training?

[winter]

Ok, I have never had a degu or known anyone who has... and since I have been tooling around this site I thought I'd ask a few questions to find out a little about them.

I came across a few sites that described them as being like guinea pigs, rabbits, chinchillas,and rats. Now, these animals make VERY different kinds of pets. So... what kind are they most like?

Can they be litter trained/house trained/trained to do anything?

Just some questions from someone totally ignorant to the species. :)

[Phoebe67]

They are basically wild animals. They can´t be litter trained, they are avid chewers and usually don´t like tobe petted. They like human interaction though, but need tobe in the company of their own species.
They talk a lot, if they are happy they sound like baby birds.
www.degus.org is a good site to get info about them .

[winter]

Thanks! The information I found on the web was very confusing and not very consistant, so I'm glad I got an informed opinion on here. :)

[Phoebe67]

Yes, it is quite difficult to get good information. I had to learn the hard way too. I rescued several degus beginning of this year and found a great degu forum in Germany with lots of experienced people.

It makes me sad to see the degus end up in shelters or being returned to pet stores because people have wrong expectations of them. They are adorable but the have high demands in housing and food. Are you thinking of getting a few? (one degu is no degu :) )

[winter]

I'll admit, it crossed my mind. :) I've seen so many of them being abandoned (though I have to admit, I've never seen one in RL), that I decided to see what they are like and what they need. I really don't have the space for more pets right now, but I may in a few years, so I thought I'd ask a few questions.

If I ever decide to adopt a few, I'll make sure to get a pair. I'd hate to have sad or lonely pets!

[pet3100]

I read some info somewhere and the writer wrote that she always rung a little bell before feeding time for 20-30 seconds. I have been doing this with my 2 degu and now when I ring the bell there is definatley some interest from them.
The association of the bell and something nice will hopefully help their training when I start letting them out. If I need to get them back the bell could encourage them to return.
I thought it was worth a try anyway.

[Degutopia]

Hi there, I'm from Degutopia.

Degus are highly intelligent mammals and are very easy to train with the right rewards. The bell-ringing design is a relatively simple Pavlovian training exercise and will be picked up by your degus very quickly. You can even replace the bell with a voice command (at Degutopia, we use the word "Brekkers"- it works so well we have to be careful not to say it if we don't want to be covered in degus!). It's best to start this training before you feed your degus as this is when their motivation will be highest and hence they will learn quicker. A step-by-step guide to this training can be found on Degutopia, along with some other training exercises. You'll find it under the 'Your degu' menu- training.

Chloe