Ive got a freaking zoo.............

[rattler]

i got home last night and checked on my chins to make sure they were doing fine. gave them a few raisins, scratch behind their ears.....my usual after work wind down routine. well the degus in the cage above the chins were a squeaking and a chirping at me. generally the only time they are talkative is early in the morning. they sit and chat with me while i take care of the chins as they are seconnd in line to be fed. so they sit and chat with me while they wait for their food but thats about the only time they make a sound. so i investigate their cage thinking maybe a mouse has gotten in and was raiding their food dish. no mouse but there were 5 lil baby degus squirming around. less than a day old and were fully fuzzy and had their eyes open and were trying to hop around. so now ive got 5 more critters and a slight problem. degus dont make very good pets. they dont care to be held really. i find them interesting and enjoy watching them as they can be quite comical. the Montana fish and game would prefer i didnt have them as they can be a pest in their native Chile and are more than adiquatly addapted to our climate(i cant even bring a chinchilla into the state without a permit now). however there is nothing official on the books about them so they havent done anything. so im not sure what to do with the babys once they are old enough to be taken away from mom.

 

[aprilh]

Please don't even think of letting them loose here. Thank you. aprilh

 

[Ozzy]

I know rattler is smarter than that. I know him well enough to know that never even crossed his mind.

I have a zoo here too. Right now the populations is down a little. I only have 12 critters running around.

 

[rattler]

lol no i would never turn them loose. just not sure what to do with them. dont think its much of a good idea to sell them of as pets like hamsters and such cause they arent going to make a very good pet for some kid. i may talk with a couple of the petshops within a few hours drive and see if they are interested. they are really neat critters to watch but they really arent "pet" material

 

[aprilh]

What is a degu?  What do they look like? and what about them makes you want to have them, if they don't make good pets? Except for the visual, of course! Aprilh

 

[prizmbatch]

yeah, what is a degu? i have 13 critters around my house. if that's what you want to call them. 6 birds, 2 spiders, a scorpion, a ribbon snake, 2 ball pythons and afew fish

 

[rattler]

degu? looks kinda like a large gerbil with a chinchillas nose? its a close cousin to the chinchillas. they are diabetic and cant have fruits and sweets.