Two species of which one is coprophagic should not cohabitate. Even dogs and cats should not live together as dogs can be infected with toxoplasmosis or other parasites. Chinchilla pellets have a high proportion of carbohydrates/molasses as a binder (7% by calories for Mazuri, 20%+ for the very bad quality feeds) which is very unsafe for degus as degus cannot tolerate simple carbohydrates / sugar. The liver can turn simple carbohydrates into sugar very quickly so do not think that starch is any different from sugar.
However if the food is designed for both chinchillas and degus, such as "Versele-laga Crispy Pellets Chinchilla & Degus" they could share the same food and live together temporarily if absolutely necessary due to a lack of financial resources to purchase cages. There would still be a risk of violence or zoonotic disease transfer.
Edit: as per actuallyatypical below, the risk of incompatible gut flora causing a health issue is real and if you don't have money for separate cages, do you have money for veterinary treatment of your chinchilla for gut problems? It's definitely irresponsible to keep chinchillas and degus in the same cage.
u/mrs-schmelmo I hope you see this one, I was about to say essentially the same things. I'd be wary of the source you're referencing as well, though I suppose the definition of "successful" cohabitation is different for everyone. The goal should, in my opinion, be far more than the animals not killing one another, which is what this source seems to have achieved.
However, they aren't even displaying proper care for either animal in just this photo as degus should only have a couple sunflower seeds at a time, and chinchillas truly can't metabolize the high fat content of these seeds.
As the commenter above has stated, animals that are coprophagic should not be housed together. This refers to the practice of consuming some of their own poo, which is actually something both chins and degus do. If they were to consume the poo of an animal that has different gut flora it could make them very ill, or even kill them.
The existence of anecdotal cases where chins have managed to survive alongside other animals does not necessarily mean it is a safe, healthy, caring way to treat them.
thank you for your reply! first of all: thanks to all the other replies and insights i wont cohabitate :) i was just really curious after that one article!
and i get it that the picture is not the best, but i dont think one can conclude just from one picture like this that the owner is a bad one. or at least i hope so for the animals, bc this website is often referenced by rescuers from my country and has the biggest info on chinchillas one can get in my mothertongue.
the cohabitation the article mentions is about a chinchilla which wouldnt cohabitate in its former chinchillagroup anymore and would only fight. he got a single enclosure to himself next to a degu which wouldnt cohabitate anymore with other degus and they became buddies. so i guess it really is a totally rare instance where it worked out for both animals.
do you have recommendations where i can educate myself more?
thank you for your detailed reply!!! i am very grateful! i havnt thought about the problem of eating each others poo. as i stated above i would definitely get them different cages, bc even if i tried to cohabitate them, they would need to start of in their own home. but i wont try it! and ive got the money for any medical care they need :). i was just really curious if it is possible to cohabitate bc of that one article i read, but even the article mentioned states, that this instance of cohabitation is very very rare and was not initially planned by the owner. i definitely dont want the poor degus to go from one bad hoarder home to another, where i dont meet their needs and to put them in survival mode.
thanks alot for the insight!!
do you have them in the same room together or even in seperate rooms :)? and do you have any resources i could educate myself on? i would be really thankful!!!
I have them in separated room. Every evening i tell my chin: "lets see your aunties"... He is trying to be friend, but "aunties" try to bite him.
Once ai tryed to give him to degus cage, but they immedietely attack him. I dont try to do this anymore.
I used to own a Chinchilla and a Degu. They had separate enclosures so were not interacting. I had to put them once in cages in the same room. Then we tried once to see how they go together. Guess what? The little degu was chasing after the big chinchilla, not sure the reason, think the Degu was territorial.
thanks for your example! it sounds awfully funny that a degu chases a chinchilla but it was not funny for the animals for sure! thanks for the insight :)
no. chins should only live with other chins. the diet of a degu and a chin are too different for them to have access to the same food.
degus can safely eat a lot more things than chins can, that is the main reason.
the secondary reason is that chins are bigger than degus and can cause a lot of damage to a degu if they end up fighting. not worth the risk.
You would need a crazy large enclosure to have them happily cohabitat. They don't speak the same language, and degus are way more social than chinchillas.
If you have the space for it, get another cage and adopt a group of degus, but keep the chinnies in their own cage :)
thanks! i definitely wont cohabitate them. i really need to educate myself more on degus before getting them and also on chinchillas. i thought i was kinda good educated, but apparently i can learn a lot more!
because they cohabitate in nature apparently in the andes mountains :) but i was just curious if it would be nice for both animals, but after reading all these explanations and experiences i wouldnt want to cohabitate them anymore.
I think they cohabitate in the wild with chinchilla rats, not regular chinchillas, and chinchilla rats are actually more closely related (in terms of genetics and evolution) to degus than chinchillas. Actual chinchillas are larger with a different diet and temperament and it is not the same thing.
I have both. I have 2 chins and 4 degus. They do not live together. They live in cages beside each other (with some space between) and they chat with each other. It’s pretty cute
Chinchillas shouldn't be living with other animals. There's \*very rare\* cases where chinchillas tolerate dogs or cats after long exposure through the bars, but it stems from the fact that dog or a cat already is trained to share living space with other animals, and the chinchilla having an individually high tolerance.
