|
Post by listracian on Apr 2, 2012 11:48:27 GMT
Also with your really big cage, if you could, is it possible to make the top and bottom into one cage? Would give your girls even more space Also if you wanted once your man is a year old you could get him neutered and put him in with the girls if you don't want lots of huge cages in the house. These of course are just options I do agree though if you can get some wood and make some nice wooden shelves for that cage you would have such a beautiful home for your degus. The one you have for your little boy is so full of toys and things its brilliant
|
|
|
Post by malteser60 on Apr 2, 2012 14:51:14 GMT
Welcome to degus yorkiepup! You are going to find degus completely addictive! ;D First off I just want to say what a fantastic job you are doing in getting things prepared in advance, rather than just walking into P@H and walking out with a couple degus and a completely unsuitable cage. The rats cage you have is really good, I believe (but not entirely sure as I'm not hugely clued up on cage brands) that the cage you have there is one of our recommended cages for size and 2/3 degus. If I've gotten this wrong somebody please correct me! As moletteuk said, go to the cage section of the forum to get ideas for cages. The only way you can make a huge cage really is to go DIY and a lot of us have made our own wooden cages (I have a massive vivarium-style cage for my four). However you don't have to rush into this just yet. You two good cages for now, so the next thing for you to do is to concentrate on their diet. As amie said degu's diet can be a right pain in the neck. Nothing with high sugar content, a very high fibre content, a very low protein content, and a lowish fat content. Mineral balance has to be just right <sigh>! The good news however is that degus are hardy little creatures. My advice is to spend a good amount of your time going through the nutrition section of the forum. The stickies give a good idea of how to have a completely, or almost completely natural diet. Till you get a hang of the natural diet I would feed them a commercially bought food (with extras). So, before everybody jumps on me for saying this (yikes!) feed your new degus whatever food they have been fed before. Any changes in food has to be done slowly so as not to upset their tummies. Start adding in the new food slowly and a bit at a time. A good way of getting your degus into a more natural diet is to start buying dried plants, flowers, etc. For example dried dandelion leaves and roots from P@H or dried meadow/mountain flowers from Burgess. You get the point. Another good commercially produced feed that is very natural is JR Farm degu feed. I use this feed for my four girls (50% of their diet) and it smells wonderful. This feed is also another good way of getting your degus used to natural food instead of pellets. And once you're all clued up about the diet you'll be finding yourself raiding the garden (if you have one) for dandelions, apple branches, rose petals, etc. Suddenly going for a walk in the countryside becomes foraging for you goos! And seeing them tucking into the fresh plants and really enjoying them is worth it all... even if they practically snatch the food out of you hand!
|
|
yorkiepup
Foraging Degu
I am new to gooo
Posts: 89
|
Post by yorkiepup on Apr 2, 2012 20:39:47 GMT
Thank you all so much for the advice, I got the cage down and its rusted all to hell I am sooo peeved, however with some sanding down and some non toxic spray paint I might be able to restore it but thats gonna take freaky deaky months and could work out cheaper to get a new cage considering the sandpaper for my detail sander and the spray paint I would use its a major bummer and it also means alot of the other cages I had in the attic have suffered the same fate.
Charlie is doing awesome he came out three times today, sitting on my shoulder as I moved my room around so he had some play space and his cage was no longer by the window.
I ordered some pumpkin seed Ryvita with our asda shop and some plain pumpkin seeds, got more timothy hay coming and went down the feiild with a carrier bag, picked the dandelions some fresh grass and other forages for him and my piggies, he downed grass like green spaghetti I sat giggling as I watched him with a dandelion flower.
When Charlie is a year old he will be neutured then I will put the two cages I have together into one big one, it will be massive and it means I wont have to buy any more bits for now.
I also got some salad seeds and am planting up my garden and wendsday my new apple trees come to plant up in the garden for even more apple wood sticks.
I am really annoyed about the cage tho I was so excited about that....oh well guess there is always christmas lol.
