Any degu owners?

A friend of mine is taking on quite a challenge. She just got a chinchilla and suddenly is taking over another chinchilla and NINE degu babies because another friend has to get rid of them. She said my hubby and I could have one of the degus (I'm going to see if she'll give us 2, or if I can buy another off her, since they're social critters). I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with them, what kind of pets they made, etc. From what I've read they're very friendly if handled. I'm not a big fan of rodents because I hate getting bitten, but these guys seem so cute!

Also, I wanted to make a setup for them, but I'm not exactly the world's greatest handywoman. Would using 2x4s as the frame be a bad idea, like they'll be chewing on and wrecking the enclosure? I was thinking about using chicken wire or something similar for the walls (of course with a solid bottom). Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Degus are pretty neat. Thier housing is like a rats housing should be. However, I think they chew more than rats even, so a wooden enclosure would really not be a good idea.

Here are some links for ya:
http://users.ipa.net/~loane/degucare.html
http://www.repsnpets.co.uk/degucare.html

They're entertaining little things. They can be very friendly. My cousin has two, and she strung up ropes across the cage like a jungle gym, and they jump and climb all the time (being chilean squirrels after all)

They make great feeders for picky ball pythons! ;)

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

They make great feeders for picky ball pythons! ;)

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Woooo...daring are we? Taste like chicken? :oops:

Lucky for the little furballs, my guy ain't picky. :)