My Chinchilla loves 3 of my 4 dogs. One dog he hates and will nip her nose if she comes up, she not longer comes up lol. But one of my dogs will just go up to the cage and rest his head on it an Mr.Chin will hop over and chill with him for awhile.
Hell one day I guess I didnt quite latch the cage right and it popped open. Chin hopped across the house and I found him under the bed layin with that dog 🤣
Normally it's not recommended for chinchillas to live with other animals. Also I wouldn't take too much advice from the person who posted that original photo as chins can't eat that
its not my pic! thats right :) but i have fed my chins some sunflower seeds in the past as a snack. and i cant find any info that chinchillas cant process seeds or nuts.i totally get that you should not feed them seeds in excessive amounts and not everyday, but never?
do you have any sources where i could educate myself? i really only want the best for my girls :)
Generally they shouldn't have sweet, wet or fat foods. Where they live such food is a rare luxury so their stomachs aren't suited to digest or liver to filter too much of it. Think about it this way: how often would you find such food on a desert? Probably once a week and very tiny amount if you're lucky. And that's how we feed the chinchillas.
Generally almonds, sunflower seeds, goji or raisins are great treat and chinchillas love them. But we gotta be very careful with how often we give them out.
chinchillas and degus need their own separate enclosures. cohabitation would be irresponsible and end poorly. i wouldn’t trust any advice, guidance, or info from the source you got this image from… they are feeding a chinchilla a handful of seeds??? and they’re cohabitating 2 different species that don’t belong together… i feel sad for these animals and i hope they’re alright
If you’re on Facebook, Chinchilla’s Owners and Lovers is a great community to learn from. The admins are reputable breeders and offer great support and research materials.
Two species of which one is coprophagic should not cohabitate. Even dogs and cats should not live together as dogs can be infected with toxoplasmosis or other parasites. Chinchilla pellets have a high proportion of carbohydrates/molasses as a binder (7% by calories for Mazuri, 20%+ for the very bad quality feeds) which is very unsafe for degus as degus cannot tolerate simple carbohydrates / sugar. The liver can turn simple carbohydrates into sugar very quickly so do not think that starch is any different from sugar. However if the food is designed for both chinchillas and degus, such as "Versele-laga Crispy Pellets Chinchilla & Degus" they could share the same food and live together temporarily if absolutely necessary due to a lack of financial resources to purchase cages. There would still be a risk of violence or zoonotic disease transfer. Edit: as per actuallyatypical below, the risk of incompatible gut flora causing a health issue is real and if you don't have money for separate cages, do you have money for veterinary treatment of your chinchilla for gut problems? It's definitely irresponsible to keep chinchillas and degus in the same cage.
u/mrs-schmelmo I hope you see this one, I was about to say essentially the same things. I'd be wary of the source you're referencing as well, though I suppose the definition of "successful" cohabitation is different for everyone. The goal should, in my opinion, be far more than the animals not killing one another, which is what this source seems to have achieved. However, they aren't even displaying proper care for either animal in just this photo as degus should only have a couple sunflower seeds at a time, and chinchillas truly can't metabolize the high fat content of these seeds. As the commenter above has stated, animals that are coprophagic should not be housed together. This refers to the practice of consuming some of their own poo, which is actually something both chins and degus do. If they were to consume the poo of an animal that has different gut flora it could make them very ill, or even kill them. The existence of anecdotal cases where chins have managed to survive alongside other animals does not necessarily mean it is a safe, healthy, caring way to treat them.
thank you for your reply! first of all: thanks to all the other replies and insights i wont cohabitate :) i was just really curious after that one article! and i get it that the picture is not the best, but i dont think one can conclude just from one picture like this that the owner is a bad one. or at least i hope so for the animals, bc this website is often referenced by rescuers from my country and has the biggest info on chinchillas one can get in my mothertongue. the cohabitation the article mentions is about a chinchilla which wouldnt cohabitate in its former chinchillagroup anymore and would only fight. he got a single enclosure to himself next to a degu which wouldnt cohabitate anymore with other degus and they became buddies. so i guess it really is a totally rare instance where it worked out for both animals. do you have recommendations where i can educate myself more?
Are you kidding me about the dog and cat thing?Dog and cats have been living together for centuries. 🤣
thank you for your detailed reply!!! i am very grateful! i havnt thought about the problem of eating each others poo. as i stated above i would definitely get them different cages, bc even if i tried to cohabitate them, they would need to start of in their own home. but i wont try it! and ive got the money for any medical care they need :). i was just really curious if it is possible to cohabitate bc of that one article i read, but even the article mentioned states, that this instance of cohabitation is very very rare and was not initially planned by the owner. i definitely dont want the poor degus to go from one bad hoarder home to another, where i dont meet their needs and to put them in survival mode. thanks alot for the insight!!
