Degus: why frequent handling doesn't make them used to stress
Published by Planète Pets · managing editor: Clément Lacaille · how our guides are written
"It'll get used to it eventually" is an intuitive assumption, but a study on degus found the opposite when it comes to capture stress. Our handling and travel tips are gathered in the rodent travel and safety section.
Five captures, no drop in measured stress
Bauer and Ebensperger published a study in 2014 in General and Comparative Endocrinology on the endocrine stress response of wild degus (see the study). By measuring baseline and stress-induced corticosterone at each new capture, up to five repetitions, the researchers found no significant drop from one capture to the next: unlike some other rodents that gradually blunt their stress response with repeated exposure, degus stayed just as reactive at the fifth handling episode as at the first.
A direct takeaway for handling at home
This finding challenges the idea that a regularly handled degu simply "gets used to it." Taking the animal out just to hold it, without real need, piles up physiological stress with no measurable habituation benefit. Handling that actually serves a purpose — weighing, a health check, a trip in a carrier — is best kept brief, predictable and spaced out, rather than frequent in the hope of a desensitisation this study didn't find. Our article on degu social life and communal nesting and our guide to their diurnal circadian rhythm help build a routine that avoids avoidable stress.
- Up to five repeated captures tested, with no significant drop in stress-induced corticosterone.
- No habituation measured to repeated handling, contrary to what intuition suggests.
- Spacing out purposeful handling: the approach most consistent with these findings.
Handling a degu is always a small stress episode for the animal, no matter how many times it's already happened — worth remembering before it becomes a daily habit with no real need behind it.
Frequently asked questions
Doesn't a degu used to human hands stress less over time?
Trust and tameness can improve with gentle, gradual taming, but this study specifically measured the hormonal response to capture, which didn't decrease with repetition.
How can I reduce stress on a trip to the vet?
By minimising handling before and after the trip and using a proper carrier rather than carrying the animal by hand for the whole journey.
Should degus never be handled at all?
No, but it's better to reserve handling for purposeful moments rather than repeated handling with no real need.
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This guide is part of Planète Pets’s Rodents universe. Our advice is general in nature: for any health concern, your veterinarian remains the only reference.