Cage Size help - buying a new one.

[littlemonster]

Ok, my 7 girls now aren't in as big a cage as ideal. After Christmas I'll be in the position I can move them into a bigger one.

I'm looking at something like this: www.johnhopewell.co.uk/default.asp?template=productdetail.page.xml&productId=226 -  I have a chinchilla one and it's awesome, and for the size I need, at least it'll last. Obviously he makes custom sizes. The cages aren't cheap, but I've had degu for 10 months and am taken, so I think the cage may be in use for a long time

My questions are:
1) Is 18" deep enough or do they really need 24"?
2) Are 18" high levels plenty? I think so as it'll give plenty of running space, but I don't know.
3) How many 36" x 24" or 36 x 18" levels would they need to be enough? It's whether 3 levels would be plenty or if I'd need the 4 (only asking because I'm short... but I can manage if needed!).

Obviously they'd be kitted out with shelves, I could easily fit a third wheel in, maybe accidentally get a 4th!

I've looked at buying standard and modifying but it seems like getting lots of floor space is still going to cost anyway. Thanks for thoughts

[moletteuk]

36x24" = 91x61cm = 5550sqcm per floor.

For our cage size recommendations we say 3 degus should have 15,000sqcm and then we add 4,000 for each extra degu, so this works out at 31,000sqcm for 7 degus. That would be almost six levels of 24x36".

Personally, I've never had a big group of degus, but I would imagine that the harmony and stability of the group would influence how much more space they need than a regular group of 3 or 4.

I've seen a cage that was sort of a double width Xtrail/Explorer/Aventura type thing but with a bit bigger bar spacing, I think, I'm afraid I don't know what it was called. The Hopewell cages seem to be very well made, but get into crazy money for very large cages.

In answer to your specific questions, you definitely need 24" deep just because you need so much space, any deeper than that gets difficult to reach to the back to clean, and 18" gets quite narrow once you have a wheel and a nest at the back. 18" is about right for shelf spacing, but it depends how deep your wheels are as you need clearance below for substrate, it can help to have one or two deeper levels to accomodate wheels and you can get away with one or two shallower ones, but that is limited by reaching to the back to clean.

Hope that helps a bit, I'm sure the thought of 5 or 6 levels at 36x24" is making you a bit bug eyed right now!

[moletteuk]

I think this is the cage I was thinking of, it's not actually double width www.cagesworld.co.uk/p/Ferret_and_Chinchilla_High_Rise_Cage.htm If you extended the part shelves to full width, the four levels would add up to 24,800sqcm. You can buy an add on layer for it, which would then take you to 37,000 (for 6 levels) or 31,000 if you left the part shelf in the add on (5 levels).

...OK I've just seen it comes in a three storey version www.cagesworld.co.uk/p/Chinchilla_or_Ferret_3_level_Cage.htm

The bar spacing is 1" so should be OK for adult degus. The shelves are plastic so there would be DIY to do on all the levels. An advantage of this cage is that it is over 1m wide.

[deguconvert]

Our cage is 24 X 60, and has three complete full sized levels, along with ramps, jumping/resting ledges etc. At one point we had 14 females in there, which is a lot more than is recommended, but they were a very happy group for all the time they were together. We rehomed 10 of them almost a year ago, and we are down to four. Seems rather empty, LOL, but they are still a happy lot. I could not imagine having the cage any less then 24 inches. That space is so important to the well being of the degus.

[littlemonster]

Thanks all. They lived in a tiny 3 level critter for a long time, even in their current cage they're happy little things, having 2 wheels helps. They're somewhat small girls, I assume due to lack of nutrition when growing or wherever they were born, I think anything over 20mm bar spacing would be pushing it. I may just be being over protective. The cages work out cheaper, but buying metal trays is going to add a lot too. I think any option is going to be an expensive investment.

Those high rise cages would only have about 12" levels with full extended shelves I think (used to have one for rats), I was assuming trying to put a half width platform in 1 or 2 of the 36x24x18" high levels. I just don't have the space for longer, sadly, can do the 24" deep though . The one I had (explorer) was 22" deep so the custom would be slightly deeper.

Harmony wise they've only ever squabbled over food. Early on if any were nervous of me and squeaked the others grouped to protect her. Which is very, very adorable They always sleep in 1 large group, there's never been any issues. Some had small injuries when they came like ears being nibbled, but nothing has happened since they settled. They're contented little things really.