Degu sounds

Degus are social animals and have a broad range of vocalisation. The following record should give you an insight in the language of our degus and the noises they can produce.

Degu language and noises

• How degus live.
   alltag1.ogg (mp3) |  alltag2.ogg
  Bar chewing, nibble on wood, tweet sounds (nose-to-nose greeting) and other gentle and peaceful sounds our degus can produce.
• Aufmuckern (low, gentle sounds).
   aufmuckern1.ogg (mp3) |  aufmuckern2.ogg (mp3)
  (Description in German: Ein sehr leiser, hoher Muckerlaut, der ein bisschen so tönt wie ein kleiner Aufrschrei.)
• Alarm calls.
  NEW alarm1.ogg (mp3)
  This is a typical degu alarm call. Degus in wild escape to their burrows when they hear this alarm calls.
• Mounting.
   aufreiten.ogg (mp3)
  A degu try to mount another and produces different types of tweet like sounds. Mounting behaviour is regarded as a dominance behaviour in degus.
• Greeting in the nest.
   begruessung.ogg
  One degu comes back to the nest where another degu is waiting. They greet (nose-to-nose contact) and produce several types of tweet sounds.
• Grooming.
   fellpflege1.ogg |  fellpflege2.ogg |  fellpflege3.ogg
  Social grooming is an important part of the social behaviour of degus.
• Cheep.
   fiepsen1.ogg |  fiepsen2.ogg |  fiepsen3.ogg |  fiepsen4.ogg |  fiepsen5.ogg (mp3) |  fiepsen6.ogg (mp3) |  fiepsen7.ogg |  fiepsen8.ogg
  Cheep sounds are very low and hardly to hear. Degus use them when they feel good.
• Muckern (low, gentle sounds).
   mucker1.ogg |  mucker2.ogg |  mucker3.ogg |  mucker4.ogg
  (Description in German: Ähnlich wie die Fiepslaute sind die Muckerlaute sehr leise Geräusche, die Degus vor allem bei Zufriedenheit von sich geben und wenn sie Siesta machen.)
• Stimmloses Muckern (low, gentle sounds).
   muckern_stimmlos.ogg (mp3)
  (Description in German: Kaum höhrbar, am Ende der Aufnhame hört man ganz schwach ein sehr hohes und leises Fiep-Geräusch. Das war so leise, dass das Mikrofon es kaum aufnehmen konnte.)
• Quietscheln (low, gentle sounds).
   quietscheln1.ogg |  quietscheln2.ogg (mp3)
  (Description in German: Das Geräusch ist eine Mischung zwischen Muckern und Quietschen. Es kommt oft in Kombination mit Triller- und Zwirplaute bei intensiver und stürmischer gegenseitiger Körperpflege vor.)
• Quietsch-Fiepsen (low, gentle sounds).
   quietschfiepsen.ogg
  (Description in German: Trillernde Quietschlaute die sich intensivieren und höher werden und ins Fiepsen übergehen.)
• Selfgrooming.
   selfgrooming.ogg (mp3)
  Body care is important for degus. Degus can produce gentle sounds when they groom themselves as this record proves.
• Argument.
  NEW streit1.ogg | NEW streit2.ogg | NEW futterstreit.ogg
  Degus are prone to argue when they receive food. This is even true for very friendly degus living in stable groups.
• Chirp.
  NEW zwirp1.ogg (mp3) | NEW zwirp2.ogg (mp3) |  zwirp_pflege.ogg
  If a degu chirp it sounds very similar to some kind of small birds.

Chattering of teeth and similar sounds

• Chattering of teeth.
   zaehneklappern.ogg
  Chattering of teeth may have different meanings and degus might be happy as well as it might be a sign of aggression. If it is used in very different situations, reading the context might be very helpful to understand if it is friendly or not. In this records the degus were friendly and probably also happy.
• Teeth grinding.
   zaehne_knirschen.ogg
  Teeth grinding is a sign of satisfaction. In additon degus sharpen their incisors, when they become blunt.
• Teeth grinding and chirp.
   zwirp_knirsch.ogg
  A degu is chirping while it stops and grinding its teeth.
• Sniffing and chirp.
   zwirp_schnupf.ogg
  While chirping this degu makes sniffing noises.

Other noises

• Bar chewing.
   gitternagen.ogg
  Bar chewing is very annoying, but in many cases it is also a sign of a too small cage. Nevertheless there are also degus with behavioural disorder chewing heavily on bars regardless of the cage size and other possibilities for distraction.
• Chewing wood.
   holznagen.ogg
  Degus have strong teeth and chew nearly everything. Wood and fresh branches are of importance as they provide distraction for the degus and allow them to care for their teeth.
• Chewing cardboard.
   kartonnagen.ogg
  Cardboard and paper is often chewed by degus. Cardboard tubes are very popular and degus love to use them as running way, hide and chewing their ends.
• Rushling.
   papierrascheln.ogg
  Degus love newspaper and different sorts of paper. Paper and newspaper chips are popular for nesting and make a good bedding.
• Falling down.
   runterfallen.ogg
  Degus may fall down, they are in fact not very good climbers. But this is not dangerous as long as they fall in the soft bedding.

See also

• Deguvideos