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Post by skilly16 on Sept 3, 2012 21:34:00 GMT
I'm sorry if this is a STUPID thing to ask but I must! When I go to bed, I turn the lights off where my degus are kept. It is pretty much pitch black. Now the thing in worried about, is will they fall off the top shelves and stuff if they can't see?! I'm a bit worried they'll hurt themselves or something in the dark... Or, when they realise it's very dark, will they just calm down (they're a bit energetic usually) and go to sleep? Sorry if it's a ridiculous thing to ask... Overprotective degu parent
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Post by dusty on Sept 3, 2012 21:39:52 GMT
I think their night vision is propbably quite good. Mine manage to have midnight snacks and a run on the wheel without any problems. Usually within about 15mins of turning the lights off they settle down together and go to sleep. The only trouble is if they settle on the top shelf and get too comfy, then they quite often fall off I wouldn't worry too much as long as the drop is not huge.
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Post by ntg on Sept 3, 2012 21:44:49 GMT
We have a completely blind one who does fine as long as you don't close a cage door that was previously open. Then he has a habit of running face first into the cage. So I'd imagine they'll be fine, they'll know the layout of the cage as well as using their vision (which is likely to be pretty good in the dark considering they're burrowing critters).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2012 21:47:09 GMT
I just have visions now of degus falling off in the dark and being really confused, it does seem quite cute though. If you want them to go to sleep quicker, I recommend taking the wheel out at night if possible. It's a sign to say, "time to sleep now," Hope I've helped
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Post by ntg on Sept 3, 2012 22:05:10 GMT
I personally wouldn't take the wheel out, it stresses them out more as they use it to burn off energy. They are creatures of habit and will figure out a sleep pattern on their own.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2012 22:12:58 GMT
Maybe, I've heard a lot of success stories on how taking the wheel out helps. As long as it is placed back in the morning and it's available to the for the rest of the day - I'm sure that it will be fine.
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Post by ntg on Sept 3, 2012 22:25:11 GMT
We had to take it out at one point when our wooden wheel broke and we had a plastic one in there as we didn't want them chewing it overnight when we weren't watching them. They chewed the bars constantly and got very short with one another as well. They never went to sleep any quicker.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2012 22:31:55 GMT
Fair enough. It might just depend on the degus although I would suggest trying it to see if it works.
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 4, 2012 9:44:30 GMT
Unless there's a big drop and they haven't got everything figured out yet, they should be fine.
I presume their night vision may be better than ours, lots of people report their goos carrying on as normal for a while after lights out, and my goos never alarm call when I switch out the light.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 11:17:07 GMT
Most animals have better night vision than us! They get used to their owner's sleep pattern as well which is pretty handy
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 4, 2012 15:37:51 GMT
Degus can also see ultraviolet light, so . . . well . . . hmmm!! Not sure that night contains that spectrum of light . . . but if it does it will help them as their wee floresces in uv light. Since they tend to make wee trails everywhere, I'm sure the the sudden lack of florescent lines would tell them . . . something. LOL! ;D
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 15:56:12 GMT
Haha.
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Post by skilly16 on Sept 4, 2012 16:05:42 GMT
I think I'll leave them to finding their own sleep pattern with keeping the wheel in there. Thanks for all the advice there is a drop in the cage of about 2.5 feet... Hopefully they know their way around enough to not fall down it! Although one seems a bit goofy so fingers crossed he doesn't.... Thankyou everyone!
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 4, 2012 16:14:53 GMT
That is quite a big drop, could you put an extra shelf in or a hammock? What kind of cage is it?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 16:16:00 GMT
A hammock would be a good idea, or maybe even another platform. Make sure the material at the bottom of the cage is very soft, even bouncy, just in case.
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Post by jenowuk on Sept 4, 2012 17:04:38 GMT
Degus are diurnal too, so their natural instinct is too sleep at night. In fact, you will probably find that they are only awake as long as they are, because you have the light on. We've noticed that at weekends, if we stay up later than normal, the goos often go to bed before we do!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 17:25:54 GMT
Degus remind me of little people. They are brill
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Post by skilly16 on Sept 4, 2012 20:35:49 GMT
There are loads of shelves and stuff, and a hammock, but there is one small area where they could fall... We are going to do some more work on their cage this weekend, put in some extra ledges and make an extension for them to run in, so hopefully they'll be alright til then! Thanks all
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Post by skilly16 on Sept 4, 2012 20:37:31 GMT
Sorry just saw the other question. We made the cage, my bf is a carpenter so it's pretty good, just a gap between the shelves that we didn't really think about. But now knowing that one is a bit of a plonker we will do some work at the weekend.
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 5, 2012 3:53:45 GMT
"Plonker!!!" Excellent word . . . describes the sound of the landing perfectly. LOL!!
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