Most people walk away from a steady job for a promotion or a better salary. Lee Shepherd walked away from his to make wooden toys and sugar-free treats for degus, a small South American rodent that most of Britain has never encountered. And he has never looked back.
Shepherd, 49, lives in Stoke-on-Trent and shares his home with 17 degus spread across multiple large cages in his living room and a dedicated room elsewhere in the house. What began as a practical solution to finding suitable products for his unusual pets has grown into a full-time online business called Totally Degu that ships specialist products to rodent owners across the country.
The story starts simply enough. Shepherd is allergic to cats and dogs so when he and his family moved into their home and wanted a pet they had to look beyond the obvious options. They discovered degus and quickly fell in love with them. Originally from Chile degus are small sociable rodents with long silky fur and an active temperament. They adjust their sleep patterns to match their owners and can be taught basic commands. Shepherd describes them as ideal pets for people who want an animal that genuinely interacts with them.
The problem was that products designed specifically for degus were almost impossible to find in 2013 when he first started looking. Degus have a specialist diet and cannot eat anything containing sugar. They are also allergic to several common wood types which rules out most standard pet shop toys. Shepherd started making his own.
He built cage platforms, see-saw tunnels, tubes and bamboo toys for his degus to climb on and chew. Chewing is not optional for degus as their teeth grow continuously throughout their lives and need to be worn down regularly. He began selling his handmade products on eBay and orders grew steadily.
At the time he was working a job he did not enjoy and when the side business became too busy to manage alongside full-time work he made a decision. He gave up the job and committed to the business entirely.
He runs the operation from a garden office and said it generates enough to cover his costs and care for his own animals. He is honest about its scale. It is not a booming enterprise but it is sustainable and it is his.
He also points out that the products he makes are suitable for other small rodents including rats, hamsters and gerbils which opens up a wider market beyond the degu community. But degus remain his speciality and his passion.
For Shepherd the business and the pets are inseparable. The living room cages and the spare room full of rescues are not just a hobby that got out of hand. They are the reason the whole thing exists. He set out to care properly for animals that most of the pet industry had ignored and ended up building a small business around that gap.
It is the kind of story that does not involve venture capital or viral moments. Just a man who was allergic to dogs, fell in love with a Chilean rodent and decided that was reason enough to change his life.