Had another email about bruce and the two girls, each time I get up in the morning I now log on and check my e-mail and this site, I am now well and trully goofanatical, I feel kinda like a mum getting a school report on her kids its exciting to see how they are doing.
|
|
abirose
Burrowing Degu
Forum Helper
Posts: 276
|
Post by abirose on Apr 2, 2012 22:16:52 GMT
Is there no way you can salvage it? It seems like such a shame I'm desperate for one of those cages for my ratties! You kitted it out so nicely for them I bet they were in ratty heaven!
|
|
|
Post by malteser60 on Apr 2, 2012 23:20:09 GMT
Aw, that's crap about the cage. I'm with abirose, any way to salvage the cage. Apart from taht sounds like Charlie's having a whale of a time! Fresh dandelions, my goos go mental for that, along with any fresh grass, and so on. So does my rabbit, it's usually a fight between the goos and the rabbit although got to say the goos normally win! Greedy little sods!
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Apr 3, 2012 10:09:16 GMT
What a shame about the cage If you get the right primer or paint, you probably don't need to get every scrap of rust off, you can get products that sort of dissolve and stabilise the rusty surface. Lots of the Plasti-Kote paints are child safe and therefore presumably degu safe. I think I'd attack it with a wire brush rather than a sander. But as you say, you have the other two cages you can put together, so you've got a plan anyway
|
|
yorkiepup
Foraging Degu
I am new to gooo
Posts: 89
|
Post by yorkiepup on Apr 3, 2012 12:51:50 GMT
My rats did love it bu I was worried what chemicals rust might produce, we put a dehumidifier in the attic to dry it out, this house has SERIOUS damp issues, anyway I got to get on the roof and check for leeks ((not bad at Diy fixed the roof during the snows when some tiles cracked not fun))
As with the cage some parts were rust so bad they snapped so it went down the tip along with every other cage I had up there, was pretty upset and peeved but I dont want any animal getting ill cause of a dodgy cage.
I was going to go to london to see phantom of the opera but putting that money now to cage stuff anyway once you seen the movie with Butler purrrrr what man could come close as the phantom?
I found a few sites that help make custom cages one with a gutted wardrobe looked VERY interesting but it would mean the degu wouldnt be in my bedroom which would sucketh.
Another option was the tops of the cages open up if I put a guinea pig run on top and just connected them that way it would be alot easier than cutting through the cages to join them and means if I ever have to seperate the run comes off and lids go down and still have intact cages.
Charlie is booked in advance with the vet now for his uhm denutting? He went down for his MOT as I call it where I get the vet with each new pet to check teeth, claws, paws general health, she did some spot on on him and gave me some advice for keeping his claws short like a wheel with sand paper on (weird!)
Been doing more cage updates like made a little tent on the top shelf out of fabric off cuts, he likes it so much he moved all the bedding in there and sleeps there so... *puffs out chest feeling chuffed*
He was out alot this morning ran over my yorkie biggles who opened one bleary eye told him to eff off with a glance and went back to sleep, seriously have the most chilled dog in history still wouldnt trust him as far as i could spit alone tho with any rodents.
The vet also told me something, that pets at home adoption is normally a load of crap, that animals arent dumped they are old or injured animals they cant sell, this cheesed me off royal as I thought I was rehoming some homeless babe not some bleep companies poorly treated cast off stock, either way I would not give up Charlie for the world and it wont put me off rescuing thats for darn sure.
Trying to find a wheel for charlie is proving to be a pain since the metal one I ordered was not in stock and i got a refund, frankly I was cheesed it should have been here today this morning o now another nights got to go by where he doesnt have a wheel. So any links for metal wheels or spinners please send me or post here I am gonna hit ebay and amazon as well as pet sites and hope for something.
Thank you eveyrone for the help so far your all mega mutant awesome and this site rocks!
