TORTURE BREEDING with DEGUS

Short and sweet

Torment breeding is cultivation forms that lead to health restrictions.

Agony breeding Wikipedia 

In the meantime, the "breeding mania" has unfortunately also reached degus, not only because of the colors, no also because of the condition of the fur or even the lack of fur - hairless. The animals have to follow more and more absurd ideals of beauty from us humans. The animals always pay the price, because: animals from torture breeding usually suffer for the rest of their lives.

In degus fur changes have unfortunately occurred which were reproduced by inbreeding, this fur change is called Rex fur , as a result of which, unfortunately, naked degus have also occurred.

Torture Breeding Problems - Why You Shouldn't Support Them

Rex fur

• Due to the mutation that causes a wavy coat , which changes not only the coat but the entire skin structure. Due to the nature of the fur, the animals can overheat at warmer temperatures.
• Many degus, but not all, have shortened, curled and / or even completely missing whiskers.  For degus and small animals in general, however, their whiskers are extremely important for orientation. They use them as a distance meter and to explore their immediate surroundings. If the whiskers are deformed in any way, this severely limits their function. In Germany, the breeding of deformed or missing whisker hairs is already expressly prohibited in cats, but not in many small animals, although small animals suffer from the same restrictions as cats.
• Curved hair on body orifices (the anogenital region) but also the mouth and eyes can lead to permanent irritation and inflammation and the hair can grow in.
• When  changing fur  , problems can arise, so that degus are temporarily completely or partially bald / blotchy  or the fur is no longer permanently formed to cover the body. Because of this, it can happen temporarily or permanently that the body temperature can only be maintained with exertion and the animals therefore have to consume enormous amounts of food and are more susceptible to colds. 

Images come from Facebook, so there is no legal restriction on distribution.

Naked / hairless

• Naked breeding is caused by another  genetic defect  that is caused by the existing Rex fur defect. If you cross bare animals, their offspring are often not viable.
• Naked breeding are immune to weakness and suffer from diseases more quickly. According to the Animal Welfare Association, they are predestined for skin diseases, allergies or sunburn and also without protection against temperature fluctuations. In addition , the animals often lack their vital whisker hair around the snout. Whiskers are extremely important for all animals so that they can orient themselves. If this hair is bred away or curled, it is like the  Erna Graff Foundation  (here on the subject of cats) according to the lack of a complete sensory organ.
• Disturbed social behavior,  as the animals can no longer interact via their whiskers.

Images come from Facebook, so there is no legal restriction on distribution.

There is as yet no scientific evidence or research on the subject of torture breeding for degus, but the probability is high that the problems mentioned apply to degus as well as to other small animals or animals in general. Therefore this cultivation form should not be supported.

Other rodents are also affected by torture breeding, here are just a few examples:

• Long-haired rodents: angora rabbits, long-haired mice
• Tailless rodents: Manx rats, Bobtail rats, Manx mice
• Animals with strongly curled fur and whisker hair: rex rats, rex mice, teddy mice
• Hairless rodents with missing whisker hair: skinny guinea pigs, naked hamsters, naked rats

Please inform yourself thoroughly in advance on the Internet where you get your animals from before you support such an animal and the associated torture breeding. When purchasing an animal from torture breeding, it is not only the animal that suffers, but also your wallet: Many overbred animals often have to go to the vet and accordingly cost a lot of money. In addition, you support a person who earns money at the expense of the animals. Such animals should never be bred with. Of course, nothing speaks against taking animals from torture breeding as an emergency (free of charge) and offering them the best possible life. 

Never buy an animal out of pity!

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