Degu Or Rat

[Kevlin569]

Have kept hamsters before and would like to keep similar type animal, was looking at degu or rats, which is the easiest to tame and keep, also how many should be kept together, planning to get a large3 tier cage which is 150cm tall, thanks in advance for your answers.

[Buenchico]

Compare and contrast:
http://www.bluecross.org.uk/2150-2796/caring-for-your-rat.html
and
http://www.bluecross.org.uk/86685-86682/caring-for-your-degu.html

While (unlike many people) I think that wild rats are fantastic, beautiful creatures, my reading of all that lot suggests that degus might make better pets, largely because of this sentence from my first link:
"Rats need at least an hour’s playtime outside their cage every day, but you must first make the room safe and rat-proof".
(If you've got central heating however, note that degus MUST live at below 20C, so you'd need to find a cool room to put their cage in).

[IggyB]

No knowledge of degus but have had pet rats; they are wonderful, intelligent, loving little creatures. They can be trained and are a joy to watch, I think one of the things I liked about them was how happy they were, loved to have a play and a run around but were also happy to put themselves back in their cage which they def saw as home (have had hamsters before and never got the impression they wanted back in the cage). I had two rats then four, group of them is great as they interact together. Get them hammocks for the cage, they love em!

[DaisyNonna]

Would you like to be kept in a cage and tamed?

[Ratty2E]

Although I have no experience of degus I have had many rats over the last 20 years. They are IMO the rodent equivalent of a dog they are very friendly and love human interaction. As iggy says they are very intelligent and will learn to come when called and they love to play 'games' with their human. Rats must be kept in same sex pairs as a minimum (I've had up to 7 housed together) the cage must be as big as you can possibly accommodate. Girls tend to stay more active and will use the height of a cage boys will get lazy as they mature and a lower level large footprint cage would suit them better. Make sure the bars of the cage are narrow as baby rats will get through anything more than around 1 cm spacing, but never keep them in a tank. Whichever you go for please make sure you buy from a reputable seller, a decent breeder will have handled them from birth and will have tried to breed only healthy animals. Good luck and continue with your research you can never know too much about your new friends.

[mushroom25]

had degus some years ago; theyre lovely creatures, but can be difficult - they are particularly intolerant to sugar so you have to be a bit careful with food. they are also incredibly destructive, they cannot be housed in plastic or wooden enclosures as they will chew their way out. their urine is very strong (and they make lots of it), this can be an issue of the enclosure is open, ie mesh or bars.

I'd pick gerbils every time.......

[Arksided]

My Brother and SIL have Six Degu's and it is a three tier cage that they have them in, I think the sand bath everyday is unnecessary (I have often looked after them when they're on holiday, and often like today... overtime they have a Dog that needs attention) The cage used to be home for Six Rats and as much as I liked the Rats I prefer the Degu's not quite as friendly as the Rats but certainly cuter... if you look past that they look like they smoke sixty a day (Yellow Teeth). Although not Human friendly they don't mind you putting plenty of straw in and food treats scattered around in their home.