Anyone seen Degus or Jirds as pets in Taiwan? Would they let them be imported?
More info:
erodent.co.uk/DegusIndex.htm
erodent.co.uk/PersianJirdIndex.htm
A pet store will sell you a gerbil for NT$50. :neutral:
For the same NT$50 I could get a Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle and it would be smarter than the gerbil and live longer…
have not seen them as pets, but we have wild “mice” here that are very much liek Degus, though wild are faster.
I know people who have “domesticated” rodents, usually by breeding them and hand raising the babies.
the ones here have big black eyes, fairly furry tails with a slightly furrier tip. size is between a rat and a mouse. obviously disease is a consideration, and you would need to spend money at a vet who will likely think you have escaped the padded room, but if your really fixing: Formosa Degu
It says here they are from Chile absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Degu
That they are genus Octodon. I don’t offhand find anything from that genus in Taiwan.
They sure look cute wn.com/Octodon_degus
I am guessing though that they aren’t allowed in, because if they got loose they’d overrun the island.
However, the do look a bit like the Taiwan vole, Microtus kikuchii.