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Post by pepsimax on Apr 19, 2007 20:01:15 GMT
I am a bit of a newbie to Degus and have got 2 lovely boys called Pepsi and Max.
Pepsi has taken to pulling at the bars in thier cage, now I am not worried he will get through or anything because we have fairly sturdy cage but want to make sure it's not anything I should worry about.
I have checked his teeth and they are a lovely yellow color and he seems healthy enough but he does seem to do it alot.
It is not something Max does just Pepsi. I have tried putting wood chews in front of where he pulls but he either moves them out of the way or does it somewhere else.
DO I need to worry?
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laurieb
Burrowing Degu
Love My Goos!
Posts: 175
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Post by laurieb on Apr 19, 2007 20:28:49 GMT
Before having to move our degus to a 1 story home (because of babies), we had them in a wire cage. Willy would sound like a jackhammer! It was horrible, but at least he didn't do it at night! Lilly would never do it, and Milly, just sometimes. I tried new wood pieces, wood toys, all kinds of things. Nothing worked. I'm not sure they are going back to the wire cage once the pups are older.
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gooey
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 174
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Post by gooey on Apr 20, 2007 3:44:39 GMT
they are not called the termites of the critter world for nothing! ;D my boys think everything needs to be nibbled to see if it is good for eating. the night i hung up the hammock for the first time, before i got the last corner up Tiki had chewed through the first corner and then couldn't understand why he rolled out of the hammock when he climbed in it!
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Post by missyironheartz on Apr 27, 2007 13:19:50 GMT
Hello! I just got 3 wonderful brothers named Nutty, Pacino and Raziel. They are sooo cute and aweseome! However, I do have a bitof concern...One the Degu (more likely Raziel) keeps trying to chew the wheel off the cage. Its like he's trying to pull it off or to get it turning. He would run to one "end" and pull/turn the wheel backward by running backwards and then repeats this again and again. Hewould attempt doing this while others are trying to run inside the wheel!
Is this something I should be concerned about? Are they trying to tell me they need a new wheel? They came with everything in it.
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Post by Sunshinemeg on Apr 27, 2007 14:24:10 GMT
wouldnt be concerned, slightly cross maybe but not concerned! degus can be very distructive when they get an idea in their heads, and that looks like what is happening here!
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wazioc
Newborn Degu
Loki and Peanut
Posts: 18
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Post by wazioc on Jul 16, 2007 12:04:58 GMT
My degus live in a cage made of metal mesh around the top and a large plastic tub on the bottom... Its actually a feeding trough I believe (sorry no pics on me right now) But Loki has always been into chewing on everything, and I think Peanut is starting to learn from her. Some how she managed to scuff up a spot in the cage enough that she could chew on it. Its flat so I'm still not sure how she does it. Anyway, the tub on the bottom now has 2 holes One in the corner about the size of a quarter and one in the bottom about the size of a half dollar. It took her multiple days of chewing to get those.
Last night I went to my room to go to bed and there was one degu in the cage, and one on top... Loki had managed to chew a hole big enough for her to fit through in a different corner of the cage, but this one she did all in one day. I blocked it off with some sticks and rocks... she was not happy at all, she was doing everything in her power to get back to that hole. She kept me up for 3 hours last night chewing non stop on EVERYTHING I put in her way... she was pulling rocks off, so I put a piece of PVC in there to hold them in place, she started chewing on that so I put another rock on top of it, she pulled the rock off and kept chewing, I put a bigger rock and wedged it in so she couldnt move it, so she started chewing on the other end of the PVC...
So very frustrating... I only got 4 hours of sleep last night thanks to Loki, and now I'm not sure what to do since she knows she can chew her way out... Its not like their cage is too small, just the grass is greener on the other side. If I let them out more often, I feel they will get bored of that just as quickly and then be trying to escape and run around my room, then if thats not enough, they'll try and get out into the rest of the house... Which is why I usually dont let them out unless I'm sitting there focusing my full attention on them so they cant escape. It's like they are never happy... I wouldnt be so worried about em if they didnt chew on EVERYTHING... my dresser, my bed, paint chips, duct tape, books... any idea what I should do?
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Post by listracian on Jul 18, 2007 11:19:46 GMT
Plastic cages aren't good. They can chew through a plastic cage in a night if they want to. Best thing to do is get a glass aquarium or a metal bar cage or they might continue to escape.
I don't think you can stop them chewing, I have tried everything to get them to stop chewing on things, they chewed through my mattress! I just give my girls loads of toys and cardboard. Shoeboxes are great, especially if they have a little food in them or any sort of cardboard boxes seems to keep them occupied for a while.
Good Luck though, they don't seem to ever stop chewing!
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vireo
Foraging Degu
Posts: 51
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Post by vireo on Jul 20, 2007 4:14:52 GMT
Many degus chewed at bars, which is why I made my degu's an acrylic cage.... it's smooth all the way around so that they cannot chew their way out, and they can't reach the top to chew at that either. I just made a lid out of small cage mesh just in case! Plus it keeps in all of the litter!
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