# My Goos!



## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

I wanted to share pictures of my degus now that they are healthier than when I got them. 

I "rescued" Khuno and his friend Kuzco from a pet store. They had somehow acquired them and were planning to keep them and breed them. However, after a few months passed and now pups showed up, they decided to sell them. I bought them before anyone had the chance to separate the pair. It turns out, that they're both males! No wonder the pet store wasn't having any success breeding them.  Sadly, they did no research about how to care for degus either. They fed the boys rabbit food and a seed mix with very little hay... Even though I went in the pet store many times and gave them advice on degus care... When Kuzco first came to that pet store he didn't have cataracts in his eyes.... When I got him the cataracts were much worse than they are in the picture. I began feeding them on the proper no sugar diet right away (degus can very easily get diabetes if they are not fed on the proper food), and it looks like its paid off!

I decided on Incan names for them both since they come from Chile. Cusco is the capital of the Incan Empire. I decided to go with the "Kuzco" spelling because it was used on The Emperor's New Groove movie and it goes better with Khuno. Khuno's name is the Incan god of high altitude weather.


Here are Kuzco and Khuno together. Kuzco is the one in front with the cataracts and Khuno is the one hiding in the back. Kuzco is very sweet and curious. He enjoys being held and snatching food from me. Khuno is very shy and easily frightened. He will take food from me, but usually wheeps (an alarm call to warn others of danger) at me if I try to get near him.









Here is Kuzco alone.









And here is the best picture I could get of Khuno.










Unfortunately they are currently living in the bottom half of my double critter nation since I got them so spur of the moment. The rats are very unhappy that they only have the top half of the cage (they used to have the whole cage) and have been having "pee wars" with the degus. As soon as I move in June I'm going to be building the degus a new cage out of wood. 
(I'm using this website as a guide for what I want to make... http://octodondegus.weebly.com/how-to-build-a-degu-cage.html )

For now they seem content in the critter nation... even though it is rather small for their climbing and burrowing needs... They have chewed most of the bottom pan so I had to order metal pans, but I have to wait two more weeks for the paint to cure before I put them in the cage. I just hope the rest of the plastic pan holds out until I can put in the metal pans.


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## PandaCobain (Apr 27, 2013)

D'aww! They're so cute!! I love them!!

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## 3 ratties (Apr 6, 2013)

They are very cute! i haven't heard much about this kind of animals, what is their temperment like? is it similar to a guinea pig?


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## phatdaddy (Feb 3, 2013)

degus are very much like chincillahs. awesome critters, ive always wanted one.


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

I've never owned a chinchilla but I've read about them and heard from chinchilla owners. Degus like to be held more than chinchillas do. Degus personalities range greatly though, some love to be held while others just enjoy their belly to be rubbed.

Their diet is more like a diabetic guinea pig. They have to have food with very very little or no sugar and molasses in it because they are very prone to diabetes.


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

I love degus! Yours are so, so cute!


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