If you are completely new to the world of degu, you might notice something amazing: your degus sometimes bend down to their buttocks as if to clean them and bang: a poo actually disappeared into their mouth.

What may seem strange and possibly a bit disgusting to you at first is completely normal: Your degus practice caecotrophy, i.e. eat their own so-called appendix excrement .

This is a special droppings that has a layer of mucus and from which the degus, when they digest it again, can gain a particularly large number of B vitamins, vitamin K and proteins , which they otherwise simply cannot get hold of.

So this is not only normal for your Octodons, it is actually very important .

In addition to this appendix feces, there is also the normal large intestine feces , which has passed through all the intestinal stations of your chins.

Your degus will usually not eat this solution.

You see, you don't have to worry when you watch your studs eating their waste. Rather, it is the case that it is dangerous for your degu if it does not or cannot eat its droppings, for example if it has diarrhoea. That's why you have to go to the nearest veterinarian quickly if your degu has diarrhea.

Speaking of which, the umbrella term for eating your own feces is coprophagy . Caecotrophy is characterized by eating the special caecal feces.

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