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Post by linlou on Jun 29, 2015 19:20:18 GMT
Hi all, I got my first Degus 3 weeks ago 2 gorgeous boys named Scratch and Patch and am starting the making friends process. I have not owned Degus before but have had Hamsters, Rats, Gerbils and lived with a friend who had a rescued Degu but he was not handled much. I have read all the posts but cannot find any that mention cleaning out. Each week we are getting better with them but am in a cycle of starting to gain their trust then cleaning out time comes. I spend half an hour chasing them around with a box to move into a box for them to play in. Then I clean out their house while my other half bonds with them. I then spend some time bonding with them in the play box but again have to persuade them to get in the box to go back home as they are not ready to be picked up. Once they are home they are happy but are then scared of us again, it's abit better as will take food through the bars but cannot touch them that much and they will not come onto my hand. I spend a good hour with them everyday and not had a job the last 2 weeks so plenty of time to be chatting to them and they will come to the front to say hello now but once cleaning out time comes again they won't come near me for 2 days  ? How long does this go on for does anyone have any tips please? |
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Post by Bexi87 on Jun 29, 2015 19:29:25 GMT
Unfortunately it can take a while to build up their trust, but it sounds like you are doing the right things.
My original two were adopted from Pets at Home and really weren't fans of humans. My 3 girls I adopted from another member were a lot better at socialising. Hugo, I think due to spending most of his early life alone, tolerated human interaction until he moved in with the girls.
A trick I leant for moving them in and out of their playpen was using a tube, like a toy tube or a Pringles tube. Mine were always much more comfortable walking into a tunnel, they could barely resist! Many escapes ended with me standing guard over a tube!
Good luck!!
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Post by uglibug on Jun 29, 2015 20:09:11 GMT
It also might be worth asking yourself, do they really need to be totally cleaned out every week? We have 3 big cages and they all get a total clean out (removing goos, replacing all the substrate and bedding, disinfecting floors etc) about once every 4 weeks. I know that sounds like a long time but in between we 'litter pick' the cages, cleaning the parts where they do most of their toileting, sweeping off the levels with a little brush, giving them nesting material and taking away what they pull out of their houses, all of which we can do around the goos rather than having to take them out if they aren't feeling sociable (and our girls very rarely feel sociable, lol). Depending on the size and layout of your cage, this might be an easier option for you while you're still bonding.
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Post by deguconvert on Jun 30, 2015 3:13:54 GMT
Clean out can also depend on the size of your cage, if you have substrate on each level, how deep your substrate is. What size/dimensions is your cage, and how many complete levels do you have?
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Post by moletteuk on Jun 30, 2015 10:38:17 GMT
A tube is definitely the way to go for moving them.
What cage do you have? If it's the Pets at Home thickets cage then unfortunately you will soon find it is too small, we recommend something two or three times that size. The good news is that when you have a good, big cage this mean that you can do cleaning one level at a time and that the cage needs cleaning much less often, so it becomes much less of a stress event for the degus.
I can actually really sympathise with you on your situation as we have a similar thing going on with our little roborovski hamster at the moment, it's very frustrating!
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Post by linlou on Jun 30, 2015 17:05:06 GMT
Hi all thanks for the replies, we have the Lazy bones 3 tier house for them.
It doesn't take long to clean but not very practical to clean while they are inside.
I will invest In some Pringles good excuse to eat them. They are getting better each week just feel bad scaring them each time. Also some oats as saw a video on here showing good to start the handling.
Thanks you
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Post by uglibug on Jun 30, 2015 18:41:12 GMT
Our girls started out in a three tier Lazy Bones cage. :-)
You may want to think about expanding in the future, we found that it was too small for them by the time they were a year old. We bought a two tier one and joined them with a pipe, then got a single story one just to square it off and make it look tidy, but they love it now.
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Post by moletteuk on Jul 1, 2015 10:28:46 GMT
I think you and they would benefit from a larger cage, we recommend around double that size for 2 degus, I think it's possible to link two of those cages side by side. Some larger cages you can divide off different areas, eg you can block a hole and limit them to the top while you clean the bottom, and it's really low stress for everyone.
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Post by linlou on Jul 1, 2015 12:37:56 GMT
I got their house on recommendation from friend of a friend who used to have several as the beginner one while they are young, she said easier for them to see and get to know you for the first year. They are very happy my only concern was scaring them each week to clean them. Saying that this week they have been lovely coming to us letting us stroke them while feeding and starting to talk to us  as I am currently off work I think helping as seeing me all day now. May start going to fortnighyly full clean and poo pic as reccomended . Will get the oats to see how they do with starting to lift them. Thank you everyone. |
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Post by animalmadchloe on Jul 5, 2015 13:40:35 GMT
It also might be worth asking yourself, do they really need to be totally cleaned out every week? We have 3 big cages and they all get a total clean out (removing goos, replacing all the substrate and bedding, disinfecting floors etc) about once every 4 weeks. I know that sounds like a long time but in between we 'litter pick' the cages, cleaning the parts where they do most of their toileting, sweeping off the levels with a little brush, giving them nesting material and taking away what they pull out of their houses, all of which we can do around the goos rather than having to take them out if they aren't feeling sociable (and our girls very rarely feel sociable, lol). Depending on the size and layout of your cage, this might be an easier option for you while you're still bonding. We do our large cage every two - three weeks again litter picking poops and cleaning toilet corners |
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Post by animalmadchloe on Jul 5, 2015 13:42:26 GMT
I got their house on recommendation from friend of a friend who used to have several as the beginner one while they are young, she said easier for them to see and get to know you for the first year. They are very happy my only concern was scaring them each week to clean them. Saying that this week they have been lovely coming to us letting us stroke them while feeding and starting to talk to us as I am currently off work I think helping as seeing me all day now. May start going to fortnighyly full clean and poo pic as reccomended . Will get the oats to see how they do with starting to lift them. Thank you everyone. Have you got into a routine of seeing and talking to them every day? In the morning I say goodmorning and give a seed, straight after work I di the same and at bed time, so even if I got have time to.let them.then.out for a play they see me and hear my voice three times a day |
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as I am currently off work I think helping as seeing me all day now. 