# degus vs rats



## Flissy (Jul 27, 2009)

Sorry to be noobish as I don't know anything about either but I was just wondering out of curiosity are degus similar to keep to rats? I like how rats are more intelligent than hamsters and I;d really like a pet that could sit on your shoulder without falling off and dying like Sausage would!!! I wondered if degus are like that as well or if they are more like chinchillas?


----------



## Flissy (Jul 27, 2009)

Sorry if that didn't make much sense I wrote it in a hurry hahaha


----------



## davecove (Aug 16, 2009)

Degus and chichillas are very similar and both belong to the South American cavimorph family (guinea pigs and their extended kin).

They are similar to keep as rats with a few exceptions:
1) don't feed them anything sweet. They are prone to diabetes and sweets will shorten their life a lot. Feed them chinchilla chow.
2) Do not pick them up by their tails, they have fragile tails compared to a rat.
3) They are diurnal, so they will be active during the day and will want to sleep at night.

Dave
degu-hut.com


----------



## Flissy (Jul 27, 2009)

davecove said:


> Degus and chichillas are very similar and both belong to the South American cavimorph family (guinea pigs and their extended kin).
> 
> They are similar to keep as rats with a few exceptions:
> 1) don't feed them anything sweet. They are prone to diabetes and sweets will shorten their life a lot. Feed them chinchilla chow.
> ...


thanks for your reply, i had a feeling they were related to chinchillas but wasnt sure!


----------



## Marcia (Mar 10, 2009)

You can also feed them guinea pig food. They need additional vitamin C 
Pets at home do a complete degu food as well.


----------



## Paws&Claws (Aug 29, 2009)

degus are great!  mine talk to me hehehe well..... they squeek hehe x


----------



## Midnight (Jan 17, 2009)

3 of mine are hand tame :thumbup1: yes they do sit on your shoulder when they are used to you and gained your trust its taken time with mine as they are rescues  i've had rats before to but i do think personally rats are more intelligent of the two :thumbup: ssshhhhsssssssssss don't tell my Charlie lol :smilewinkgrin: x


----------



## Marcia (Mar 10, 2009)

Degus are more vocal :thumbup1:


----------



## Flissy (Jul 27, 2009)

I love the noises they make 

So are they better climbers than hamsters? Because if I put Sausage on my lap/a chair he will just run to the edge and fall off hahahahahahaha it would be nice to have a pet that didn't do that


----------



## davecove (Aug 16, 2009)

They are much more surefooted than a hamster... more like a rat, but bouncy like a chinchilla... like a bouncy rat...

And don't forget to get them a running wheel... degus looooove wheels... Mine will pile 2 or 3 in at a time and all try to run. As long as they all point the same way, it works... otherwise it works like a legislature...

Dave
degu-hut.com


----------



## Flissy (Jul 27, 2009)

davecove said:


> They are much more surefooted than a hamster... more like a rat, but bouncy like a chinchilla... like a bouncy rat...
> 
> And don't forget to get them a running wheel... degus looooove wheels... Mine will pile 2 or 3 in at a time and all try to run. As long as they all point the same way, it works... otherwise it works like a legislature...
> 
> ...


hahahaha like a bouncy rat  but i know what you mean! I really want to get some now.... maybe next year when ive finished uni


----------

