The individual hairs on the upper parts have a white base, a slate-colored middle portion, and a reddish tip. Some of the hairs along the back are completely black. The face and sides of the head are paler and duller in color than the back, except for a poorly defined blackish ring around each eye. The underparts, the insides of the arms and legs, and the hands are white. The slender, coarsely haired tail is distinctly bicolored in one form, slate gray above and white below, but in another form the terminal 25-76 mm of the tail is entirely white.
Females have four mammae.
It constructs leaf and fiber nests in holes or crevices at the base of trees. When frightened it may leap up to 50 cm off the ground using its powerful hind legs, but it normally progresses on all fours across the forest floor in search of prey. It also climbs well. It apparently is crepuscular but may also be active at night or in the late afternoon. During the rainy season in Uganda, Deomys may be found in well-drained areas, but in dry periods the animals concentrate in moist swamps.