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Post by ssdreamsicles on Jul 4, 2015 17:03:18 GMT
Hello all!
My name is Melissa. Our family is no stranger to exotics and we love every min of having our wonderful critter crew. We currently are owned by 10 sugar gliders, 3 dogs, 1 cat, Ferrets and a bunny. Yes we have a small zoo but we would not have it any other way. I have a wonderful hubby who puts up with my love for animals and 2 wonderful kids.
We have been doing a bit of research on Degus and find them very interesting and fun. We would love to add a pair to our family. I would love to find out the best care for them though. As you know researching on the internet can give you some conflicting information. Id like to talk with some of you and find our the right way and things to care for these little cuties.
Cant wait to chat with you guys!
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Post by Bexi87 on Jul 4, 2015 19:23:49 GMT
Welcome to the forum Melissa!
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Post by deguconvert on Jul 4, 2015 20:02:27 GMT
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Post by ssdreamsicles on Jul 4, 2015 23:08:44 GMT
Thanks for the welcome Wow iv browsed a bit and thats a lot of info to take in at one time! Good thing we have 8 weeks to plan!! We have a metal cage but they will only be in it for a short time as hubby is going to build a nice set up for our pair. Here are a few basic questions I have. Is aspen a good bedding? What tree's are safe for them to have branches in there cage? What brand of food that can be bought in the US is the best for them. We may have to order online as only one store sells degus and they feed chinchilla food. As far as building a cage what wood is safe and you use bare wood? You do not need to seal it or anything? WHats to stop the urine from soaking into the wood? Im sure ill find some of the answers in the links above they are just some for sure things I had on my mind.
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Post by ssdreamsicles on Jul 4, 2015 23:11:26 GMT
Id like to start collecting tree branches now but am not sure of safe trees. We just have maples and such around here. How about drift wood that reptiles use? Id prefer tree branches of course but I may not have the safe trees needed.
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Post by yasmin on Jul 5, 2015 0:01:21 GMT
Welcome to the forum, Melissa. I use aspen as well as Carefresh and some other brand of paper bedding for my degus. My cages have metal pans with tall sides; because degu pee is very corrosive, I first line the pans with three layers of newsprint and then put the bedding on top. As far as degu-friendly woods are concerned, all I know that apple tree wood is fine for them. I think pear branches are also okay. (Not sure about maple. Will be checking myself to see what advice you are given on this.) For food, I buy Versele-Laga Degu Nature for my degus, though I have heard that the Versele-Laga Crispy Nuggets are better balanced – just can't get that around where I live. What you are looking for is a decent Calcium:Phosphorus ratio (see Feeding Guide). I also give my degus a seed mix and dried degu plant mix sold by Nature's Degu Pantry in Canada – they ship to the US. On top of that, my degus love fresh leaves, herbs, etc. like dandelion (leaves, flowers, and roots), clover (leaves, flowers), daisies, chard, dill, carrot tops, beet leaves, basil, chives, and parsley – however, there is some concern that degus can have bloat as a result of too much or an imbalance of the above so I feed these sparingly (small regulated servings). Not sure what the proper amounts would be – I only had one degu get bloat which may have been from too much, first-spring bloom clover leaves.
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Post by deguconvert on Jul 6, 2015 19:47:03 GMT
LOL, quite the learning curve, isn't it?
Hmmm . . . can they eat maple . . . I really don't know. There are many fruit trees that they can have leaves and branches from though, apples of all kinds, crabapple, pear, cherry, plum, raspberry and blackberry leaves (the canes too if you remove the thorns, though, I have wondered if the really big thorns could be eaten), black currant, red currant, choke cherry, mountain ash, green ash (my degus didn't very much care for this), fresh aspen . . . and my brain well has run dry. You need to be cautious with the green foods you give, start small and gradually increase the amounts you give so that their bodies can adjust to it. Degus tend to prefer their food on the dry side, so you likely will not ever be giving them lots of fresh green each day.
As for wood with which to build, there are several members here that love to use melamine covered wood as it repels the urine, and is easy to clean. You just need to be sure that your wood panels are absolutely plum so that the is no angle for degus to be able to chew. Any edges or surfaces that offer chewing potential you can either edge with metal, or you can edge it with kiln dried pine, which is totally safe and degus love to chew it. You do NOT want any pine/spruce or other soft wood that has not been kiln dried as the resin in these woods is toxic to degus. NO cedar wood. Plywood is OK, oak, aspen, birch, but again you need to make sure all your "walls" are plum so they cannot get their teeth in and chew a hole. Any metal that you use to protect edges etc. should not be aluminum, degus can chew right through it unless it is a heavy grade.
Yasmin has given you great info, so hopefully between the two of us you are answered.
Any more questions?
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Post by winic1 on Jul 12, 2015 6:05:10 GMT
Hi! I'm in the US also, up in New England. My degus are now 6 years old, and we have always used Sun Seed Sunscription Vita Degu Food, along with unlimited timothy hay, and then extra veggies and dried herbs and seeds as appropriate (from the lists of safe veggies here, dried, my boys won't touch anything fresh). Have not had any health problems, nor any teeth problems. There used to be a small pet store in town that carried it, and there's another that would order it in for me (and then mark it up considerably), so I order it from Amazon now, usually 4-6 bags at a time, whenever we get to the last bag or I see a good price for it. We feed them about 4 teaspoons (one little plastic medicine cup from kid's liquid medicine) per degu per day. Then unlimited hay, and the extras on a limited and rotating basis (one day some veggies, one day some seeds, one day dried flowers/leaves/etc, maybe some days nothing extra) in nature you don't always get lucky in your foraging, and it keeps them from getting picky and refusing the pellets and hay. www.amazon.com/Sun-Seed-SSS30060-Sunscription-28-Ounce/dp/B0014DPCPU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435157863&sr=8-1&keywords=degu+food(most of the negative reviews, if you read them, are about shipping and packaging problems. Once I got a torn bag, called them up and they sent a replacement promptly. Annoying but not a big problem.)
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Post by moletteuk on Jul 19, 2015 12:27:28 GMT
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