Degus

Degu
Missing image Degu-Rudi.jpg Degu looking towards camera
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Octodontidae Genus: Octodon Species: O. degus
Binomial name
Octodon degus (Molina, 1782)

The Degu (Octodon degus) is a small, caviomorph rodent that is native to Chile. It is sometimes referred to as the Trumpet-tailed Rat (although not related to the rat family) and is also called the Common Degu, to distinguish it from the other members of the genus Octodon. Other members are also called degus, but they are distinguished by additional names. They are:

• O. bridgesi, Bridge's Degu, found in Argentina
• O. lunatus, the Moon-toothed Degu, a nocturnal animal found in northern Chile
• O. pacificus, the Mocha Island Degu, a recently discovered species that is found only on Isla Mocha, a small coastal island in the Valdivian rainforest zone of central Chile. It has long, soft fur, and a long, poorly tufted tail; these are thought to be primitive features in degus

The name "degu" on its own, however, indicates either the genus Octodon or, more usually, O. degus.

Degus are highly social. They live in burrows, and by digging communally they are able to construct larger and more elaborate burrows than they could on their own. Degus digging together co-ordinate their activities, forming digging chains. Females living in the same group have been shown to spontaneously nest communally- they nurse one another's young. They spend a large amount of time on the surface, where they forage for food. When foraging, their ability to detect predators is increased in larger groups, and each animal needs to spend less time in vigilance. Degus exhibit a wide array of communication techniques. They have an elaborate vocal repertoire, and the young need to be able to hear their mother's calls if the emotional systems in their brains are to develop properly. They use their urine to scent mark, and experiments have shown that they react to one another's marks.

Degus are born relatively precocial, and their auditory and visual systems are functional at birth. They are even born with a full coat of fur.

Unlike other octodontids, degus are diurnal, and they have good vision. Their retinas include rod cells and two types of cone cell, one of which has its peak sensitivity in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. Behavioral experiments have shown that degus are able to discriminate ultraviolet light from the wavelengths visible to humans. It is likely that this ultraviolet sensitivity has a social function, since both their ventral (stomach) fur and their urine are highly UV reflective.

Degus are herbivores, feeding on grasses and browsing the leaves of shrubs, though they will also take seeds. Their feeding rate is constrained by the rate at which they can digest this relatively low quality food, and this varies between food types and environmental conditions, and like some other herbivores such as rabbits, they show coprophagy, chewing their own feces so as to extract more nutrition from them. This also serves to maintain healthy gut function during times when food is scarce. Although they are active by day, in high summer they do not leave their burrows in the middle of the day, and in hot conditions they forage as quickly as possible instead of maximising the quality of their food. They tend to forage in shaded areas, though this tendency is reduced in the absence of predators. In open areas they spend more time being vigilant, so their effectiveness as foragers is reduced. Degus have a significant impact on the vegetation in areas where they live, and as the only rodent foraging by day, their numbers influence on the food supply available to the more numerous nocturnal rodents. However, numbers of all species of degu have been declining over recent decades, most likely due to human disturbance.

Degus are prone to diabetes due to their divergent insulin structure. For this reason, are used frequently for research in this field. this is in fact why degus became pets, as animals were imported into various countries for research and study.

Degus have become popular as pets, though until very recently they were seldom found in pet shops. Their advantages over traditional small pets are their diurnal habits, bubbly personality, the haired tail (as compared to rats) and their lifetime: they are said to live up to 13 years under ideal circumstances (although a poor gene pool/genetic background often reduces a pet degu's lifespan significantly).

More information about degus and how to take care of them can nowadays be found in the Internet, as there are very few books on the matter.