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Post by gizjaz on Mar 17, 2015 16:25:24 GMT
Hi everyone! I've looked into diet and housing for degus already, so now it's time for some basic questions I'm grouping together.
1. Males or females? Is there a big difference?
2. Taming? Was it hard/long or fairly easy? What did you use for your taming process?
3. How often to offer sand baths? They cannot have real baths with water correct?
4. How often to bring them out for playtime daily?
5. Should I take a few days to not bother them and just let them settle in or are they a pet that won't get stressed like that?
6. What would be a good traveling cage for vet visits/bringing them home when they are adopted?
7. What are some of your degus favorite herbs/veggies?
8. Favorite toys?
9. Bedding? What to use?
Those are some I can think of atm, I may add more later.
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Post by yasmin on Mar 17, 2015 16:48:39 GMT
Let me try and answer some of these questions.
1) No real difference between males and females. However, my males fight more often and more viciously with each other than my females. (Not sure if this is because they are males or because one of my males is just a trouble maker.)
2) I have not tried to tame mine. However, some of them mine are just naturally fearless. All of mine know who I am and greet me.
3) I offer sandbaths at least once or twice a week.
4) Bring them out as much as you can.
5) Spend time with them – let them see you and sniff you. Offer them treats so they get used to you. Maybe wait though until they are very comfortable with you before you try and pick them up. (They generally don't like being picked up; prefer to climb on and sit on you.)
6) I use a solid plastic rodent carrying cage when I bring mine to the vet. It is rounded at all corners and there are no interior edges that the degu can chew at. You can get all metal carrying cages as well but these need to be ordered in usually.
7) Veggies and fresh herbs that my degus love: dandelion (leaves, flowers, roots and all), beet leaves, chard, carrot tops, spinach (don't give too much of this), clover leaves and flowers (not too much of this either), pea shoots, dill, basil, chives, thyme, etc. Check the "Food and Nutrition" section of this site for other veggies/herbs that are well-balanced and good for degus. Each degu will have their own preference. There are also a wide variety of seeds that they love like cumin, dill, fennel, coriander, sesame, and poppy. Try and buy organic if possible.
8) Mine love pumice stones (to chew and carry around), apple sticks, those wood logs that are attached and can be bent, toilet paper tubes, and the larger tubes covered in alfalfa/straw that you can buy at the pet store.
9) I line the trays with packing paper and then top it with Carefresh bedding (sometimes I mix it with Aspen bedding). I also buy these straw mats (made by LivingWorld) to use on top of the ledges in my cage. These are safe to chew.
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Post by jamiee on Mar 17, 2015 16:51:44 GMT
Sorry, I can't answer all of the questions, but here are a few answers. They like tunnels, safe sticks to chew on, and other shop brought chewing products. They need probably at least two houses, and a hammock is great too. I'd recommend one solid based exercise wheel per degu. When you get them, don't take them out or bother them, but stay by the cage and talk to your degus, so they get used to you. Males can be a bit feisty, but it is up to personalities, so I'd personally recommend to get a group of females. What I do with sand is have a bath in the room where they go for free range time, and just leave it out. Never change the dust, just sieve out the poos and food, then add more.
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Post by saddlers on Mar 17, 2015 18:38:41 GMT
Hi everyone! I've looked into diet and housing for degus already, so now it's time for some basic questions I'm grouping together. 1. Males or females? Is there a big difference? 2. Taming? Was it hard/long or fairly easy? What did you use for your taming process? 3. How often to offer sand baths? They cannot have real baths with water correct? 4. How often to bring them out for playtime daily? 5. Should I take a few days to not bother them and just let them settle in or are they a pet that won't get stressed like that? 6. What would be a good traveling cage for vet visits/bringing them home when they are adopted? 7. What are some of your degus favorite herbs/veggies? 8. Favorite toys? 9. Bedding? What to use? Those are some I can think of atm, I may add more later. 1.I find our females tend to be a bit more placid, but that may just be the individuals. 2.Only one of our 10 is what I would call tame, there are another 2 or 3 that like fuss on occasions and probably a couple that just don't like being handled. They will climb on you but are always quite cautious. They are very individual characters 3. I leave my sand baths in the cage all the time, and just sift out debris and top up as necessary 4. I think the more time you can dedicate to them the more they will bond..once they are settled 5. They can be very skittish at first, but no harm with talking to them..just prepare yourself for them to be very weary 6. I have a couple of travel cages, it is just making sure whatever you use is robust..they are great chewers when they want to be!! 7. The JR farm range at zooplus has always been popular with our lot...it is again surprising how different their individual food tastes can be - deguworld.proboards.com/thread/16425/degu-feeding-guide8. Toilet roll tubes with treats in the middle that are then stuffed with hay....wheels....saucers....we have one who loves a plastic ball with a bell in it....none of the others are remotely interested in it, but he has always liked rolling it around - deguworld.proboards.com/thread/18716/accessories-bedding-toy-ideas9. I originally use wood shavings but foudn it quite dusty and messy, we get a lot of people using different products, I really like finacard, it comes in a big bale and is great at absorbing the wee, and not much dust either - deguworld.proboards.com/thread/18716/accessories-bedding-toy-ideas |