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Apr 3, 2012 15:19:36 GMT
Oh no! You might need extra ventilation in your attic. The govt tell you to put a foot of insulation down, but they don't mention that this makes your loft so much colder in winter you are really increasing the condensation. We had to get extra air bricks installed in our loft, but it worked a treat. My girls love fabric stuff too, they are so keen on 'modifications' though that the last thing I made was triple layer, and they are still making mincemeat of it I think P@H do sometimes put 'old' stock in the adoption area, but they do take in adoptions too. I would guess that Charlie has come from a proper home as he is so tame. It's really a problem getting a metal wheel at the moment. Here are a couple of links on making one yourself: deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cagearchive&action=display&thread=14451deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cagearchive&action=display&thread=14447I think Maravilla also posted some different instructions not all that long ago too, but I can't for the life of me find the link, so if anyone else can find it please let me know. Someone was selling them privately on degutopia forum a few weeks ago for £35, but I don't know any more about them. The other option is a Karlie Wonderland wooden wheel that you can get from Zooplus. They don't tend to last long because they get chewed, but you can reuse the bearing to make a wheel afterwards. You could also make a wooden flying saucer wheel, but they take up loads of room, so are playpen only for most: deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Cage&action=display&thread=13108I've read about people temporarily attaching sandpaper to the wheel to shorten the nails. I'm sure if I did this it would be more likely to affect their teeth than nails! Terracotta tiles and stones and things like that work well for me so far.
|
|
yorkiepup
Foraging Degu
I am new to gooo
Posts: 89
|
Post by yorkiepup on Apr 3, 2012 17:30:01 GMT
well I never thought of the insulation being the problem, well we got air bricks but the holes arent massive might switch out for bigger holed one. We had insulation put in on a goverment grant its really stupidly thick.
Charlie is a darling so it seems he is a proper rescue.
Wow that wheel option seems awesome the make yourself ones might try when the weathers nice enough to go outside again. Worked out a cage extension for the girls using the shelves I took out fo their cages just waiting for the steel cable ties.
|
|
yorkiepup
Foraging Degu
I am new to gooo
Posts: 89
|
Post by yorkiepup on Apr 4, 2012 10:06:57 GMT
Got a flying saucer wheel today ordered it yesterday from amazon and paid £8!!!! for morning delivery on the plus side Charlie LOVES it and seems happy as larry gonna get one for the girls to.
|
|
yorkiepup
Foraging Degu
I am new to gooo
Posts: 89
|
Post by yorkiepup on Apr 4, 2012 14:59:35 GMT
me and chralie havin snuggles
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Apr 4, 2012 15:51:19 GMT
Awww, that's lovely
|
|
yorkiepup
Foraging Degu
I am new to gooo
Posts: 89
|
Post by yorkiepup on Apr 4, 2012 16:36:40 GMT
he is great at ear cleaning
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Apr 4, 2012 18:20:17 GMT
EAR CLEANING??? How can you stand it? Great photo of you two. I'd love to see what your wheel looks like.
|
|
yorkiepup
Foraging Degu
I am new to gooo
Posts: 89
|
Post by yorkiepup on Apr 4, 2012 18:56:46 GMT
EAR CLEANING??? How can you stand it? Great photo of you two. I'd love to see what your wheel looks like. Degus are renowned for their ear wax removal skills
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Apr 5, 2012 5:10:54 GMT
Digging? Chewing? Climbing in and having a good vigorous roll around? LOL! I'm not sure I want to experience it myself.
|
|
yorkiepup
Foraging Degu
I am new to gooo
Posts: 89
|
Post by yorkiepup on Apr 5, 2012 9:38:11 GMT
well he did manage to repeirce my ears at the same time but details....minor details XD He loves his new flying sauce spinner wheel thing can bairly get him off it.
|
|
yorkiepup
Foraging Degu
I am new to gooo
Posts: 89
|
Post by yorkiepup on Apr 5, 2012 17:10:06 GMT
Yep charlie video this time with hammock I made today on show, his new wheel and rope perches also my ahem grass supply XD Yeah I grow grass on my window ledge and yes the drugs squad have come and asked me about it. I mean grass as in turf as in cow and degu and guinea pig grass not the smoking kind...is slowly digging herself a hole here. Anyway found on ebay a dude selling many shelving sets ordered two one for each cage and now I am having sparks four boys A cause my gran said no to pregnant female, she also said no to girls but by taking four boys it means sparks only has to find homes for three females so please help her out.
also got ledges plan to extend ordered the stuff and just wiating on it.
|
|