heat and daylight bulb - what watt?

[shell13]

Hi, I have just been advised by my vet to get a daylight bulb and heat bulb but I have no idea what watt to get. Anyone use them and what watt have u used because I know degus don’t sweat so don’t want him to overheat!!!

Any advice would be great, thanks!!

[emz]

You don't need to use a specific type of lamp. I personally just use a small florescent light that is custom built into my DIY cage. It may increase the cage by about 1-2 Celsius, nothing major. You can just use a regular lamp and sit it on top of your cage if you have a mesh one and shine the light down to a shelf etc.

It is useful to simulate a better day/night and can help get them to sleep better at night times. It is not a necessity but they do also quite enjoy it like if it's a lamp they will bathe under it on cooler nights. I have read sites that do say the light can help improve lifespan as they sleep/wake at better times.

As long as the room they're in is around 17-23 Celsius they're fine.

[Bexi87]

Emz, is your bulb a UV one?

[emz]

Nope I don't use UV light. If you don't need added heat I'd just suggest a regular fluorescent light or a daylight bulb both do not (or should not) generate any real heat. With a regular lamp it'll probably warm up a little though like I said before. I wouldn't suggest UV lighting specially as degus cannot self regulate and UV radiation depending on the type of bulb can be unhealthy. Some are safe depending on the type of UV light is uses but it is best to just avoid it. For warmth I'd personally just give them more bedding, use a heat lamp for a little bit each day (only in really cold houses below 15 Celsius) or those warmers you can buy for pets that are like little hot water bottles.

[shell13]

Thanks that was helpful. The cage I have is an open wire cage so I just did not want him to get to cold. He also has bad teeth and the vet said that he could need uvb to help him absorb more vit D. What are ur thoughts on this?

[emz]

Never heard that before. Tooth health is more determined by their diet. It sounds like you may only have one degu? This might also be an explanation for poor health if that is the case. The vast majority of degus do not cope on their own well and it can cause their physical and mental health to deteriorate.

If you do have more or intend to get more disregard that though. I think that tooth health can be mostly fixed with diet. What kind of problem is it? Are they just not dark enough? A degus teeth once they're reaching half a year or so should darken to a nice orange colour, which shows that they have a good diet. A younger degu may have lighter teeth as it takes a while for the enamel to change colour. If they are getting too long then he could benefit from more harder things to chew such as a rare treat like walnuts with hard shells and so on. Lots of chew toys are great for degu teeth. Some degus just have teeth that are misaligned etc. and this causes them to get too long regardless - a monthly clipping is usually the only real ideal solution luckily that is not overly expensive to do just make sure if you do it the vet has experience with degus. For example never let them remove a degus teeth.

As for diet. They need a lot of hay. Most people use Timothy hay but you can vary it to meadow hay and other types (chinchillas2shop's website has some great variety for hay on it.) Changing it up can keep them more interested in their hay. Also make sure you're using a good feed like if you live in the UK the Pets at Home degu nuggets are very good. Around 10g a day for an adult is a good amount if you like being given a figure to work with. Most people vary the rules after a while to suit their degus tastes.

For the cold, just get your fella a nice slumber tunnel (such as the stuff from fuzzbutts or hammockyhammocks) and give them a lot of tissue to play with. They will shred it up and make a bed to keep themselves warm. You don't want a degu cage to be too warm as they cannot self regulate their temperature I believe they do not sweat.

[shell13]

yer his teeth are a dark yellow colour but they are misaligned. Just want to make sure there is nothing els I can do.
He is on his own I was thinking about getting him a friend but I got him from a reptile shop and he was on his own and they had no idea how old he is. I just don’t want to make him unhappy if he does not get on with them. You would not have any advice on introducing a younger male to an older one?
u have been a gr8 help, thank u!!

[deguconvert]

A full spectrum light will work fine, and you can find those in the florescent bulbs. If he is needing to make more Vit. D, that should be enough true light to help with that.