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Post by gizjaz on Mar 17, 2015 21:48:43 GMT
Aspen is safe? I read that it was a toxic wood for degus on a topic here somewhere
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Post by littlepaws1999 on Mar 17, 2015 22:32:50 GMT
Aspen is safe? I read that it was a toxic wood for degus on a topic here somewhere Yes normally aspen is safe. Pine and cedar are usually the ones that are unsafe, unless it's kiln dried pine. |
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Post by newtothis on Mar 17, 2015 23:38:12 GMT
Hi everyone! I've looked into diet and housing for degus already, so now it's time for some basic questions I'm grouping together. 1. Males or females? Is there a big difference? I have 3 boys and so far have not seen any 'boy' aggression just usual squabbles over food and toys - (can't say what girl degus are like as I have not looked after girls) 2. Taming? Was it hard/long or fairly easy? What did you use for your taming process? I have tried to tame my three and it has worked to some extent in all 3 but one of them is now much more tamer than the other two but it is still early days. YouTube has some very good videos showing tips for taming degus so I suggest you take a look. I think the success of taming depends on the personality of the degu but regardless of this I am not convinced that you can completely tame degus because after all they are a prey animal and they are also rodents so they will always be super wary of their surroundings. My 'tamist' degu will happily sit on my hand and eat treats squeaking happily and does not care if I lift him up or down or tickle him BUT as soon as he has eaten all his treats he is gone! None of my 3 like to be held still for more than about 5 seconds before they get fed up and wriggle like crazy to get free.3. How often to offer sand baths? They cannot have real baths with water correct? Mine have access to their sand bath all the time but this does mean I use a lot of sand as I need to change it every other day because they start to use it as a toilet. 4. How often to bring them out for playtime daily? I try for everyday for 20 mins or so. I am in the process of getting one of those ferret playpens though as mine have taken a liking to chewing my skirting boards - arrchhh5. Should I take a few days to not bother them and just let them settle in or are they a pet that won't get stressed like that? Good idea to not bother them too much for the first day or so - they are likely to be quite stressed during this time.6. What would be a good traveling cage for vet visits/bringing them home when they are adopted? I will leave that for someone else to answer7. What are some of your degus favorite herbs/veggies? I will leave that for someone else to answer8. Favorite toys? Definitely a running wheel (my 3 have a wheel each - I often see all three wheels going at once)9. Bedding? What to use? I use kitchen role and shredded unused printer paper
Those are some I can think of atm, I may add more later. Hi, I am still quite new to the world of degus - I have had my 3 boys for 7 months now (they are about 9 months old) - see above |
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Post by gizjaz on Mar 18, 2015 1:59:09 GMT
Aspen is safe? I read that it was a toxic wood for degus on a topic here somewhere Yes normally aspen is safe. Pine and cedar are usually the ones that are unsafe, unless it's kiln dried pine. Alright! I must have read something wrong then. |
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Post by duchesstiana on Mar 20, 2015 12:41:49 GMT
Hey, everyone. I just have a couple of questions about my degus. I have had them for about two months now, and when I got them, they were about 2-3 weeks old. They are very interesting and happy but I have some worries. They let me pick them up, they usually sit on my shoulder when I change them food or water, but they seem sometimes pretty scared when I try to come closer to them. they won't let me pet them at all and they run away whenever I try. Can somebody offer me some advice? I tried with giving them food from my hand and placing a T-shirt in their cage so that they can get used to my smell, but somehow I feel that they don't like me. can somebody help me?  thanks in advance. |
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Post by Kins on Mar 20, 2015 13:10:57 GMT
I really hope you didn't get them at 2-3 weeks?!?! With regards to the taming, mine sometimes spook even now and I've had them for years! Some do like to be petted, others will never allow it no matter how tame they are. I'm not sure a degu will ever like or dislike a person, although you are their source of food so that is a major thing to them! When I'm with my 2 I always talk to them so they 'know' I'm there and it helps keep them calm. My Dave loves to be tickled, Nige not so much. Sometimes when I try and tickle him he physically pushes my hand away, he still loves me though  |
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thanks in advance.
