toys in the cage, no sign of a food dish and the water was dirty! even the pet shop sold me him for half price, they obviously wanted rid of him i honestly believe that if it was a few more weeks, stumpy would of died there! he was lifeless, so sad!!! after getting stumpy i was still in the same position, i really didnt want to think about introductions to chocs, i had to deal with one big fight leading to chips death, i certainly didnt want to face another so.. went on the search for a little girl.. eventually we found one "yay" and she and chocs have been in love ever since! theyve just had babies, this was my plan for numerous different reasons, mainly because degus are so rare out here, i didnt want to be in the same situation as before, searching for degus that are almost non existed out here! so now im very happy and contented, i will in a couple of weeks have three seperate cages, each with a happy little degu family living inside ;D sorry about me rambling on, i do get carried away sometimes, this forum is the only place i ever get to talk about my degus! lol well as i was trying to say, it seems nobody out here knows what a degu is, everybody i speak to just shrugs their shoulders when i tell them ive got degus, they dont understand why im so wrapped up in them, to me they are the best little furries you can get! i guess, being rare is good as that means no too much breeding is going on, however...i doubt that it will remain like this forever!!! ps.................just want to state, that although i did breed once, i didnt breed to make money, i did it because i wanted all the babies, i was in a position that i really didnt want to be in, i shall be keeping all of the babies and i will NEVER, EVER breed again |
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Post by nuttz on Oct 30, 2011 10:57:57 GMT
and just one more thing in regards to the pet shops etc out here.. i have not ever found one shop or pet supply shop that sells food for degus.. this is the hardest part of caring for my goos, its almost impossible! i really wish the shops would wise up! one shop in the city i asked for food for a degu and the mans response was, "for what?" i found a book about degus on the shelf of that shop and handed it to the man, i told him to have a read.. a couple of weeks later i went back into that shop and asked the same question about food suitable for degus.......... again he knew nothing, told me he had never heard of them... i reminded him that i had given him the book to read, the book that his shop sells, he was obviously too ignorant to read it!!! i told him i shall never be coming back to his shop again, that was almost a year ago now, and have never been in there since!! disgusting!!!  |
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Post by NightwishRaven999 on Oct 31, 2011 2:56:33 GMT
@ nuttz
They do indeed sound scarce in Spain !
Hopefully they will gain a bit of popularity in the next few years...atleast enough for shops to sell appropriate foods and products.
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Post by fred on Oct 31, 2011 12:34:47 GMT
I don't have any numbers obviously, but in Scotland degus seem far less popular than in England. The level of ignorance about them is probably about the same |
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Post by malteser60 on Oct 31, 2011 17:31:00 GMT
The only people I know that have heard about degus are the ecologists at work, and even some of them don't know what a degu is.
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ava
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 215
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Post by ava on Oct 31, 2011 18:07:59 GMT
I haven't met anyone who knows what Degus are, but once explained people suggest I stick them in a plastic ball.  |
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Post by davx on Oct 31, 2011 22:25:54 GMT
Here degus are pretty well known. I assume about 70% have already heard the name or even picture in journals, tv etc.
But some people think that Degu is a sort of lizzard or gecko and others have no idea.
There was in fact a change in the last 10 years. When I started in 1999, only a small minority knew what a degu is. Also journals and tv etc. ignored degus almost entirely.
@malteser
You are biologist?
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Post by malteser60 on Oct 31, 2011 23:42:15 GMT
@malteser You are biologist? Yes, I'm a marine biologist although I do help out the terrestrial ecologists with newt and bat surveys whenever I have the time. |
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madhoose
Foraging Degu
Pumpkin & Pipsqueak...
Posts: 85
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Post by madhoose on Nov 2, 2011 14:31:47 GMT
Nope not very popular here at all. In fact I have only met one degu owner before and that was the person i adopted mine from... They had bought them from p&h (the only pet shop i have ever seen them in) for their two year old son, they were told they would be great pets for him as they don't bite ( true they don't or very seldom do).. After six weeks of owning them and two tails later (that's how they caught them when they jumped out of their sons hands ) they felt they were not as rewarding as they had first thought and realized that they were not small animal people... When i tell people i am the proud owner of degus.. i get whatoos you've got whatoos..!! With a blank expression on their faces.. The hardest part i find is trying to describe what they are. I think they look a bit like chipmunks when they are up on their back legs .. Mostly i describe them as similar to rats (being a rat owner for years before the goos stole my heart) but far smarter and having the most wonderful personalities not to mention they don't stink.. ;D i know i'm not doing them justice in my description as the minute you mention rats the shutters go down... How does everybody else describe them to those who are clueless...  |
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 2, 2011 14:42:25 GMT
LOL! Yes, I do describe them to the clueless as well. Occasionally I am shocked to meet someone that knows a little something about degus, but most just don't. I always try to start off first as saying they are related to Chinchillas, but some of my friends feel they look more like rats. That seems to somewhat diminish the "rat" comparison. LOL!
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Post by fred on Nov 2, 2011 14:43:10 GMT
How does everybody else describe them to those who are clueless... A lot of the people I know are biologists of some sort. I usually say I have two female specimens of Octodon degus, Octodontidae, Hystricognathi. Nobody going to admit they haven't the faintest what I am talking about ;D I am sure they google ASAP  |
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Post by nuttz on Nov 2, 2011 15:01:15 GMT
lol fred, if only i knew how to pronounce what you said... i also describe mine as being like a chinchilla, i think that if i said rat some peoples hairs would stand on end...lol i do sometimes explain that they look a little like rats (but without letting them get a word in, continue) BUT they are NOT like rats, and DONT smell..........lol they really dont get the cuteness of them though, the reply is normally, "oh, right" and on to another subject lol |
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Post by Kins on Nov 2, 2011 15:32:02 GMT
I tend to describe them as a cross between a chinchilla and a gerbil. Not sure how accurate that is but every one knows what a chin is and what a gerbil is. Or sometimes I just say they are kind of like a big gerbil. Most people who I talk to them about now have met my boys, so know exactly what they are.
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Post by malteser60 on Nov 2, 2011 20:07:46 GMT
I normally say they're chilean ground squirrels, and move like squirrels but have a gerbil tail and chinchilla ears, and the face is a bit chinchilla-like, but more squashed in.
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 3, 2011 0:39:14 GMT
LOL @ Malteser!! The contorted picture changes my mind was going through as I added and changed each animal of the description, ending off with a firm thumb on the nose to push it in . . . it didn't look very degu"ish" when I was done making it. ROTFL!!
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My little bundles of energy!!
i found a great chipmunk forum (much like this forum) and asked lots of questions, explaining what mine looked like etc.. within an hour of posting some nice man told me that what i had was a "degu" lol
).
