My daughter's class has pets, but my daughter can't remember what they're called

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

They’re dirglies, she thinks. Or dinbies. Or maybe it starts with a B. But they’re cute! she assured me.

Apparently, these animals are small, about the size of a hamster, but will grow to be the size of a guinea pig. They’re fuzzy, have small ears, one has a long bald tail and one has a long fuzzy tail, they like to run around in an exercise ball, and they eat guinea pig food. She is adament that they are not gerbils, mice, rats, guinea pigs, chinchillas, hedgehogs, hamsters, or sugar gliders.

So what in the name of all that’s holy are they? This is gonna bug me until I find out, I swear. Does anyone know of any kind of rodent matching the above description, the name of which begins with a D or a B?

2

Are they perhaps Degus?

3

I, too, was going to say degu but Speaker spoke first.

4

I bet that’s exactly it! Thanks; I have never heard of these critters before.

5

I only know them because a girl I liked for years had a pair. They had an amusing habit of cleaning their male anatomy at random times. And let me tell you, “hung like a degu,” relatively speaking, would be quite a compliment.