Degus My Pet and Me

-Hello! Welcome to My Pet and Me. I'm Ferne.

-I'm Rory.

We've just been getting the barn ready for the animals.

We like to make sure they have the right food and water.

And a comfy place to sleep. Lots of different animals make

excellent pets and we love coming to meet you and yours.

We do. I'm off to meet some new friends now.

-You can come with me if you like. See you later!

-See ya!

-Come on!

-# My pet, my pet and me... #

-WOOF WOOF

-# My pet, my pet and me... #

-MEOW

-# Down every street... #

-QUACK MEOW

# Are pets do meet

# Some big, some small Some scaly, some furry

# Some keep very still Some are always in a hurry

# Some have four paws

-# Some have sharp claws... #

-MEOW

-# Some quack

-Some bark

-# Some purr

-Some moo

-# Some grunt

-Some squawk

# Some cockledoodledoo!

# My pet, my pet and me

-# My pet, my pet and me... #

-QUACK QUACK

# My pet, my pet and me

# Have you met my pet and me? #

WOOF HISS

Today we're in Dorset to visit Harry and his degus.

I love degus, so I can't wait to meet them. Let's go.

-Hi, Ferne.

-Hi, Harry.

-And you must be Mum, hello.

-Hi.

-Do you want to come in and see my awesome degus?

-I would love to.

Come on, let's go!

-So, these are your degus?

-Yeah.

Hi, degus.

-How many do you have?

-Three.

What are their names?

Their names are Thomas, Donald and Rexy.

-And are they boys or girls?

-Boys.

-All of them are boys?

-Yeah.

-How long have you had them?

-Two years.

-I used to have degus.

-Really?

-But I used to call them flufflumps.

So I never say degus, I always say flufflumps.

Hello, you.

-I like their orange teeth. They're funny, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-Where did you get your degus?

-I got them from a rescue centre.

Oh, that's lovely, isn't it? You're giving them a second home.

-Do you know how old they are?

-I think they're going to be three this year.

-Donald, the big one, he's the dad.

-Really? He's their daddy?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Oh, that's lovely. So, you have a little degu family here?

-Yeah.

It's great that you have a little group because degus live in groups

in the wild, so they prefer to be around their friends.

-What's your favourite thing about having degus?

-They're very playful.

-They are. They're clever too.

-Yeah.

-Should we see if any of them want to come out for a cuddle?

-Yeah.

Make sure you don't fall out there, babies.

Hello, you.

You're doing a really good job, Harry, trying to pick them up.

When you pick up a degu, you never pick them up from the top or else

they get a fright. So you either wait for them to walk onto you,

like what Harry's doing, or else you scoop them up very gently underneath.

This one seems happier just to have a sniff about, doesn't he?

They're so fast.

Hi.

They certainly are very interesting and funny to watch.

Rory, can you tell us some more facts about these furry little rodents?

Of course, Ferne.

One.

Male degus are called bucks and females are called does.

Two.

Degus don't like to be too hot,

so they have big ears to help get rid of any extra heat

from their bodies to cool them down.

Three.

Degus love working together in a team to do things like dig

and make their homes.

Four.

Degus are sometimes called trumpet-tailed rats because they

have a fluffy tuft of fur at the end of their tail.

Toot-toot!

-WOOF

-Care time.

Oh, big stretch. Big stretch.

Degus are fantastic, interesting little creatures.

But, like all pets, they need careful looking after.

So, Harry, what do we have to do to look after your flufflumps?

-We have to clean them out once a week...

-Ooh.

-..change their water once a day...

-OK.

-..and feed them once a day.

-Right, well, shall we start with cleaning them out?

-Yes, please.

-OK.

-Let's take the big one out first.

-OK.

Harry's degus are nice and safe down at the bottom,

while we clean out the top.

They really have been chewing on that, haven't they?

Yeah, they've gnawed into it to sharpen their teeth.

And to keep them not growing too long because they keep growing.

-They can actually get ill if their teeth get too big...

-Yeah.

..so your sticks are perfect for your degus.

Degus need a big metal cage

with lots of space to run around and play and climb and dig.

We take everything out

and throw away all the old hay...

and dirty stuff.

Then we clean the cage.

It's important to use a spray that's safe for small animals

so they don't get sick.

We put in clean woodshavings.

-Good job, Harry.

-I think that's about enough now.

-OK.

If they have lots of it,

they can have a good dig around in it, can't they?

-Yeah, and bury their food.

-Lucky degus.

We put in fresh hay.

