Degu Help

[sinfulcindylou]

That's a huge cage...plenty big enough for a small colony of degus...lol. In your cage design, just keep in mind that degus (unlike chins) are climbers, not jumpers, so you'll need ladders and ramps and things to help get them between levels. I've used large branches before. They work nice, but do get peed on.

I thought it would be ok, but like to check I''m a huge believer in the bigger the better.
I'm planning on making all of the ramps from each level out of pine so they could be chewed or easily replaced (replacing ramps in a melamine cage would be easier than full shelves for me). I found a little pet store here that sells some awesome bird toys for other climbing options too.

What's the rule on plastic for degus? I figured since it was a no-no for the chins that it would also be bad for the degus, but I've seen tons of pics w/ plastic houses, bird toys, etc in their cages.

 

[tunes]

Mine don't seem to bother the plastic, but, I use PVC pipe. It takes a bit more energy to get through than a small hidey house.

 

[arf2184]

My degus don't chew as much as the chins (they do chew though). They have a PVC tube that they've had for years and haven't put much of a dent in it. I still prefer to avoid plastic though...mainly because I find most of that stuff overpriced and from China (who knows what's in it).

 

[sinfulcindylou]

Ok a couple more questions.
1) do you notice more of a smell since they do urinate more frequently and apparently all over the place? lol
2) does their poo stink since their diet is slightly different than that of a chins? and is it pellets like the chins so i could just vacuum it up?
3) is your bedding deep enough for them to burrow in? I looked around for someone to make me a pan for a cage and the highest I can get made is 3" which isn't deep enough for them to burrow in Im sure.

 

[tunes]

1) No, I don't. I change their cage the same time I do the chins, once a week, and I have noticed no appreciable odor, other than what I would expect after a week's time. Mine also don't pee all over. They pretty much keep it in the cage.
2) Poo is pretty much the same as chins, so it's easy to clean up. I can't say as I've really held it up to my nose to take a huge whiff of it, but again, when cleaning cages I don't notice it.
3) I use a tall superpet cage, so the base is probably 6 inches high? They definitely enjoy burrowing in. Have you considered contacting Bass? They can make pans to most heights. It might be a bit more expensive to get a deeper pan, but it would be worth it to me to keep some of the mess in.

 

[arf2184]

I clean cages once a week. I do sometimes (not always) notice more odor from the degus cage. This is usually when they've shifted their shaving around and then peed in a spot where there was no shaving to absorb it. Poo is like the chins, as said.

My degus are in a wire cage with a 2" deep pan, so no burrowing in the bedding. I do give them paper shreds that they pile in the corner and burrow into. They love arranging the paper shreds just right, though they don't always agree on what should go where. Its fun to watch one of the girls undo what the other just did.

 

[sinfulcindylou]

Yeah I checked w/ bass and w/ the guy that is local here that made my chin pans and the deepest they can go is 3inches. I think I'm gonna go check out Home Depot soon and see about a heavy duty plastic bin to put inside the cage (I'll just build the cage around that lol). Since there aren't any degus currently in any shelters or rescues here, or on CL I have some time to get this all figured out.


Arf, what kind of paper shreds? like plain ripped up paper towels?

 

[arf2184]

Nope, just shredded white paper. (shredded as in ran through the paper shredder) I used to donate it to the humane society when we had a bag of it, but they've stopped using it so now it goes to the degus.