I have had some other pets over the years as well. Some of my favourites are the Degu, Chinchilla, and the South American Shorttailed Opossum. I have also kept Spiny mice, cats, dogs, fish and budgies.
The Degu is a very social
creature who wants to examine and explore everything. They have to be with other deugs in order to be happy and harmonious, and they talk to each other a lot.
The degu setup needs plenty of room, so the degus can run around and play. They enjoy when their setup is changed, and will run around and explore. They need a sand-bath just like chinchillas and can be kept on fine cat-litter. The cat-litter will keep the smell down to a minimum. They should also have some boxes to chew on, as well as some tree-branches, like apple.
The degus will love to run in a big wheel. My degus refuse to come out when they have the wheel. I have to remove the wheel a couple of days for them to come out.
Degus are supposed to eat basically the same food as chinchillas, but mine refuse to eat pellets. They will eat the normal rodent mix I give my rats instead, apart from the corn-flakes. The rat mix has no pellets, and even if it isn't perfect for my degus, they need to eat something. I will rather give them something they eat, than see the starve because they won't eat what is good for them.
A degu will jump to get to a place it can't reach. They don't seem to have a concept of height, so when taming the little ones, make sure they can't jump down, or they will break their legs, or at least sprain them. Seeing a baby degu hobble around is not a pleasant sight.
My love for unusual pets made me accept the gift of a pet chinchilla. A 1,5 year old female had been abandoned by her previous
owner, and the zoo-keeper had first asked my husband if he wanted to take care of her. She was tame, and so he didn't want to
see her waste away somewhere. My husband first thought, as I did, that a chincilla wasn't very easy to keep and that they needed
enormous cages. We didn't have that, so at first we said no. After meeting her, we changed our minds, did some research, and made a
temporary home for her. After a few days it was clear to us that she was very tame, loved people, and us in particular.
We didn't know her name, so after a few days, we decided to call her Skippy. She loves to run around and jump from wall to wall, like a rubber ball.
She also enjoys some raisins as a snack, and will come, climb up, and take it from our mouths. She will then eat it quickly so she can ask for more.
Rocky was bought after a month. He had been living with a family who didn't have time for him and he was very shy. After a month of intensive training and care, he was let out of his cage for the first time. The meeting with Skippy was a surprise to them both. They ran off in different directions, both uncertain about the other one. Rocky wasn't as jumpy as I had feared. When he grew tired I tried to get him back in his cage and after a few tries he found the opening and entered, happy to be back home.
Rocky is a very friendly chinchilla, but something has happened to him when he was young. He doesn't like hands very much, but will readily
take a snack from our months, just like Skippy. His favourite is peanuts and dried banana, and he really takes his time eating them. He is the
proof that even older chinchillas (he is five years old) can be tamed and learn new things, as long as their personalities are friendly.
Sadly, Rocky is no more. He had some problems with his teeth and jaw, and had to be put to sleep.
The South American Short-tailed Opposum is a very unusual pet. As all possums, it's a marsupial, but it has no pouch, just a cluster of nipples by the tail.
This makes them perfect if you want to study how marsupials grow.
The possum is extremely solitary, so keeping them together is pointless, and can lead to injury or stress. When mating them, just keep them together for
13 days, and then separate them. If there is now babies after another two weeks, try again. The male will eat the babies if they are still together when they are born.
The possum can be kept in the HabiTrail system, but make sure their sleeping place is lined with paper, or their soft fur will be rubbed off in patches where they lie against the plastic. They enjoy running in a wheel, but the wheel has to be of solid plastic. Wires will cut their feet.
The tail is prehensil, and they can carry around some bedding material for hours. The back-feet has thumbs, just like us, so they are excellent climbers, almost like monkeys. Their hands have five fingers, and they will hold their food, so no dirt gets stuck to it. They are carnivours and can eat wet dog-pellets, baby mice, crickets, and so on. They enjoy hunting, so even if they usually eats dog or cat food, give them a couple of crickets from time to time. Baby mice are a little more bloody, so if you don't want that, just don't give them any. They will also like sweet treats, like marmalade or fruit. The fruit from the different Melucactus speices are very good.
Their feices are very smelly, especially after a live meal. There fore it's better to keep them on fine cat-litter, rather than wood shavings. You will save money in the long run.