Cage Biting

[hhhsgirl]

I am using an aquarium with a metal grate for a top. One of my Degus constantly bites or nibbles on the metal grating. It gets quite annoying. Is this good for it's teeth? If not, how do I get the Degu to stop?

[rusty]

it would keep its teeth from being sharp so i think its ok

[themoosevodka]

actually, it could hurt their teeth, but i cant stop moose from doing it either, just get more toys to avoid boredom

[ra]

I've tried tapping on the cage wire when they start knawing on the wires. I tap harder and faster until they stop then leave them alone. So far they have out waited me! Mocha will stop and act as though she doesn't like me tapping on the cage, but pretty soon she returns to biting the wires! I think perhaps if I made it my mission for the day I could discourage the wire chewing. Not sure though, the Degu is an awfully persistant creature.

Oh and it's up to you, but I would not recommend spending money on bitter lemon or bitter lime or Yuck!...the spray on pet repellents. I think I tried them ALL to get Mocha to stop chewing on my wooden window frame. I even put hot-sauce on the frame. She went right along and licked it all off!!!. The bitters got her attention. She'd stop and wipe her whiskers like she didn't like it but that sure didn't stop her from chewing.

[racingdegu]

I`ve had this problem aswell. My male Cheech does it most and what I do now and suggest this to others too is this. If your cage is a good two and a half feet up off the floor and your cage has a front opening door and you spend a lot of time in the same room as your degus, open the door permenantly! The degus will sit at the door opening, either on the cage floor or if you place a thick branch at the doorway, they will perch on this. They love to watch what`s going on outside their cage and I noticed that when I closed the door on them, the chewing started up again!

So try this and see if it helps? You can watch them closely and walk over to them at intervals and talk to them, offer a treat and you will find that they love this `open door` and not feel shut away. It works for me anyway!

[diet otaku]

my degus stopped chewing the wires when i gave them plenty of wooden chew toys of different sorts, and a nice big wheel to run on. now they spend most of their time running on the wheel.

[Aimeelou]

I think cage biting is alot to do with them beeing bord. If you put lots of toys and wooden chews for them to chew, that will stop them chewing the cage.
Allthough, my cage is full of chews and toys, but they still like a little chew on the bars!