It is hard to guess what a Common degu weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Common degu (Octodon degus) on average weights 203 grams (0.45 lbs).
The Common degu is from the family Octodontidae (genus: Octodon). It is usually born with about 14 grams (0.03 lbs). They can live for up to 7.08 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 28 cm (1′ 0″). On average, Common degus can have babies 2 times per year with a litter size of 5.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
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:
- Bridges’s degu with a weight of 162 grams
- Mountain viscacha rat with a weight of 124 grams
- Plains viscacha rat with a weight of 86 grams
- Moon-toothed degu with a weight of 200 grams
- Mountain degu with a weight of 154 grams
- Sage’s rock rat with a weight of 96 grams
- Coruro with a weight of 101 grams
- Chilean rock rat with a weight of 130 grams
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:
- Nicobar treeshrew bringing 170 grams to the scale
- Felou gundi bringing 205 grams to the scale
- Long-tailed weasel bringing 191 grams to the scale
- Pearson’s tuco-tuco bringing 212 grams to the scale
- Ricefield rat bringing 165 grams to the scale
- Large treeshrew bringing 182 grams to the scale
- Biak naked-backed fruit bat bringing 200 grams to the scale
- Mexican woodrat bringing 203 grams to the scale
- Maule tuco-tuco bringing 235 grams to the scale
- Ceram fruit bat bringing 228 grams to the scale
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:
- Buffy-tufted marmoset with a size of 24 cm (0′ 10″)
- Bougainville monkey-faced bat with a size of 26.2 cm (0′ 11″)
- Long-clawed ground squirrel with a size of 24.4 cm (0′ 10″)
- Prevost’s squirrel with a size of 24.7 cm (0′ 10″)
- Hispaniolan hutia with a size of 30 cm (1′ 0″)
- Cape ground squirrel with a size of 24.7 cm (0′ 10″)
- Black flying fox with a size of 25.4 cm (0′ 10″)
- Oncilla with a size of 25 cm (0′ 10″)
- Arizona gray squirrel with a size of 26.4 cm (0′ 11″)
- Koslov’s pika with a size of 24 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:
- Fringe-tailed gerbil
- Slender shrew
- Northern red-backed vole
- Montane shrew
- Daurian pika
- Mearns’s pouched mouse
- Olive grass mouse
- Lowland streaked tenrec
- Northern grass mouse
- Northern grass mouse
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Common degu
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Common degu:
- Feathertail glider with an average maximal age of 7.17 years
- Lesser grison with an average maximal age of 7.25 years
- Least chipmunk with an average maximal age of 6.25 years
- Doria’s tree-kangaroo with an average maximal age of 8 years
- San Diego pocket mouse with an average maximal age of 8.25 years
- Jamaican coney with an average maximal age of 8.25 years
- Spectral bat with an average maximal age of 6.5 years
- European mole with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Kowari with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Canyon bat with an average maximal age of 6 years