Hey all, fresh degu-owner here

[Inge]

Hi everyone,

My name is Inge, I live in Holland and since februari 1st I own two male degus. Their names are Plato and Socrates(yes, like the philosphers ;D). I also own two cats, a white longhaired lady called Zazou and a black and white tough-girl called Pukkie. Nice to meet you all.

Since, I'm here, I'd like to ask you all a question:
What size does a degu running wheel need to be? I recently ordered a 20cm wheel, dunno the inches, I'm hoping that's enough? Also, I've heard that animals can become 'addicted' to their running wheel, does anyone have any tips on this subject?

Thanks!

[Inge]

Forgot pic

[Deleted]

Hello Inge, and welcome to the forum! Love the names of your degus. How old are they?

I believe a good size for a wheel to be around 28-30 cm in diameter for adults. Otherwise they may end up with back
problems after a while Also, try and get a wheel with a solid running surface and not spokes,
as they can get their tails caught in the spokes.

My degus love their wheels and use them regularly. It is very popular and they used to argue about who got to use it.
I have also got flying saucers (one hard plastic and one home-made of wood), and they are extremely popular with all my degus

Storm

[Inge]

Thanks for your response.

Hm, well then the good news is they can probably use them for a little while, they're both still 'puppies' so to speak, Plato at least was ten weeks old when I got him two weeks ago, Socrates I'm not sure.

I got the Karlie Wonderland wheel,
www.zooplus.nl/shop/knaagdieren_kleinedieren/kooiuitrusting/loopwielen/130295
I'll bet they have that in Norway, too

Hm, home made, sounds good, I have some wooden plates that would do great for a DIY-Flying Saucer. How many degus do you have?

[amie]

Unfortunately the size you ordered (20cm) is too small and they'll quickly outgrow it. Saying that, when I first had degus, I got the wrong sized wheel too, but it was ok for about a month until they started getting bigger. While they were very small, it worked. The smallest sized wheel for degus is 30cm.

What cage do you have them in?

The pics are lovely

[Deleted]

We do have that in Norway I think, but it's insanely expensive
I made my saucer from stuff I got at IKEA and some spare planks. I'm going to post a guide on
how to make one very soon I have four degus right now - got two last September and adopted
two more only last week. They are wonderful pets and companions and I have had so much joy
from them ^^

[Inge]

They've got a glass house, which is safest since I have cats. The top is made of aluminium with small holes, so that there's enough ventilation. I use cat litter and woodchips for the floors, cleaning it twice a week -you can tell they're guys, after two days the place looks like a bachelorpad ;D. I change the decor a little every week, they always love it when I do, they run around chirping and sniffing everything!
How about yours?

[Inge]

Feb 13, 2012 14:51:11 GMT @stormsong said:

We do have that in Norway I think, but it's insanely expensive
I made my saucer from stuff I got at IKEA and some spare planks. I'm going to post a guide on
how to make one very soon I have four degus right now - got two last September and adopted
two more only last week. They are wonderful pets and companions and I have had so much joy
from them ^^

Haha it's expensive here too, I got a lucky break there though on the price;) I'm looking forward to the guide, especially since they'll probably grow out of this wheel very soon. And yes they are great pets, they're so live and fun and fearless

[amie]

Wow.... what are the measurements on that glass house? It looks alot bigger than ones I've seen before

[Inge]

Well it's not as big as I'd like, it looks bigger in the picture. I'm thinking of ways to get them bigger housing.

50hight x 50 depth x 60 width in centimeters. It does open on the front, however.

[amie]

It does look big in the picture. Glad you're thinking about getting them something bigger. I think you'll just about get away with that while they're young though. You could look at building your own cage if you're worried about your cats (I have cats too!). You can build as big as you like then octodondegus.weebly.com/how-to-build-a-degu-cage.html

[Inge]

Thanks for the link, it's very useful! Here's another picture, from the first two days when Plato was still all alone.
I can take the aluminium top off this one maybe and then make another one on top. Though I think more glass would be too heavy, maybe wood with glass doors..
What materials do you use?

[Deleted]

For the walls you can use plywood, mdf, osb, pine etc. The parts they can get to and chew,
however, should be kiln-dried pine. I just built a new cage out of OSB, and that worked pretty well.
I have added strips of kiln-dried pine to the areas where they could chew, and metal on the platform
edges. Here is a picture of it:

.

It's 165cm tall, 100cm wide and 50cm deep, with four platforms. Took me a lot of planning and
there was a few hitches underway, but I am really pleased with it now It's great to have something
that I have designed to be just the way I want it, with linoleum flooring and platforms that can be taken
out like drawers for cleaning. Also, the girls love it!

Here is a link to my building progress: go to thread.

[Inge]

Hahahaha wow that is awesome, I have nowhere to put such a huge cage! But I'll definitly get mine an upgrade. Question though: what did you use for floors, because untreated wood gets very dirty?

[Deleted]

The platforms themselves are osb as well, but I have put a sheet of linoleum (from a roll) on top
and nailed it there (although I really ought to have used double-sided tape :. It is waterproof and really easy to clean
Got it at a shop that sells paint and wallpaper and that sort of thing. It was really cheap, too

I know that other members have got linoleum tiles, and you could also use ceramic tiles for that matter.
But that gets quite heavy of course. In my old cage I had untreated wood for platforms, so I used to put newspaper
in the bottom and put the substrate on top of that. Worked for a few hours until my girls had ripped all the paper to shreds! ;D

[Inge]

Hmm, good one. I'll examine the DIY-pages properly some time soon. This is my beautiful cat Zazou, btw<3 She really likes the degus, she sits by their cage and softly paws at them with no nails. The degus seem to like it, they actually walk towards her.

[deguconvert]

Welcome to the forum, Inge! It is lovely to meet you, and so very interesting to see your cage! It is really beautiful. I love that you can see through it so completely. Your boys must love the sunlight they get! Glass is one of my favorite materials, and would love to learn how to work with it in all kinds of different fashions.

[Inge]

Thank you very much! Yes they do enjoy the sunlight, their cage is on a table with wheels so I drive them into the light mornings and afternoons.

Credit where credit is due though: the cage belongs to my boyfriend, who used to have rats. He designed and made it himself. He got the parts cut and made by a professional, and then put it all together. He is absolutely great with these things. He now has an aquarium that he is completely absorbed by. If you have any questions about the making or material, I'll gladly pass them on.

[butters]

Hallo Inge, welcome
Where in the Netherlands do you live?

Nice cage and lovely degus by the way

[yasmin]

Welkom, Inge. My mother is from the Netherlands. When my husband and I go on vacation, "Oma" stays over at our house to baby sit our degus and other animals.

Groetjes!