New Degu's!!

[EmilyMichaela]

Hi everyone. 

I'm a fairly new Degu owner, I saw them in P@H one day whilst buying bits for our Guinea Pigs, and I thought they were so cute he bought me them for our anniversary! 
I've been reading up recently on what they eat and how to keep them happy... and its the total opposite of what P@H told us!! They said sawdust was perfectly fine for the cage, which I read on a link on another thread wasn't the best thing for them.. 

Also, I'm still not so sure on how much veg to give them? I was told to dry it our overnight so the natural sugars come out, but I wasn't told what veg to give them, (we always have a general wide range because of Betty and Wilma (GP's)) 

They sold me a cage which some of you have probably seen or even have! It's a large wire cage with a bottom floor, and two shelves that the degu's can climb on, apparently this was the best cage... but again I've picked up that this isnt good enough for them?? 

I do worry far too much about them and I always worry they aren't happy... They are still very timid but are always at the cage door when me and my other half come home. We give them Carrs melts as a treat, which I read was okay?! 

How long did it take people before their Degu's were happy being handled? We wanted to wait and let Fred and Barney come and sit on us/in our hands in their own time, but I'm starting to think they aren't going to?? 

help!  

[blossombrooks]

Hi and welcome to the wonderful world of degu keeping!

First things first, the forum is a really great place to learn all about how to look after your degus , unfortunately there is quite a lot of incorrect information out there but don't worry we're here to help.

I'm afraid you're right, sawdust isn't good for degus at all, they need substrate like wood shavings or finacard. Anything with dust in will upset their breathing, we have a really good thread in the cages/accessories section on the best types of bedding to use.

The reason veg is dried is to reduce the bloating side effect which some can cause, also some degus prefer it dried. Again check our feeding guide for info on how much and how often but they shouldn't have too much. The most important thing is to make sure that the sugars in their diet are closely monitored, degus can only process very small amounts of sugar and can become diabetic easily. My own wont touch fresh veg but they enjoy small pieces of dried veg mixed in with their regular feed (they have a mix of degu nuggets, dried grasses/flowers and seeds). I wouldn't continue giving them the carrs melts as I think they contain salt but not to worry there are plenty of lovely healthy treats you can give them like oats for example, a few of those go down well with most goo's.

As for the cage I'm sorry but they will need more space than the cage that pets at home recommend, I have two of those linked with by another tall cage at the side for my 3. The more space the better, again there is a guide in the cages section to help but I too fell into the same trap so I've just added to the original cage. Secondhand cages can be very reasonable or a lot of the members here build their own.

Handling takes time and its a case of being patient, coax them to you with treats and little by little you'll gain their trust. You'll probably find that one will be more adventurous than the other but they'll come around if you take it steady. The secret to a cuddle with one of mine is a piece of tissue not food, he loves it! They like tissue for making nests with and it's great fun to watch them running around with. Do have somewhere secure that you could let them out of the cage? That is great for bonding, just be sure to plug up any escape holes!

[ntg]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Don't be afraid to ask any more questions you might have.

My burning question is, by Carrs melts do you mean the cheese biscuits you get in supermarkets? If so then they aren't a good treat at all! We tend to recommend the use of oil seeds like sunflower or coriander as hand-fed treats and small bits of dried veg (they tend to like the parts of veg you don't use as well as the parts you do, so if we have brocolli etc I tend to cut the stalks off into thin strips and dry it in a low temp oven, or when it's cooling down after being on).

The Thickets cage is indeed too small to be the permanent home for degus. For your pair, you want a cage 100cmx50cmx100cm with three full size levels. For commercial cages we recommend, you have options like the liberta explorer/xtrail/aventura/savic royal suite which only require a little modification to be suitable for degus. Or cages like the liberta tower, aviaries or parrot cages that require a lot more to make them a great home. We also like to suggest making your own cage from scratch out of mdf/plywood or converting a wardrobe which are a lot easier to customise, have better access and, generally, works out cheaper than buying one. Have a look at the later posts in theshow us your cage thread for ideas.

Whoever told you that about veg? I'm a little bit dumbfounded, drying doesn't remove natural sugars at all, it actually concentrates them by removing the water content. We recommend using low sugar veg, particularly leafy veg which you can check out in our nutrition charts.

As far as taming goes, it really is a waiting game and takes patience with degus. You're best off sitting besode the cage with your hand in the doorway and rewarding each degu with a treat when they approach you to let them know that you aren't a threat. My best "friend" in taming is my playpen, which is attached to the cage so they can wander in and out in a secure area for free-range time. If you just sit or lie down in there quietly then they will start to approach you and investigate, especially if you happen to have their favourite treat with you! Given time, they should be confident enough to jump on your legs when you sit down, and from there, I've managed to train my lot to jump on my hand and my shoulder with relatively few problems. One thing that stands out to me is that you get what you put in with training. If you spend a lot of time with them then they will be more likely to trust you enough to do what you want. However, you need to be aware that as far as stroking goes, they may never be the most affectionate creatures. We see cases of people being able to stroke their degus practically from day one, but then others, like me, who have particularly special cases where they will loudly protest any attempts to stroke them, or push you away if you try.

