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Post by suesue on Aug 17, 2013 14:43:56 GMT
hi everyone my 2 cages sizes are 1: 98cm wide 53cm depth and 115cm height cage two : 98cm wide 53cm depth and 69cm height could anybody help me do the calculates as cant seem to work it out how many I can keep in theses cages please
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Post by ntg on Aug 17, 2013 17:04:23 GMT
Hi suesue, can you tell us how many shelves there are in each cage and what size the shelves are as well as we work off horizontal surface area available rather than the running space.
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Post by suesue on Aug 17, 2013 17:15:39 GMT
cage one has two levels . level one has one shelf measuring 23cm one end curving to 27cm the other .52cm depth level two has two shelves measuring the same . Cage two has one level and has two shelves both measuring 24cm by 52cm thank you for replying
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Post by moletteuk on Aug 18, 2013 10:16:35 GMT
If you could manage to get a photo it would help us understand the setups? The floor area of cage one gives 98x53=5194 sqcm. If I understand you correctly, then I don't think the shelves are big enough to count under our guidelines. But the height of the cage would allow two further full size shelves if you could take out the small ones and replace them somehow. This would give you approx 15,000sqcm which is enough for 3 degus. Likewise cage two floor area is the same as cage one. The shelves are probably too small again, but this time you could fit one full area shelf, which would give you just under the area required for two degus. It would probably be OK for your single degu for now. We'd be happy to help you try to work out how to improve the shelving
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Post by suesue on Aug 18, 2013 20:26:01 GMT
cage 1
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Post by suesue on Aug 18, 2013 20:29:40 GMT
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Post by suesue on Aug 18, 2013 20:43:15 GMT
sorry didn't mean to put cage 1 on twice and don't know how to take it off .
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Post by saddlers on Aug 18, 2013 21:53:39 GMT
sorry didn't mean to put cage 1 on twice and don't know how to take it off . Sorted
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Post by suesue on Aug 18, 2013 22:00:07 GMT
thank you
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Post by saddlers on Aug 19, 2013 12:39:02 GMT
As Mollette has said the cage size is important, but it also the amount of floor space, so you need to try and include shelves that have as much floor space as possible. This will allow you to maximise the cage potential. The thing to remember is that it also needs to be accessible for cleaning, so staggered shelves may help. You may find that the goos will create their own access hatches through the plastic bases in cage one , how you have staggered levels it may be worth you trying to create another set of half levels opposite the ones that are already there, except where the wheel is going because you will need the height. Currently cage 1 has a CARA of about 14,000 the two extra levels would increase that to about 16,500
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Post by suesue on Aug 19, 2013 17:49:17 GMT
Thank you for your help, but do u know how many goos I will be able to keep in each cage. I didn't really understand what you meant by putting staggered shelves in because I thought the shelves were already staggered.
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Post by saddlers on Aug 19, 2013 19:08:52 GMT
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Post by moletteuk on Aug 19, 2013 19:21:34 GMT
Currently, strictly speaking, cage 1 has CARA of 10300 sqcm plus the smaller amounts from the extra shelves, which we don't normally count (Saddlers has included them, hence how he gets a bigger number). If we bend the rules and partially count them, it is big enough for two degus. If you took out the top two wood shelves and replaced them with one big shelf, it would be big enough for 3 degus.
For cage 2 If you took the wooden shelves out and replaced them with one big shelf, it would have CARA of 10,300sqcm, which is not quite big enough for 2 degus (12,500sqcm), so you would probably need to extend this cage.
You may find you have problems with the plastic bases, and this can happen quite suddenly. It may be possible to put wooden or metal edging all around the top edge so they don't have anywhere easy to get started with chewing, I would definitely recommend you do this. They would still be vulnerable to them scraping a hole, but not all degus do this.
Saddlers does mean staggered shelves in the way you understand, but he means having each shelf covering half the cage,so they more or less meet, so the two half shelves make up the full 98x53cm. So two shelves of 49x53cm.
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Post by saddlers on Aug 19, 2013 21:37:27 GMT
Saddlers does mean staggered shelves in the way you understand, but he means having each shelf covering half the cage,so they more or less meet, so the two half shelves make up the full 98x53cm. So two shelves of 49x53cm. Exactly, and if you string a couple of bridges across the two small shelves almost become one full one, but the bridges can easily be removed to allow you access, whereas a full shelf in this cage will restrict your cleaning, unless it also has an access point on the top
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Post by moletteuk on Aug 20, 2013 10:35:48 GMT
Oh yes, I didn't notice what a small door it has. You could also think about making a bigger door.
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Post by suesue on Aug 24, 2013 9:26:29 GMT
Hi, sorry I have not replied sooner I have been a bit busy. Up to now fingers crossed they have not attempted to even nibble at the plastic base so that's not a problem yet lol. Will be putting in larger shelves so I can give them the most running space possible. in time I am wanting to build them a bigger and better cage but until then I want to keep them happy . thank you for your advice its great to be able to come on here and get your questions answered and get tips and advice x
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Post by moletteuk on Aug 26, 2013 15:57:29 GMT
I would recommend trying to protect the plastic edges before they start chewing it. It's harder to stop them once they get an idea in their heads!
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