Degu-proofing a run. Opinions?

[vchan000]

Hello all!

I'm new here, and the proud new (3 weeks or so) pet to a pair of male Degus. Ozymandias and Machiavelli call a single unit critter nation cage home, and I'm looking to add an evening time 'come and go' run for them when one of their humans is in the living room to make sure they don't flee the coop.  We've had one unauthorized walkabout already that turned into 45minutes of 'ring around the couch'  Mack had a blast.

The boys (they're 'the boys' when they're good.  They're the 'wee s#!^s' when they're not) seem happy enough, but I'm all for spoiling them rotten and want to give them even more space to make a mess in. We don't have the room to give them an entire room, but I wanted to float some run ideas past you knowledgeable folks and see what your opinions are.

First of all, we have the "All Living Things Small Animal Playpen" for them.  Sixteen 11"x24" interlocking wire panels which we set up as a 33" wide by 55" long fenced area in the middle of the living room.  They and their toys go in the pen when it's time to clean their cage, and one of us spends our time stopping them from climbing right out of it while the other washes everything.

We're looking to attach 15cm of clear 3mm acrylic to the top edge of the playpen panels to deny them pawholds as they try and climb out of the pen.  Do you think this is sufficient?

The second question is the 60cm height enough they just can't jump it? 

Would putting down a cloth or a fleece before setting up the cage as flooring be alright, even if I know the wee... boys will be chewing and trying to drag it around?

For the entrance exit to the critter nation cage, I was thinking of cutting an acrylic panel the size of the door, with an aluminum insert added to it (Think dryer vent) and a tube/tunnel leading down to the floor of the play area.  That way I can swing the door wide open and replace that wall of the cage to keep them where they should be. Thoughts?

Toys for the run area would include a 5.5 gallon aquarium sand dig pit, cardboard tubes and some chew blocks.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this project.

[moletteuk]

This is what we normally recommend for a playpen deguworld.proboards.com/thread/7310
I'm afraid the pictures are missing at the moment, but it's basically squares of wood connected with hinges, so it is self supporting and folds away for storage. There is a discussion in there about height, it depends a lot on how keen your degus are on jumping, anywhere between 60 and 100cm is appropriate, some degus can jump 60cm clear.

Since you already have the wire pen, you may be able to make it work, but i wouldn't spend too much time or money on it when a wooden one is pretty simple to make. The perspex tops sound like a really good idea, I woulnd't have thought of it, it sounds like it might work, you would need to make sure they can't climb up the joins. They may want to chew the perspex. Another idea is to get a cover, but it would need to fit firmly all the way round, and it's less fun if you can't interact with them or see them properly.

The acrylic panel instead of the door may work, you need to make sure they can't get to any edges of it or they will chew holes in no time. Also, it's quite difficult to work with if you need to use screws and brackets to hold it in position and add the 'vent' hole. Perhaps wood would work better. It is definitely worth connecting the cage to the pen though, they will feel safer this way, you are on the right track there.

A smooth cloth might work for a base, although as you say, they might get a bit fixated on it, or large sheets of carboard can work or even a sheet of lino.

We normally recommend something like the double critter nation, and also extending the half shelves into full ones, or if you are into DIY you could making something fabulous yourself, I think there is an extension add on that might convert your single CN into a double. Most people rethink their whole setup within a few weeks or months so give yourself a bit of time to watch how they use space and work out what suits you and them. We have loads of pics for inspiration in the 'show us your cage thread' deguworld.proboards.com/thread/6918/show-cage?page=32

[vchan000]

Thanks for the reply!

Ping (their other human) and I have discussed the add on to the critter nation cage already to turn it into a double, but it's going to be a while before we get there. That's part of why I want to do an evening play area for them on the living room floor. He was also concerned about them trying to eat the acrylic, so we're going to edge it with aluminum 'u' channel to avoid giving them a grip.

As we build this (and it'll be a bit, things are pretty hectic right now) I'll try and post pictures of the work in progress as well as the finished product. At the very least I'll post how long it takes them to find ways around the degu-proofing!

[moletteuk]

I'd love to hear how you get on, it's great to hear how new ideas work out If you can't find aluminium of the exact profile and size you want, you should be able to buy sheets and cut and fold them yourself if you have the right tools.

You could improve the Critter Nation for now by extending the half shelf to full or nearly full area size.

You may find our materials guide of interest deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17316/cage-materials

[jos]

I don't know if it's worth trying to test whether 60cm is high enough with some type of temporary cardboard playpen before committing to your design, if it turns out you have a 'jumper', I think you'll definitely need to go higher. 2 of mine are not interested in jumping out at all but Belle could jump 60cm easily at 12 weeks old and she thought it was great fun so my first playpen soon became redundant! Sounds really good though, I'd certainly be interested to see the results! They will also try to stand on toys to help them jump higher, Belle tried very hard to stand on the top of the flying saucer, until she realised the flaw in that plan!

[moletteuk]

Maybe you could use cable ties to attach thick cardboard height extenders to the panels to figure out how high they will jump before you spend more money?