# do degus come in various colours



## oldtyme (Mar 16, 2008)

i just wondered if anyone knows what colours degus come in,ive been told you can get them in white,blue or grey as i thought they just came in the natural colour


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Yup! They are just rarer... :wink:


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## oldtyme (Mar 16, 2008)

Amalthea said:


> Yup! They are just rarer... :wink:


 

thanx,ive been trying to find info on net but not that good wi the netb


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## xXFooFooLaFluffXx (Aug 4, 2007)

they sell blue degus in bury,n theyre bloody expensive though, £60 each


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

[email protected] still sell agouti degus for something in the region of 30 quid! Not much incentive for ignorant owners to get more than one, is it??


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

someong i no got a pair from a rescue centre they where blue and it was 30.00 for them just the rehoming fee maybe worth phoning around

here a nice pic i found 

http://www.degus-online.de/blue.htm


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

Guys I have blue degus (which I believe is the only new colour other than agouti) and both my girls are pregnant.

They are bloody expensive and the blues are valued even higher because they are so rare but I agree with amalthea. The price has to be sensible to encourage peeps to buy a pair. They would be thoroughly miserable on their own.

I can't bear animals being sold for more money due to their colour. A degu is a degu and my blues will be sold for less than any agouti I have ever seen for sale.

The cheapest I have seen is £30 but ours will be priced at £20 even though we paid megabucks for our trio.

I would like to value them the same as my £10 fancy rats but you have to bear in mind they are pregnant for THREE MONTHS :shock: and very expensive to feed as they eat a mix of guinea pig and chin pellets but are herbivores so need loads of greens, kale, cabbage, cauli leaves, expensive timothy hay etc.

Will post my babies on here when they arrive :flrt:


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## hermanlover (Jul 8, 2007)

Pouchie said:


> Guys I have blue degus (which I believe is the only new colour other than agouti) and both my girls are pregnant.
> 
> They are bloody expensive and the blues are valued even higher because they are so rare but I agree with amalthea. The price has to be sensible to encourage peeps to buy a pair. They would be thoroughly miserable on their own.
> 
> ...


just be careful some one doesnt try to make a quick buck, buy them all, and sell them on for more money. they dont deserve the money for you, and your degus doing the hard work : victory:


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

Some pics of my blues x


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

hermanlover said:


> just be careful some one doesnt try to make a quick buck, buy them all, and sell them on for more money. they dont deserve the money for you, and your degus doing the hard work : victory:


 
Thanks. It is always a risk if your prices are lower than average but I would be extra suspicious if someone wanted to buy more than 2 or 3.

It is a catch 22 but I think my price is right and the pet shops are over the top.

If breeders keep prices down hopefully pet shops will be forced to follow suit.

Back to the topic, just posted some pics of my 'blues'. Have not seen or heard of white TBH but it is quite possible albino have popped out by now.


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

here you go altho its more pied to me if its even a degu lol there is a diffrent vid there as well but there no albino as have black eyes and there more grey

YouTube - My White Degu Gimpy =)


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## johnny2008 (Jun 7, 2008)

i seen degus in pet shops 4 £6 each


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

johnny2008 said:


> i seen degus in pet shops 4 £6 each


 
see thats going in the other direction and devaluing the species so no-one can afford to breed them! lol


cheers for the vid adamntitch, i saw the other one too they looked like a chinchilla grey colour.


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## StuW247 (Jun 14, 2008)

Although they are pack animals one will thrive quite well on its own, ours lasted 5 years. We called it a guard degu when ever the front door opened he would squeck just to let us know someone was there.


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

That's quite young for a degu to die though.

Our first degu that we bred only died last year at about 10-11 yrs old.
We gave some to the kids soft play place. They were the ones that lasted 11 yrs.


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## animal addict (Jun 1, 2008)

you shouldnt keep degus on their own - they are much happier in pairs - I have a blue degu (came to me as a rescue) and yeah it is like a chinchilla grey the colour variations are recessive genes and therefore more rare, they are reported to have 'behavioural problems and more health problem' due to people trying to narrow the gene pool down to breed more - how true this is I am unsure but I will say my blue degu is different in behaviour to the standard degu's


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## animal addict (Jun 1, 2008)

my blue goo :


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

animal addict said:


> you shouldnt keep degus on their own - they are much happier in pairs - I have a blue degu (came to me as a rescue) and yeah it is like a chinchilla grey the colour variations are recessive genes and therefore more rare, they are reported to have 'behavioural problems and more health problem' due to people trying to narrow the gene pool down to breed more - how true this is I am unsure but I will say my blue degu is different in behaviour to the standard degu's


Hi, I would be interested to know how you think blue degus behaviour differs from agoutis. Just interested as we are breeding blues and have not kept agouti.

Cheers


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## animal addict (Jun 1, 2008)

Pouchie said:


> Hi, I would be interested to know how you think blue degus behaviour differs from agoutis. Just interested as we are breeding blues and have not kept agouti.
> 
> Cheers


hiya - as I said I don't know how true the rumours are about blue's having behavioural problems and health issues which lead to shorter life spans as I have only had the one blue - and he's only a year old - his behaviour is different to the more common agouti's though in the way that he is a LOT more active - on the point of being quite manic really lol - it takes an awful lot to keep him entertained and chews a LOT more also, I find him to be quicker to work things out and more inquisitive - as I said I dunno if this applies to all blue's - its just the difference I have found it mine, I know the agoutis are also inquisitive and lively but the blue seems to be more so. Be interesting to know your thoughts and experiences if you have only ever had blue's and when you breed them do they always come out blue? I thought there was still a chance of the agouti colouring appearing coz the blue being a ressessive gene.


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## ferretlad (Mar 6, 2008)

I saw 3 black Degus in a pet shop in Hartlepool today £70.00 each, normal colour ones are £50.00.


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

animal addict said:


> when you breed them do they always come out blue? I thought there was still a chance of the agouti colouring appearing coz the blue being a ressessive gene.


 
If a gene is recessive that means you need two copies for it to show so a blue cannot carry agouti.

If an agouti carries a recessive blue gene and is mated to a blue or blue carrier, it can throw blue.


:blowup:
ouch lol


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## uroplatus (Apr 24, 2005)

When I went to Hamm reptile show in Germany a few years back there was a pied black and white one there! I honestly didnt notice a price but i would expect a lot! 
Ferretlad, which shop in H'pool had them in?


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## uroplatus (Apr 24, 2005)

has anyone else seen a pied?


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## animal addict (Jun 1, 2008)

Pouchie said:


> If a gene is recessive that means you need two copies for it to show so a blue cannot carry agouti.
> 
> If an agouti carries a recessive blue gene and is mated to a blue or blue carrier, it can throw blue.
> 
> ...


ah right lol kool can you tell genetics was never my strong point in school haha!!! hmmm lots of blue degus coming your way then


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