Mama Degu is about 2 years and Papa Degu is about 3 years old. Sissy, another female, is 4months old.

Field studies have shown that 50 % of wild degus live less than 1 year, only 1 % reaches the age of 2 years and only one of 5 400 trapped individuals was found to be 4 years old.

Deciding the sexes of degus is much harder than other rodents. The most distinguishing characteristic is the spacing between the urethra and the anus. In the female, the urethra and anus are very close together, while in the male a bit of space can be seen between these openings. In mature animals, the male urethra takes on more of a penile shape, while the female urethra is more conical.

FEMALE

MALE

Female Degus are usually larger than male ones. Degus become sexually mature at the age of 6-9 months, although there have been reported cases of 8-9 week old females being impregnated. Degus have a fairly long gestation period - about 90 days - and the young are born fully furred and with their eyes open. The average litter size is 5 or 6. Both parents help care for the young. Degu pups stop nursing at around 4 weeks, and can usually be safely weaned at 5 or 6 weeks old.

Females usually die much sooner, because if they live with males they get tired out from the frequent pregnancies.