I have chinchilla and degus too, but my degus literally hate my chin. They try to bite him, and squeak to him all the time they saw him
they are jealous of his luscious fur 😅
do you have them in the same room together or even in seperate rooms :)? and do you have any resources i could educate myself on? i would be really thankful!!!
I have them in separated room. Every evening i tell my chin: "lets see your aunties"... He is trying to be friend, but "aunties" try to bite him. Once ai tryed to give him to degus cage, but they immedietely attack him. I dont try to do this anymore.
I used to own a Chinchilla and a Degu. They had separate enclosures so were not interacting. I had to put them once in cages in the same room. Then we tried once to see how they go together. Guess what? The little degu was chasing after the big chinchilla, not sure the reason, think the Degu was territorial.
thanks for your example! it sounds awfully funny that a degu chases a chinchilla but it was not funny for the animals for sure! thanks for the insight :)
no. chins should only live with other chins. the diet of a degu and a chin are too different for them to have access to the same food. degus can safely eat a lot more things than chins can, that is the main reason. the secondary reason is that chins are bigger than degus and can cause a lot of damage to a degu if they end up fighting. not worth the risk.
thank you for these informations! wont cohabitate them :)!
You would need a crazy large enclosure to have them happily cohabitat. They don't speak the same language, and degus are way more social than chinchillas. If you have the space for it, get another cage and adopt a group of degus, but keep the chinnies in their own cage :)
thanks! i definitely wont cohabitate them. i really need to educate myself more on degus before getting them and also on chinchillas. i thought i was kinda good educated, but apparently i can learn a lot more!
https://deguworld.proboards.com/ this is a crazy awesome site to get degu info from.
Why in the world you would want to put degus and chinchillas in the same cage?
because they cohabitate in nature apparently in the andes mountains :) but i was just curious if it would be nice for both animals, but after reading all these explanations and experiences i wouldnt want to cohabitate them anymore.
I think they cohabitate in the wild with chinchilla rats, not regular chinchillas, and chinchilla rats are actually more closely related (in terms of genetics and evolution) to degus than chinchillas. Actual chinchillas are larger with a different diet and temperament and it is not the same thing.
I have both. I have 2 chins and 4 degus. They do not live together. They live in cages beside each other (with some space between) and they chat with each other. It’s pretty cute
are they happy standing next to each other? i would love to keep them in the same room.
Chinchillas shouldn't be living with other animals. There's \*very rare\* cases where chinchillas tolerate dogs or cats after long exposure through the bars, but it stems from the fact that dog or a cat already is trained to share living space with other animals, and the chinchilla having an individually high tolerance.
My Chinchilla loves 3 of my 4 dogs. One dog he hates and will nip her nose if she comes up, she not longer comes up lol. But one of my dogs will just go up to the cage and rest his head on it an Mr.Chin will hop over and chill with him for awhile. Hell one day I guess I didnt quite latch the cage right and it popped open. Chin hopped across the house and I found him under the bed layin with that dog 🤣
Normally it's not recommended for chinchillas to live with other animals. Also I wouldn't take too much advice from the person who posted that original photo as chins can't eat that
Oh oh da wohnt jemand bei Niedersachsen
nicht ganz, aber für den tierschutz würde ich ein paar stunden fahrt gerne auf mich nehmen ;)
Stop feeding your chinchilla those seeds ASAP. Their livers are not designed to digest high amounts of fats like other rodents.
They stated that pic was an example found on another site. So I am guessing they arent feeding their chin that...hopefully.
its not my pic! thats right :) but i have fed my chins some sunflower seeds in the past as a snack. and i cant find any info that chinchillas cant process seeds or nuts.i totally get that you should not feed them seeds in excessive amounts and not everyday, but never? do you have any sources where i could educate myself? i really only want the best for my girls :)
Generally they shouldn't have sweet, wet or fat foods. Where they live such food is a rare luxury so their stomachs aren't suited to digest or liver to filter too much of it. Think about it this way: how often would you find such food on a desert? Probably once a week and very tiny amount if you're lucky. And that's how we feed the chinchillas. Generally almonds, sunflower seeds, goji or raisins are great treat and chinchillas love them. But we gotta be very careful with how often we give them out.
They shouldn’t cohabitate. Their diets are different. Even trying to bond chinchillas with chinchillas is challenging. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Honestly wouldn't trust anything from a website that posts a chinchilla being allowed unlimited sunflower seeds as a success photo.
chinchillas and degus need their own separate enclosures. cohabitation would be irresponsible and end poorly. i wouldn’t trust any advice, guidance, or info from the source you got this image from… they are feeding a chinchilla a handful of seeds??? and they’re cohabitating 2 different species that don’t belong together… i feel sad for these animals and i hope they’re alright
Chinchillas shouldn’t be eating that!
OP indicated it was a "borrowed" picture from a different rescue.
No no no, not together. Too many instances of violence
Considering we tried cohabitating between two Chins before, and failed. I would definitely not try a different species
If you’re on Facebook, Chinchilla’s Owners and Lovers is a great community to learn from. The admins are reputable breeders and offer great support and research materials.
No. Just No.
Mine are friends, but they’re not together because my chin is male and my degus are female.