Things to chew on?

[listracian]

My girls are expert chewers, well the babies are anyway, Whisper sleeps all the time.

When I cleaned my cage out at the weekend, I moved the sand bath and behind it found they had chewed a huge hole in the wood it was standing on. However as it is, this is the only wood I have for them at the moment and it is rotting because of them going to the toilet on it so the last thing I want them to do is chew it to pieces as well!

I have put a huge shoe box in there which they are taking their time shredding to bits, there are also many branches off an apple tree. I have other wood toys that I have bought in shops for them to chew on but yet they still insist on chewing the wood they aren't suppose to chew! Its the levels for them to jump onto that they will sit and chew.

Has anyone got any suggestions of anything else I can put in the cage for them?

I also give them tissues because they love to shred them too pieces and all the paper my mum shreds I use as their bedding which they also like to shred but the babies still get really bored and I don't know what else to give them.

[peggy]

I have a huge carpet tube in my degus' cage and it's very favourite toy - my girls rest in it, run through it, shred it and bring the pieces into the hammock ;D

[sarah]

Our degus have lots of stuff to chew on, but they also insist on chewing up the wood shelves. Once they decide to start chewing, I don't know that there's anything you can do to stop them!

[vireo]

I had one degu that chewed on everything and destroyed most of the stuff in the cage...She passed, and her sister chews on barely anything! It's funny how degus are... I even tried yummy apple wood, but that one degu would rather chew on shelves, hay wheel, support branches...lol

[gooey]

i bought my guys one of those kabob thingys that you can load with wooden chewies, the ones with predrilled holes in them so they slide on the metal bar. hung it up in the cage and they basically ignored it. then when i cleaned their cage one time i decided to hook it horizontally across the front of one part of the cage and voila! i can't replace the wooden chewies fast enough they chew through them so fast.
sometimes it's all how you present the stuff to them to see what appeals to their chewing nature. of course, some stuff they chew no matter how you give it to them so nothing is guaranteed guess that's what makes them so interesting!

[cat]

My local pet store recently had degus, I'd neva heard of them b4 but I was fasinated. I got my cat and dog food and a book on degu. The next day armed with a basic understanding I went a got 2 degu. I love them 2 bits.
However I do worry about some of the things I get for them, atm they have a smallish cage (getting a much bigger 1 in 2 days), I try to change toys and chew things daily to prevent them from getting bored. A recent buy was a hanging ladder with drop down toys. There was nothing on the packaging to suggest wot type of animal it was best for, just small animal, 5 mins after i placed it in the cage Patsy and Eddie were all over it. They totally loved it, but right away I got concerned when Patsy set to chewing on the string that makes the rope part of the toy (not sure im explaning very well, will look for a link to a pic).
I removed it right away incase it could do her any harm, but am I over reacting?

[gooey]

the only type of rope or string you should allow them to have is sisal rope--generally bird toys are made with this--it is safe for them to chew on
if you are looking for things for them to chew on try wooden toys meant for small animals and birds--they are safe and will keep them busy for a little while anyway
also the calcium blocks and chews are good for them
here on the forum there is a list of safe wood for them to chew on
i give my guys apple branches from my dads apple tree--any fresh wood you give them must be free of pesticides and chemicals
be assured that any thing you give them to chew on will be chewed and fairly quickly--these guys are quick and efficient ;D