Let's have a thread to show off our pets (or ridicule them when they're doing stupid things), both past and present. I'll start out with our present pets, degus (also known as goos)! These furry little idiots are actually quite intelligent, they just don't show it too often. They're about the size of my hand and are often referred to as brush tailed rats and other names as well. I think they're related distantly to chinchillas. They are found in Chile in the wild but not a huge amount is known about them, they are highly sociable animals though so should never be kept alone as a general rule. They're classed as an exotic pet here in the UK and in the US are banned in a lot of states. They live between 6 - 8 years on average but can reach double figures which is why we chose them over other rodents. They do have to have a strict diet as they're very prone to diabetes so no fruit for them.
Ours are 2 brothers called Scrat and Diego. We've had them since December 2016 and they never fail to make us laugh. Both are quite gentle though Diego sometimes decides he wants to bite me (only me, never anyone else) which, considering they gnaw wood, is bloody painful! I've seen some degus be really affectionate and love to be tickled but not our two. They sort of give in the to tickle then after a second or two run off. They do a lot of stupid things like fail to notice the food they're standing in or fall off ledge (then look at us with an embarrassed expression as if to say "no one saw anything, right?") but they're also smart. They know when my alarm goes off it means feeding time and they will go back in the cage when we say "cage" in a certain way or tap on the bars. They also know if I say "come on" and walk out into our hallway they should follow me.
Edit: I keep getting an error when trying to attach pictures so none for now
