chubes & dust houses

[diet otaku]

in my attempts to refurnish the new degu cage, i'm going to have to get a new dustbath house. i saw a neat one on petsmart.com but it wasn't in the store (and it was plastic). they DID have "critter bath"s, the much smaller version of the chinchilla bath (what i have now). question is, is that TOO small? obviously both degus can't bathe at once, like they sometimes do in the chinchilla bath, but is there enough room in those for one? i thought i saw a picture of someone who had one of those, but i can't remember now.

also, i got them a chube, but should i anchor it down in some way? i only had room for it on the top shelf, and they keep rolling back and forth and knocking it over. i don't know exactly how degus "play" in chubes, so i'm not sure if i need to make it stationary or not.

EDIT: found the chinchilla house at petco, and it's definitely too big to fit through the door. why couldn't they sell something like that in pieces so i could put it together inside?! *tears hair out*

[ra]

I was looking for something to use as a dust bath too. I really like the pot that Sunshinemeg found at a garden shop. I did find one like that but it was much too large. What I ended up buying was, believe it or not, a ceramic toil bowl brush holder! I laid it in the cage with the opening up and put an inch or two of chinchilla dust in it. The girls immediatedly started rolling in the dust. They don't fit in there together but take turns. For some reason, Mocha keeps hiding her toys in there!

[diet otaku]

awesome, if i can't find anything medium-sized at the pet store today, i'll have to pop into walmart or something and check out the garden section. XD

oh! and i've got the chube thing situated (just about). i took the stand off of the silent spinner wheel, attached the wheel to the side of the cage, and use the stand by itself to hold the chube in place. i just need to get a couple of wire twisties to hold the stand in place. X3

[sensuosa]

I was also looking for a dust bath..sure enough I realized an ashtray works perfect for them to roll around in..god bless the dollar store.

[diet otaku]

wouldn't an ashtray be too shallow? i found a flower pot yesterday, but it's not enclosed on top so while frenzy loves it, rumble will perch on the edge and shovel dust out behind him. i guess it's not big enough for rumble to get in all the way. so i'll probably pop into hobby lobby or something today and see if they have anything more suitable. the pot was only $5 anyway.

i'm also kinda concerned about the little house i got them... it's one of those timber hide-aways, made of wood, and i'd seen pics of wood nest houses, but they've been chewing at the edge, and i'm a little worried since i don't know exactly what kind of wood it is. cedar and pine are both toxic, right? how do i know what kind of wood it's made of? also, why are they ignoring the wood chew blocks in favor of everything else in the cage?

[ra]

The timber hide-aways are made with the idea your pets will chew on them. As long as it's kiln dried white pine or aspen it is safe for them to chew.

[diet otaku]

ack!! i actually saw a flower pot today that looked JUST like the one sunshine meg has, only it was HUGE! you could probably fit a couple of chinchillas in that thing. so there's no way it would've fit in my cage. but i'm hoping that if they make it in that style at all, maybe somewhere has a smaller version. unfortunately, half the hobby/gardening stores around here are closed on sundays, so i'll either trek back to walmart and look harder, or wait till tomorrow.

[Willow]

I use a kitchen storage jar like you would use for pasta, rice, biscuits etc. They're glass so cheap and easy to clean although I've already dropped one! During that hiatus we found a loaf style cake tin did a pretty good job.

[jaybudder]

I use a chube for my degus and they love to chew it and sleep in it... it's only about 1 inch thick on the bottom now (almost time for a new one).... I use pieces of coated wire coat hanger to attach it directly below a shelf with a hole in it so they use the chube to get to the next level. (actually the hole was one of those bowl in the holes but they kept pushing it out... so I had to remove it and get one of those bowls that attach to the side of the cage. The coat hanger is thick enough so they don't chew through it, and I like that it is coated. (my rats chew right through twisty ties... so I didn't even bother trying with the degus.)

[jaybudder]

I saw somewhere, maybe here... someone using a coffee/tea pot as a dust bath. I like the small opening at the top and that its clear. I'm also still in the search for the perfect dust bath... right now I'm just using a small rectangular tupperware container... but its way too messy and they always end up tipping it.

[Bosley]

Ok, for give my idiocy...WHAT IS A CHUBE?? lololololololol

[diet otaku]

a chube is basically a cardboard tube... pet stores sell them in different sizes, and degus love to hide in them, climb around in them, and chew on them. mine have been methodically ripping off the outer layer, but mostly just sleeping in it.

[Aimeelou]

Dont worry Bosley, i only found what they were last month!
It wasnt until i was looking around my petshop i noticed these tube shaped things, like tiolet roll centers, all in different shapes and sizes, then i put two and two together an realised the spelling of "chubes"!! ;D

[opularastroid]

a good place to get chubes is from your local carpet store. Just go in and ask them for the inner roll from carpet. You have to chop it into sections yourself but it's free!