~*Heya*~

[shystar]

Hey ^^/
I saw some Degus at my local pet shop a week ago and fell totally in love. I'm waiting for a cage to be delivered and then hopefully the little fluffs I'm smitten by will still be there for me to adopt ^^ 
I'm quite shy, but looking forward to talking with fellow enthusiasts Also hoping I can find good advice as this will be my first time keeping Degus and I know noone who keeps them It's all very exciting
See yas around
Shy

[Bexi87]

Welcome to the forum shystar

I would recommend reading through our beginners guide - hopefully it will give you all the knowledge you need to bring your new babies home!

deguworld.proboards.com/thread/19754/beginners-guide-degu-keeping

I'd also recommend our cage size guide - having enough room for your monsters is important to give them the space to grow, explore and escape from each other when needed. We have had many examples of small cages (particularly the Pets at Home thickets cage) leading to fighting between groups.

deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9396/forums-cage-size-recommendations

Degu ownership is an incredibly rewarding experience, but it can be stressful and you need a lot of patience but I promise they are worth it

Do you know what sex you are getting? Are they coming from a pet shop?

I bet you are so excited don't feel shy about asking questions - nothing is too small to ask here. We have a great community that have a lot of experience so ask away!

[deguconvert]

Hello, Shystar!! Welcome to the forum, we look forward to getting to know you, and you getting to know us!! Congratulations on choosing to get degus. What cage are you getting for them?

[shystar]

Thanks so much for the welcome I did have a look at that guide It's very good and helpful
I tried my best to ensure the cage is big enough. I only want 2 degus, I cant work so they can come out thier cage every day So I'm hoping it will b ok if the cage is too small.
I've only kept hamsters, rabbits and dogs previously. I was thinking of getting a hamster, but when I took my dog to be cleaned at petsathome I saw some gorgeous Degus (Haden't really seen them before) and I knew they had to be mine I hope they will still be there on tuesday, if not I will wait for some more cuties to become available
I'm hoping to get them from petsathome, if not I will probably try and find a breeder. I actually asked the woman at the petshop loads of questions, and forgot to ask the gender of them xD Is there much difference in behavior and temperment between male and females ..?

www.cagesworld.co.uk/p/Little_Zoo_Small_Animal_Cage.htm?product_id=537590 <--- I've bought this cage. Fingers crossed its ok... if not I can get them sometimes different probably after xmas. They will be ok to wait that long right..? I mean... they have to grow lol

I am having problems deciding about 1 thing though. I don't know which substrate is best. I asked the woman in the petshop and she just said the wood shavings like they use are fine, but I'm not sure I want to go with them as I'm not sure what kind of wood it is... not that I dont trust her knowledge... but... I don't lol I was looking at processed wood pulp, but I dont know where to get it lol Otherwise I was concidering shredded paper. I'd really appriciate some oppinions. if I can see on the packaging that the wood shavings are pine then I might just get that like the woman told me.


I am really excited Also worried that the ones I fell in love with will be gone, but theses things happen and it's not like they are the only degus in the world. One of them has a lot of white fur, and he/she kept climping to the top of the cage to look at me and smell my finger. So cute and curious! I'm really hoping that 1 is still there. I haven't picked the second 1 yet, I was going to watch them a while and see if I can spot which out of the other 3 the whitish 1 interacts with most. Sounds silly huh?

I asked her how old they are and she said 4 months old. How close are they to being fully grown? Is 4 months old too old...? Will taming be harder...?

Thats more questions then I intended xD I'm sorry :x

Thanks again for the help and amazing welcome

[deguconvert]

Even with time outside every day, they need to have a cage that is appropriately sized. When you say they will come out every day, do you mean from the time you are up, until bedtime? Will you have a playpen around the cage, or how much space do you have in your home that you can dedicate to them? They are heavy chewers, as well as escape artists, so you will need to degu proof your rooms. Degus cover a large amount of territory in the wild to forage for food, and they are built to cover distance, so the large cage is needed to keep them content, happy, and to reduce fighting.

These degus at four months are nearing the stage we call adolescence/young adulthood, and it can last from six months up to 18 months. The larger the space they have, the less trouble there is between the degus, although you will still see some dominance fighting. This stage has heavy contention for dominance and and rights to mating, even if there are no females near by. Females do the same thing. Hand taming will not be harder, that really depends more on the degus and what experiences they have had with humans. You may find that they adjust to your home with no trouble at all, or you might see them be very shy and skittish.

