New to Goos!!

[mamabritt]

Hi all! I'm very new to goos. My brother thought it would be a good idea to bring my four boys 3 female goos as a surprise gift. His words..."it makes me the best Uncle ever"! Well, I had never even heard of Degus before, so I've had to do ALOT of research on them, which led me to this wonderful forum!! After reading some different threads, I realized the cage my 3 girls area in is MUCH too small. So I've decided to make some plans to build my own wooden cage. It's going to be 48"x30"x60" with 3 full levels not including the base. Quite large, but from my research and measurements, I'm pretty sure this is more than enough room for them. What do all the experts think??? It will be made primarily of pine plywood with a wire mesh top and two sets of glass doors, one set for the top two levels and another for the bottom two levels. I've also added in some vents on both sides of the cage for more ventilation.  I'm very open to any suggestions and help!!

[yasmin]

Hi mamabritt. Just want to welcome you to the forum.

(I've no experience with cage building but there are quite a few people on this forum that have. I expect they will be getting back to you with their thoughts soon enough.)

[moletteuk]

I'm so sorry I didn't notice this before - welcome to you Mamabritt

Your cage plans sound excellent, size, materials, doors, all good
The overall running area of 48"x30" x 4 levels minus a bit for edging and hatchways etc is around 5000 sq inches which is great if you compare it with our chart (http://deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9396/forums-cage-size-recommendations). My only tip would be to think about whether the cage might be too deep at 30"/ 76cm to reach comfortably to the back, and also the back of the cage could be a bit dark without lighting.

Pine plywood should be perfect for the main construction. Have your degus developed familiar toilet habits yet, so you can prioritise what might material work for you for the base and shelves? It depends whether they mainly pee in the same place and allow you to put tiles and trays in those places whether you can get away with plain wood for the shelves.

You also need to think about safe edging material becuase the plywood won't be safe to chew due to the glue.

Did you see our materials guide? deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17316/cage-materials

Finally for now, I just want to mention you should try to check the degus are all the same sex because shops often make mistakes and things can get out of control pretty quickly. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/13070/degus

[mamabritt]

Still in the drawing phases, trying to figure out some lighting for the cage. Im planning on making the levels removeable so theyre easier to clean. Determining if i can somehow make a hole covering so the goos can be contained to either the top or bottom while the other section is being cleaned. Also, pricing different trimming woods so the good don't get the the plywood.

Since I've only had the girls for a little over two weeks, I haven't been able to learn their habits yet. I have been paying lots of attention as they climb on the side of the cage to determine sex and from the pics/videos on here, I'm pretty sure they're all girls. (No distance that I can tell)

[moletteuk]

Making the levels removable is a great idea for cleaning purposes but quite difficult to achieve in practice. It means the routes between the levels have to be removable too, unless they are all jumps through.

Designing in a hatch or whatever to divide the cage into two is a great feature, I'm sure you would find that useful.

[ntg]

Welcome to the forum! That must have been quite a shock for you, getting three bizarre little surprises.

Your cage plans sound great so far, a hatch will be very handy when it comes to cleaning them out!

[mamabritt]

Another quick question for you all.....I don't know if for some reason my goos have decided they don't want to get along or what is going on here. Today, for the 2nd time since I've gotten them, one girl takes off after another chasing her around the cage. They're both really loud, not sure exactly what sounds they're making, and the one being chased ends up falling on her side and just laying there. Both times it has scared the bejesus out of me and I try to get to the cage as fast as I can to stop it. I take her out and hold her and pet her until she seems coherent again. I check her over and don't see any physical damage done. Once I put her back in, everything seems fine. Is this play that's just getting too rough or is this serious fighting and they need to be kept separate???

[ntg]

Does the sound seem like an odd sort of warble? Or is it more squealing?

Chances are they're just playfighting but, without seeing it ourselves, we can't make a good judgement. If you could get a video of it then we can take a look for you? Alternatively, try matching them up to the sounds on here www.degutopia.co.uk/degusound.htm and tell us what it resembles

[moletteuk]

Chasing and squeaking can be completely normal. When you get a new group they have to figure out the heirarchy, so you will see some squabbling and boxing.

I'm a bit concerned about the keeling over - does it look like she is collapsing, or could she be lying in a submissive pose, admitting defeat to the other degu? What does the other degu do when first degu lies down? Lying down and exposing the vulnerable tummy area is the ultimate submissive posture, it would normally be accompanied by a lot of squeaking and grooming.

[saddlers]

Aug 8, 2013 9:18:36 GMT moletteuk said:

Chasing and squeaking can be completely normal. When you get a new group they have to figure out the heirarchy, so you will see some squabbling and boxing.

I'm a bit concerned about the keeling over - does it look like she is collapsing, or could she be lying in a submissive pose, admitting defeat to the other degu? What does the other degu do when first degu lies down? Lying down and exposing the vulnerable tummy area is the ultimate submissive posture, it would normally be accompanied by a lot of squeaking and grooming.

This exactly what Elliott was doing when we introduced him to the girls, he would run away squeaking and then collapse in a pile on the floor still...I figured it was either stress or just submission at its best. He did gradually stop doing it over time

Jose also did a similar thing at the vests when having his medicine..the vet said that when they get stressed they just collapse