Hammock advice?

[macactus]

Can anyone whose degus love their hammock share its details? Size of fabric, dimensions of attachment points to cage (ie, how far apart they are), and what sort of fabric? I made a quick one and they just don't like it.
Thanks!

[bouncy]

I've had a few, one was the hood from an old dressing gown, one was square and covered like a box made of fleece, one was a tube with für on the inside, one was even an upturned metal metal flyscreen for a plate......

Don't be disheartened! Just leave it in there. Goos are very fickle. They'll ignore something new for weeks, occasionally weeing on it, mostly ignoring it. All of a sudden, you'll look in one day, and they'll be there! Unfortunately, it's all Alpha goo's choice. When I first created my Chelsea extension and the strawberry planter, I was convinced they would suddenly make it their den. A year on, the only one who regularly uses it is Scaredygoo, who uses it as his "secret" nut den

[moletteuk]

Mine don't have fabrics any more since they chewed them up once too often, but I agree with Bouncy that for hanging things and fabric things they can ignore them for AGES and then suddenly decide it's the best thing ever. I was days away from removing a fabric covered hanging basket because I only saw them step in it once in 4 months, but then suddenly they started nesting in it.

I would suggest putting the fixings as far apart as you can to make any hammock or hanging thing as stable as possible.

If you show us a photo we could comment on if it looks like something our degus would like, or if you look through the 'show us your cage' thread you will see lots of hammocks in the cages there.

Welcome to the forum

[yasmin]

Welcome to the forum, macactus.

If you are in North America/Canada, you can buy very durable and neat-looking ones from Nature's Degu Pantry for around $10 CDN plus shipping. They are made of two layers of synthetic fleece, about 30cmx30cm with attachments on every corner. My degus love them and they are washable.

[Emziedee]

Hi Macactus 👋🏻

I've removed all my hammocks as they only seem to use them in the winter. I'll pop them back in then but from my experience, they prefer a hammock that has a built in cover for them to go deep inside and feel nice and safe. I think groups of goos like to all pile on the top but my lone boys definitely appreciate the extra comfort

I have one that has extremely soft faux fur lining, and one with a more sheep fleece lining, they both seem to prefer the bobbly fleece one and have scratched away the softer lining of the other.

[Deleted]

Mine all love beds of some description.

One pair will only sleep in a cube type bed that's been there forever, bought them a huge big igloo bed - haven't even been inside it.

My other pair love any kind of bed, hammocks, double decker hammocks are a big favourite, igloo beds, a self built nest..

My other pair like the rope ones and then they will sleep on top of a double decker hammock

But sometimes it'll take months before they touch something and then they suddenly love it! I'd leave it in personally, or periodically move it around if they still aren't using it.

[macactus]

Thanks everyone! I think I will leave the current one in and make another that has a top per Emily.