How big does a Common degu get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Common degu (Octodon degus) reaches an average size of 28 cm (1′ 0″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 7.08 years, they grow from 14 grams (0.03 lbs) to 203 grams (0.45 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Common degus have 5 babies about 2 times per year. The Common degu (genus: Octodon) is a member of the family Octodontidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The common degu (Octodon degus; ), or, historically, the degu, is a small hystricomorpha rodent endemic to the Chilean matorral ecoregion of central Chile. The name degu on its own indicates either the entire genus Octodon or, more commonly, just the common degu. Common degus belong to the parvorder Caviomorpha of the infraorder Hystricognathi, along with the chinchilla and guinea pig. The word degu comes from the indigenous language of Chile, Mapudungun, and the word dewü, meaning ‘mouse’ or ‘rat’.The animal may be kept as a pocket pet, except there are prohibitions on their ownership in some territories. As a pet, the animal is larger than a golden hamster but smaller than a fancy rat.
Animals of the same family as a Common degu
We found other animals of the Octodontidae family:
- Mountain degu with 2 babies per litter
- Plains viscacha rat with a size of 12.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Sage’s rock rat with a weight of 96 grams
- Moon-toothed degu with a weight of 200 grams
- Chilean rock rat with 3 babies per litter
- Coruro with a size of 13.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Bridges’s degu with a size of 15.9 cm (0′ 7″)
- Mountain viscacha rat with a weight of 124 grams
Animals with the same size as a Common degu
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Common degu:
- Weyland ringtail possum with a size of 31 cm (1′ 1″)
- Amazon bamboo rat with a size of 28.5 cm (1′ 0″)
- Tome’s spiny rat with a size of 22.9 cm (0′ 10″)
- Giant otter shrew with a size of 32 cm (1′ 1″)
- Rock squirrel with a size of 27.3 cm (0′ 11″)
- New Britain water rat with a size of 29.2 cm (1′ 0″)
- Baja California rock squirrel with a size of 24.5 cm (0′ 10″)
- Patagonian weasel with a size of 32.4 cm (1′ 1″)
- White-faced spiny tree-rat with a size of 29.7 cm (1′ 0″)
- Black and red bush squirrel with a size of 24.3 cm (0′ 10″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Common degu
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (5) as a Common degu:
- Kellen’s dormouse
- Least weasel
- Olive grass mouse
- Merriam’s shrew
- Rufous mouse opossum
- Southern red-backed vole
- Sagebrush vole
- Cutch rat
- Four-striped grass mouse
- Edible dormouse
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Common degu
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Common degu:
- Rakali with an average maximal age of 6.17 years
- Moonrat with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Red-tailed chipmunk with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Bare-tailed woolly opossum with an average maximal age of 6.33 years
- Stoat with an average maximal age of 7.08 years
- Eastern pygmy possum with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Rufous elephant shrew with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Tropical pocket gopher with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Serotine bat with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Xerus erythropus with an average maximal age of 6 years
Animals with the same weight as a Common degu
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Octodon degus:
- Thomas’s rope squirrel bringing 224 grams to the scale
- Reddish tuco-tuco bringing 173 grams to the scale
- Mentawai three-striped squirrel bringing 241 grams to the scale
- Dassie rat bringing 224 grams to the scale
- Indian hedgehog bringing 171 grams to the scale
- American red squirrel bringing 200 grams to the scale
- Ferreira’s spiny tree-rat bringing 175 grams to the scale
- Southwestern water vole bringing 220 grams to the scale
- Bolivian squirrel bringing 190 grams to the scale
- Collared tuco-tuco bringing 210 grams to the scale