My name is Chloe Long, and in 2002 I founded the concept of Degutopia. ^That's me with the degu on my shoulder^! It all started when I rescued an animal that I'd never heard of before to stop him going to the RSPCA centre. I tried to find information on the little fellow and saw a big chasm of knowledge just waiting to be filled! Back then, not only was it hard to find out about degu care, but a lot of the information out there was conflicting and dubious at best. Being a scientist, I collected together all the scientific papers, research and knowledge about degus from around the world, and put it all together on this site for everyone to use.

Degutopia is now so much more than the best source for degu information on the web. As an organisation, Degutopia helps to improve the lives of degus all over the world by providing accurate, scientific information given by the founder (that's me!), members, scientists and researchers worldwide. I myself am also involved in my own degu research and data collection, some of which can be actively contributed to by every degu owner with access to the internet- including behaviour, vocalisations, age, health, growth and genetic research, as well as leading new areas of interest found along the way. Degutopia is currently the only international degu organisation to offer a comprehensive degu registration scheme, open to all degus, to create a working pedigree- and it is of course free to anyone owning one of these lovely creatures!

I'm a biologist researching animal behaviour and bioacoustics, and (amongst other things) I'm currently involved with degu vocalisation research. You can keep up to date with my findings by visiting the sounds page. Although a scientist at heart, I always ensure that the welfare of the degu comes first- you won't find anyone out there who cares more passionately about degus!

Now that you know more about the founder of Degutopia, why not assist her in her quest for improving degu life by taking some of our surveys and registering your degus?

IMPORTANT UPDATE

In January 2015, Chloe was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic adenocarcinoma, with a huge mass in her liver. After battling with the disease for nearly 5 years, Chloe passed away on 8th September 2019. Chloe was a wonderful wife to Jim, daughter to Phil and Megs and sister to Simon. She loved animals and it was always a joy to see her burst out laughing whenever she saw an elephant shrew on a wildlife documentary, however dark the current situation. Chloe's interest in wildlife was very active. Her great passion was the degu of course. She researched their behaviour as well as developing this Degutopia website, an information source for the owners of pet degus. Chloe's PhD research was about the interactions of bats and wind turbines and how they might be improved. She could often be found in the countryside taking photos of wildlife. Chloe's passing left a hole in all our lives.
This website is a memorial to Chloe's work.Please help us to raise money to conserve wildlife globally in Chloe's memory Chloe's WWF page
Thank you for your continued support!