-Degus like chewing their hay too, don't they?

-Yeah.

And some new egg boxes

and gobble boxes,

and branches for them to chew on.

These are great.

-These are from my apple tree.

-Oh, lovely. Do we have enough?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Yeah, that looks good.

-Shall we get started on the bottom?

-No, I did that one yesterday.

-Brilliant! Well, shall we get these gloves off?

-Yeah.

Rah! OK, what's next?

-We need to give them food and water.

-OK, shall we start with food?

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

-This is great degu food, isn't it?

-Mhm.

We've got bits of corn in here for treats.

We've got some degu pellets. We've got some grass,

which is great for their teeth, and some seeds and even some dried fruit.

-Shall we fill up their bottle?

-Yeah.

They've even chewed this. Is there anything they don't chew?

-Um, I don't think so.

-No. Come on.

Good.

Here you go, degus.

-Shall we let them in, Harry?

-Yeah.

-See what they think?

Go on, degus.

Look at your house.

Yes!

Yes, he's up there and he's got the corn.

-Go on, Thomas.

-Over here!

-Here we go, come on.

-He's smelling stuff.

Hello.

Look at your nice clean house.

He's found his food.

What do you think the degus think of their nice clean house?

They're thinking, "Ooh, I must run about in this, I must explore,

-I must find new bowls of food."

-I think they love it.

My pet and me!

-What degu is this, Harry?

-It's Rexy.

Why did you name him Rexy?

Because he's kind of like a T-Rex.

-How?

-Because he just stomps around

and he's really adventurous, like a T-Rex.

-Oh, OK. Degus are very curious, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-And they're super clever.

-Yeah.

If your super fast degus could get up to anything...

what do you think they would do?

DRUMROLL

If my pets could do anything, they would swim across the ocean.

They would meet a giant squid...

an electric eel...

and a sea snake.

And they would swim all the way to Chile,

which is where degus come from.

And they would build a giant burrow in the sand.

Harry, what is your favourite thing to do with your degus?

-Them having their sand bath.

-Shall we give them one now?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Sand bath's coming.

Ooh.

Whoa!

Degus love sand baths.

It helps to keep their fur from getting too oily

and keeps them healthy.

If you could take your degus anywhere, where would you take them?

-To the beach.

-Why?

-Because they love having sand baths.

-They do, don't they?

-Yeah.

-Why don't we make a beach here?

-Exactly, we can make one here.

-Shall we do that?

-Yeah.

-OK. Hang on, degus.

Degus need to have special sand called degu dust.

-How about some deckchairs?

-That's good.

We've got three.

Just enough for the degus.

I know what's going to make this really special...

-beach huts!

-Cool!

-Do you think they'll like them?

-Yeah.

Right, Harry, we need to make this safe.

Yeah, let's get their run.

Shall we hide some bits of broccoli around the beach?

That's a nice idea.

In the umbrella garden. What about in a deckchair?

-Yeah. In a house?

-Yep, I'll get that.

-Now let's get the degus.

-Yeah, come on.

Ready, degus? It's your holiday.

Wow!

Go on.

They're loving it.

THEY LAUGH

I think they really like this, Harry.

I do.

You're in the sea!

Scuba-degus!

Wee!

Oh, he's having a bit of a bath now.

They love the sand.

Oh, he's in his house.

He's in the house.

Whoa! THEY LAUGH

Ooh, we've got some broccoli chewing.

Found his treat.

-Hey, he ate it out of the house.

-Oh!

Good find.

I think your degus have really enjoyed their day at the beach

and so have I. Thank you very much for introducing me to them.

-I have loved it.

-That's OK.

-MEOW

-My pet and me!

-Hi, Rory. Hi, Roxy.

-Hi, Ferne. How was your day?

Oh, it was great. I had a brilliant time with my friends.

-That sounds excellent.

-Pets are great, but you shouldn't touch

an animal unless the owner says it's OK first.

Two pets you definitely can play with are ours.

Go to the CBeebies website and play the My Pet And Me game.

What a fantastic time we've had. We just love meeting you and your pets.

# Today we met

# A lovely pet

# We see how much you care for them

# Thank you so much for sharing them

# Time for us to

# Just remind you

# After you play with your pet

-ALL:

-# Wash your hands, don't forget!

# It doesn't matter what pet you've got

# You might have one

# You might not

# It's still fun finding out

# What having a pet is all about

-ALL:

-# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Come back and see

# My pet and me. #

-ALL:

-Bye!

HISS

WOOF

HISS