Companionship
Degus are highly social animals, so we do not adopt out degus to live alone. We can assist with bonding for degus being adopted from us to join an existing degu, and support and advice after taking your degus home will always be available, with full rescue back-up provided should any bonds fail.

Degus adopted from us must always be housed with at least one suitable degu companion.

Housing
Degus require a large cage/enclosure and many marketed as suitable simply are not big enough. The absolute minimum cage size we will accept is the Liberta Explorer (or cages of the same size – 93cm w x 63cm l x 123cm h without stand). As degus are big chewers, fully metal cages are best.

For more housing advice visit https://www.tinypawsmcr.org.uk/advice/degus

Diet
Hay should make up the majority of degus’ diets and must always be available. We feed a mixture of meadow hay and timothy hay, with the occasional addition of oat grass hay and readigrass or graze-on (dried grass).

Alongside hay, we feed a daily handful of dried or fresh forage (leaves, herbs, flowers, roots, bark, branches). 

Please read our advice pages for more info on diet: https://www.tinypawsmcr.org.uk/advice/degus

Health
Degus are considered ‘exotic’ animals in the veterinary world and therefore need to be treated by an exotic vet if unwell. Adopters must have access to an exotics-savvy vet and have considered the potential high cost of veterinary fees. 

We monitor all animals in our care carefully for at least 2 weeks prior to adoption, and any concerns will have been checked out by an exotics vet prior to adoption. We can’t guarantee the future health of any animal (no one can!) but we will be open about any previous issues we’re aware of. 

Adoption Fees
Our adoption fees are minimum donations to help towards covering the cost of caring for our rescued animals.

Single degu (to be bonded with adopter’s existing chinchilla/s) – £40
Castrated male degu – £60 (castration costs us £130)

Discounts are usually offered where a ready-bonded pair/group are being adopted.

Adopters must be age 18+.

Bonding
We can provide up to 7 days of initial bonding for adopters adopting a degu/degus to join their existing degu(s). We use the 24/7 neutral space method, which we find to be the safest and least stressful. We make no guarantees about any bond and are led by the individual degus’ behaviour indicating whether each pairing/grouping is a good match. Adopters will need to be prepared to continue the bonding process on return home after the 7 days, following our advice and guidance. 
Bonding is offered at a minimum donation of £5 per day per adopter’s degu to cover the costs of caring for your degu(s) during their stay. Bonding is incredibly time consuming and resource-heavy (tonnes of hay and forage used!).