[EmilyMichaela]

Thanks

I was mistaken, they have wood shavings, not sawdust. Is that any better?

as for the veg we give them dried sweetcorn on the cob once a week. I'm very wary about fresh veg... but I know my two arent keen on celery or carrots!

I have just looked at other cages, and we're both agreed we need a new one! We're going to buy one as soon as we move (We're moving somewhere bigger, our sake and the animals!)

Yes, the melts you get in super markets, but since you've said that I'm not going to give them any more...I have sunflower seeds in the cupboard so i gave them a pile of hay and hid a few in there for foraging purposes .

the drying out veg was the salesperson in P@H. He said he owned Degu's and that was what he recommended! =/

I thought the taming thing was just a waiting game, i wanted to be sure . They're at a 'sitting on your hand occasionally eating' stage. but they'll happily come and say hello to you
One of them escaped a few weeks back, he ran and his under the table the cage is on, so I don't think he was quite ready haha!

They do have a chit chat to the GP's though, the cages are a similar height (GP's have 2 floors, they can be at the same height or lower than Degu's) and they seem to be ok together which is a good sign too!

Thank you so much for your help!

[moletteuk]

Degu diet recommendations have progressed quite rapidly over the last couple of years, so places like petshops often give inaccurate advice, and a lot of the treat items they sell are frankly rubbish.

Dried sweetcorn is no good because it contains quite a lot of sugar and has very little nutritional value, the yoghurt drops you mention in the other thread are not good either, I'm afraid.

Degu digestion is designed for plant matter, so you need to feed as many leaves, herbs, hedgerow plants, tree leaves, leafy veg and so on, as you can. Have a look around the diet section for more information about this. It might seem a bit complicated but all the options mean you should be able to find something convenient for you and them. You should also look for a veg based degu food, see commercial food chartdeguworld.proboards.com/thread/17365/commercial-food-chart

Hiding the sunflower seeds in the hay is a nice idea, you can extend it by getting a selection of oil seeds, including some high calcium ones, see the nutrition charts. Dried veg is useful for treats, things like brocolli, courgette, and greens are good choices.

[ilikedegus]

emilymichaela

Just another point about the cage you got from P@H - it's called a "Thicket's" cage, and it's been easy for us to find them cheaply secondhand on Ebay and other sites, within a driving radius of our house.

As others have said, you can stack them and join by adding an extra bit to the side and cutting holes, or side-to side (we got a secondhand cage already joined like this).

If you or your other half are good at DIY then you have endless options using "welded wire mesh" (for U.S. readers; Hardware cloth); several people on here can help if you ask.

[EmilyMichaela]

Thank you all SO much for your help and advice . I've taken it all in, I'm doing my research on cages now, and soon as we move somewhere bigger (viewing houses as I type) we're buying a multi storey cage. Seen ones on eBay that are good! My other half said he's more than happy to build a cage, but he doesn't want to get it wrong or leave sharp bits out by mistake, so we're buying one

I also went to the local veg stall, and bought them leeks, spring onions, carrots and cucumber, they turned their noses up at all of it. Any tips on that? Dry food wise they still have degu nuggets, we're still on the first bag P@H ever gave us, but I'm going to look for something slightly more appetising for them!

[ntg]

Good luck on the house search! And be careful that you check the cages are at least 90cmx60cm (lxw) to give them a big enough space to get to top speed

They tend to prefer dried veg to fresh, if you dry it out you'll probably find they are much more willing to eat it.

Edit: Forgot to say, with the food, make sure you wean them onto the new food over the course of a week to avoid any digestive issues!

[dusty]

I thought I read somewhere that they shouldn't have anything from the onion family except chive flowers. Not sure where it was now. Maybe someone could clarify that for me?

[ntg]

Spring onions are okay in small quantities: deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17375/spring-onion

[moletteuk]

Spring onion and leek both OK in small quantities, green part is better than stronger white.

Have a look at the 'bought herb mixes' sticky thread in the diet section for the simplest way of increasing vegetation in the diet.

[EmilyMichaela]

They both seem to leave the veg till it's dried out enough for them. I tried drying it before and they turned their noses up, this time they left it 24 hours then started eating, which is okay as far as I'm aware?
With the spring onions, which parts can they eat? The actual onion or leaves too?

[dusty]

The first fresh stuff mine would eat was grass. Easily available for free
Then they progressed to dandelion but they still prefer everything dried

[moletteuk]

Re spring onion, the leaves are better than the bottom onion part.

It should be OK for them to eat it after 24hrs in the cage, but it depends on the veg and the temperature and humidity. Something like a piece of spring onion might be OK, but a piece of pepper might go a bit manky in 24hrs. It's better if you can dry it a but faster because bacteria will be developing in the time it takes to dry. Maybe experiment with differents ways and levels of drying airing cupboard, tray on top of radiator, low oven etc.

[EmilyMichaela]

Okay. I'll use the leafy part, thanks for the heads up

It's all kept in the fridge, then moved to room temp (between 17 and 23 on any given day, the office downstairs seem to like heating!) But I'll try out the drying process tomorrow, see how it all goes

I finally have some pictures of Fred and Barney! I shall put them up on the picture thread now