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Post by moletteuk on Oct 16, 2016 10:43:00 GMT
Great, how are they liking it?
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Post by detritus on Oct 17, 2016 6:01:49 GMT
They are really liking it, but just sticking to the upper floor for most of the time. Also, two seem to be fighting a lot so I guess a new cage has reset their herd hierarchy and they need to establish the leader again.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 18, 2016 10:32:49 GMT
Hope they settle for you soon.
Maybe you could put some essential stuff on the lower floor to lure them down a bit more, maybe the wheel or a cosy nest box or food or forage/ hay.
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Post by sarahraisin on Oct 18, 2016 11:34:51 GMT
That looks great which one did you go for in the end? the adventura?
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Post by detritus on Oct 18, 2016 21:03:57 GMT
Liberta 2nd Edition Explorer
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Post by detritus on Oct 18, 2016 22:46:16 GMT
What do you guys put at the bottom of these type of big cages? I always used corn granulate litter, and in my previous cage a 10l bag was enough for 3 refills which lasted for a month, but now I used the whole bag in one go and feel it won't last for more than 1.5 weeks!
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Post by winic1 on Oct 18, 2016 23:42:33 GMT
We use wood chips, many use kiln-dried pine chips, I use aspen (a hardwood) chips, but they're easy to find here and no more expensive. Never use cedar, that wonderful smell is actually toxic chemicals evaporating from the cedar wood.
Bird keepers are dead-set against corn litter. When wet, it grows mold, which is very bad for little lungs. Haven't noticed degu people saying that, but I would expect it's the same?
With luck, and whatever time they need to get settled in their new cage, they will choose just a few areas to pee in. This means that only some parts of the substrate will get wet and need to be removed frequently. Areas that are dry can be left, or re-distributed. If you toss it a bit, the poos, which are dry, drop to the bottom, and the good chips stay on top, so you can lift that off and put it back. It also helps for maintaining dominance hierarchy to leave some substrate unchanged, so the whole cage doesn't lose their smell all at once.
Also, with a very large cage, it doesn't get so dirty so fast, so it doesn't need a full cleaning that often. If you spot clean the pee areas, and toss out the poos on occasion, the cage stays clean and not-smelly. When you get to the point where the substrate just doesn't seem to have good areas anymmore, then it's time to change.
My guys immediately pull all their hay out of the hay-jar and mix it into the chips on one side of two levels. It gets really deep and fluffed up. They don't seem to pee in these places, and even do less poos, so we commonly re-use that mixed substrate. Often we move it to the areas that get more soiled, and put fresh stuff in where it was, so that we are rotating new & fresh stuff throughout the cage.
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 19, 2016 1:41:54 GMT
Thank you for that information about corn litter, Winic!! That is something I did not know! Definitely a substrate to stay away from!!
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surfingcat
Warbling Degu
The boys are here :)
Posts: 30
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Post by surfingcat on Oct 19, 2016 11:07:59 GMT
We've got the same cage and were recommended green mile recycled cardboard mixed with carefresh (on offer for £4.50 a 14l bag in Pets at home at the moment) from the rescue centre we got them from. Bought the same so they had something familiar but will try the Finacard as that is cheaper and much the same I think. We got a 2kg bag of the green mile and have used about half and about half a bag of carefresh but made it deep in the bottom so they could burrow a little. Have only had Degu a week and a half so can't say how long it lasts but so far with a bit of spot cleaning cage still smells fine. Thanks for the info@winic1.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 19, 2016 16:37:43 GMT
I use Fitch (v similar to carefresh but much cheaper) and aubiose hemp chips that I can buy from a pet/equestrian place locally in massive sacks for less than £10. More reviews here: deguworld.proboards.com/thread/8754/cage-bedding-reviewsHopefully if they choose some regular potty locations you can do spot cleaning of those and extend full cleanouts to 3 weeks or so, it depends how deep you place the substrate and how into potty areas they become.
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Post by detritus on Oct 19, 2016 17:02:51 GMT
Interesting. In Poland (where I'm from) corn litter was most highly recommended to me on the most popular forum. Thanks for the insights!
winic1 - any chance you could share a link to exactly which wood chips do you buy?
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Post by winic1 on Oct 19, 2016 20:16:06 GMT
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Post by saggy on Oct 20, 2016 23:17:34 GMT
You can get hemp chips quite cheaply on zooplus
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