[winic1]

I have several bird cages the size of the one you ordered. It is a fairly big space, but for degus it is actually a bit short, instead of 77cm wide it should really be a minimum of 100cm. And instead of just a couple shelves, it should have several full levels' worth of floor space.

That being said, it is certainly something you can work with. First off, you will need to add more floor space by putting in half or full levels. In order to fit a wheel in there, at least one level or part of one level has to be tall, but you can put levels and shelves in at differing heights elsewhere to increase the number and floorspace. Some of my levels are about 40cm high, some are only 17cm high, the lower spaces are kind of like burrows, and a great space to tuck in a hut or two. You can make up for the cage being a bit short in length by putting solid ramps between at least some of the levels, so that the degus can run continuously from one to another, letting them run freely as if they had a longer cage.

Be sure to look at the "Improving your metal cage" thread in the cages & housing section.
Paradise in a Critter Nation - www.deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15977/paradise-critter-nation (this is my cage. I included a bunch of how-to photos)

How to transform your metal cage- deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9468/transform-metal-cage-degu-home

Cage materials guide - deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17316/cage-materials

Then, as the cage you have on order is a bit small, an idea, if you have the space, is something bird people do very commonly with this size cage: get another and join the two side by side. Take off one end of each and strap/screw/wire/whatever the two of them together. This gives you a huge cage that certainly is plenty big to give two degus a wonderful home, especially with added levels. You have to either not use the stands that come with them, or rig something up to let the cages fit together (people either take the ends off the stands and use wood to join them together, or strap them together and use wood or wire mesh or something to bridge the gap between the two cages, but make sure it's chew-proof as the degus WILL find a way through if they possibly can.) Another arrangement would be to join them back to back, you don't get quite as long a cage, but as it's close to square at that point, it's still quite big. It's an idea to consider, as your goos will appreciate more room as they grow up.

[winic1]

And bravo to you for getting your cage and info in order before bringing home the degus. Whether you get the ones you saw, or others, they are going to be lucky to have a new owner who is so well prepared for them.

[moletteuk]

Check out your local rescue places before you buy from PAH.

Substrate is quite a personal choice and depends a bit on their toilet habits and the edging or kickboards you have in the cage, see this thread deguworld.proboards.com/thread/8754/cage-bedding-reviews

[shystar]

I got my babies look look look deguworld.proboards.com/thread/20586/firo-raz-home-3

*calms self*

deguconvert - Thanks so much for the info I had them both start a fight on my hand earlier (They didnt want to share the food lol). And they also started mating in the sandbath earlier *tuts*. Kids really will do it anywhere!

winic1 - Thanks for all this stuff to look at I want to work on making them another full floor as soon as possible I've had a few ideas of how to do it, I just need to find certain things first ^^ Then 'D I Y' I shall The wooden levels the cage came with are quite big, but not big enough, I want to try and make atleast 1 a full floor I'm currently trying to stop the wheel from moving forwards. And as for buying a second 1, I may do that. However, it may have to wait until after xmas. I really want to have a bigger cage or two joined by the time they are adult sized They are quite small right now, so I have a little time i think

moletteuk - Thanks for the link I will read it a few times and will probably change what I have as I dont like it. Shame I bought it, but if it's not good enough for my babies then it will have to go U_U

Again, thanks so much for being so welcoming and helpful

[Bexi87]

Congratulations on the new arrivals!

Have you had chance to sex them yourself yet? We've had a few unexpected litters recently following PaH's inability to sex animals properly so it's worth having a check yourself to be 100% safe

[surfingcat]

They look really cute! Sounds like you are getting on well with them right from the beginning. We are hoping to get our degu next week - 3 brothers. They will be our first degu too.

[Grizabella]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

[Deleted]

Hello and welcome! Super cute degus you have! You definitely should try and sex them yourself because p@h seem to always get it wrong.

If you can't be 100% sure yourself, let them walk onto something clear and then take lots of pictures from underneath of their genital area. Or if you're comfortable, pick them up and take a few pictures of their genitals. You need to be 100% sure of their gender because you will quickly end up with babies if there has been a mistake.