# Risu Kao



## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

Meet Risu Kao. She's my degu.



> The degu is a small caviomorph rodent that is endemic to central Chile. It is sometimes referred to as the brush-tailed rat, and is also called the common degu, to distinguish it from the other members of the genus Octodon.



She's quite the character. She loves to run around and she likes to jump around a lot too. She's silly. She will climb out of her cage and crawl around but if you make the slightest noise she'll run back to her cage then pop back out like nothing happened. She loooves belly rubs and scratches behind the ear. She isn't quite to where I can hold her yet because she's just not ready to be held. The first day she would let me hold her but I think she was just kind of in shock from all the excitement of a new home. She will climb on me and climb onto my shoulder and stuff though.  She's really sweet.

Here she is on the first day we got her.  She does not fit in that little house anymore. Haha. She's grown quite a bit.  I'm currently working on finding a good, big cage for her so she'll have plenty of room to jump and play. 









And here are a few other photos of her since we've gotten her.


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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

And a video. :3


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## FallDeere (Sep 29, 2011)

She's adorable! You're making me want a pair of degus. >.< I have eight rats, two gerbils, and two indoor dogs: NO MORE PETS! But... maybe in the future. Do they smell at all? They remind me of gerbils and our girls don't smell at all. Degus seem a lot more lovable than gerbils, though. Yours looks so cuddly!


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Awww how cute! I love degus!


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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

They burry their poo. So nope. Not usually a smell at all. And you have to tame them very well. I need to get another one. She isn't very used to being messed with yet but I'm working on it. She lets me pet her and scratch her belly. And she makes the funniest noises sometimes.

Degus are awesome!  They're so fun. But I just found out that she'll grow a lot larger than what we were informed and from what we saw on some sites. And with the way we feed our pets, she'll be grown before I know it. She's so jumpy sometimes though. Do you own any? :3

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## 3 ratties (Apr 6, 2013)

I've never heard of this type of animal! She is very cute!


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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

I had never heard of them either! I just set up a new cage for her with a hammock and a bigger wheel.  Made the new cage using a guinea pig/rabbit cage we had. She seems to love it so far!!

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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

A couple of photos of her in her new cage!! 



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## PrissyKrissy (Apr 27, 2013)

sooo cute! how big do they get? is she affectionate like rats are?


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## socal_sarah (Mar 5, 2013)

I was *this close* to getting a pair of degus instead of my ratty girls. It ended up that I couldn't get the baby & I didn't want a breeding pair, so my girls won out. Degus are super social like ratties though, so make sure to get her a friend SOON!


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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

PrissyKrissy, I found some photos today that show a degu about the size of a large rat/small kitten... So apparently they can get rather large. They can be sweet and affectionate but you really have to tame them. I'm workig on that now. She's a spazz too. She loves being scratched behind the ear and on the belly/under her chin.

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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

socal_sarah, yeah. I've heard they're social. She doesn't seem to mind being alone really. No signs of depression or anything. She's just not quite tame enough for me to hold her and what not. She does enjoy getting out of the cage and crawling all over me and whatever I have the cage on though. And she'll run back to her cage if she gets startled or she's just ready to go back in. She does like the attention sometimes though. Loves to be scratched and petted. I made her fall asleep one day. It was so cute! And another day the scratchies felt so good that she fell over! Haha. And now that I've made her a better cage and am working on adding new toys and whatnot she is having a blast!!

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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

Oh hi! I'm from Columbia, SC also. 

I have a pair of degus boys. They are really a joy to have around. I rescued mine from a pet store that wasn't feeding them the proper diet. Now one of my boys has cataracts in his eyes and may or may not have diabetes already. Luckily since I have them on the proper degus diet now, his cataracts seem to be getting better. 

I'd definitely recommend getting a second degu for your girl! They aren't meant to be alone and I know from watching my boys, that they would get extremely bored and depressed if they were alone. They spend most of the day cuddling and play fighting. 

Her current cage looks nice. Will you one day move her into a larger cage?  That's my plans for my boys. Though I wasn't prepared for them when I got them (as I said I rescued them from the pet store), so they are currently living in the bottom half of my double critter nation (my rats are not happy about their cage being cut in half!). I'm going to build the degus a tall wooden cage for them though with lots of levels and branches for them to climb. 
Also, be watchful of the plastic in the cage. Degus chew almost like gerbils lol Mine have completely destroyed the bottom pan of the critter nation, so I had to order a metal pan and now I'm just waiting on the paint to cure before I can put it in the cage. :s


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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

Hai! That's awesome! Where did you find your boys?  I can't seem to find any stores that have any.  I do want to get another one but yeah. Can't find a store. And yup.  I plan on making bigger cages for not only her but also for my rats. She hasn't chewed up any cage we've had her in yet. We got her really small. And since I'm currently unable to work, I'm able to spend a lot of time with her. Sadly though, I ended up really sick and couldn't play with her or anything for a couple of weeks so she got "un-used" to me. But... I'm determined to get her tamed. And if I do ever find a degu friend for her, I already know how to get them used to each other and everything. 

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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

Risu is a growing girl! Still need to find her a companion. 

I just had to share some sleepy pictures of her. Oh! And her adventuring. xD





































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## phatdaddy (Feb 3, 2013)

im very jealous, ive always wanted one of these furry little guys. i just do not have the space or time to devote to another fuzzball....


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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

Thanks!!

Awes. Yeah. I get ya.

I juat like how tubby she looks when she's hopping around sometimes and then she climbs around her cage and she curls up weird she looks super skinny. xD She's so cute and fuzzy. She definitely enjoys being scratched behind the ear and on the chin and on the belly. Then she hops out of her cage and tries to get into everything. >.<

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## Divit (Aug 5, 2013)

I realize this is an older thread. I was curious, though, how your degu is doing. Is she taming as you hoped she would?
How do you compare her to having rats?


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