GFE
Newborn Degu
Posts: 19 
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Post by GFE on Sept 19, 2017 13:05:40 GMT
Hi! FIrst at all sorry if i don't writte quite well english, i'm from spain haha Recently I bought two male degu (right now are a bit "savages", I hope with time and training are going to interact more!) and a big cage for them. Yes they are sooo happy with their new home but I have a terrible problem.... the floor of the cage is a flat plate and when I put substrate...what a mess! My floor seems a corn battle right now. I put strong plastic arround the base of the cage to avoid "jumping corn substrate" but it still falls. I don't know what substrate I can put or instead i don't know if a a polar blancket or a cane carpet that i see on internet would be suitable for them (the polar blanket and a towell works great in the platforms, to avoid the plastic). Yes I'm a bit desesperate, there's more corn in my floor than in the cage!! Thx a lot!!!!!!!! The cage is this, i don't have photo of mine yet www.voltrega.com/img/products/medium/001492G.jpg |
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 19, 2017 16:00:52 GMT
Hello, Gfe and welcome to the forum!! We have not had many members from Spain, so I don't know exactly how to advise you. What kind of substrate options are available to you? Are you handy at building . . . would you be able to modify your cage to increase surface/living space within, and to help contain the substrate? If you were to look at our cage size recommendations . . . deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9396/forums-cage-size-recommendations . . . you may find that your cage falls below the sizes recommended here for two degus. Having just bought your cage, that would be distressing to you. But if you are able to make modifications, you can certainly improve the surface area within it for their living space. In the process of doing this, you can also add barriers to help reduce the amount of substrate that is kicked out. I notice from the photo you use that the levels are plastic. Is that also the case with the cage you own? Are your cage levels made of plastic? Degus are voracious chewers and you could well find that they start to chew the plastic within the cage. I have tried the polar blanket material for my degus, but was not keen on it. The poo tends to stick, and the odor of the urine become strong very quickly. The cane carpet is not very absorbent and so isn't so effective. Here is a thread where substrate/bedding is discussed. Have a read through and see what you think. I'm sure you will have questions, which we encourage, so please ask them all. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/21086/bedding |
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Post by winic1 on Sept 19, 2017 17:18:22 GMT
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GFE
Newborn Degu
Posts: 19
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Post by GFE on Sept 19, 2017 18:11:15 GMT
Really in my house I don't have more space for my degus  The problem of doing edges is that this kind of cage has a few doors but I can't open all the front so the only way to clean well is removing the flat tray of the bottom. I'm not great with de DIY and really I can't think a solution. Perhaps a hemp floor and a small digging pit (I don't know what to put inside) is a solution.... Mi cage now...  |
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Post by Karma on Sept 20, 2017 0:07:52 GMT
I use polar fleece blankets in my cage. Yes it does need cleaning more than substrate but I find it's fine for about a week (their smell doesn't both me too much and they are in their own room). I also do have a large cage so it might be less because of that. I use the drying mats on their platforms - absorbs very well (fleece doesn't) and no smell in a week.
Paper underneath of grass mats might work for you .... some absorption but no mess. Would need to change out every couple days I imagine.
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GFE
Newborn Degu
Posts: 19
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Post by GFE on Sept 20, 2017 9:25:55 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2017 13:18:49 GMT
The hemp flooring wont need changing every 15 days, just take it out, clean their poops off, pat it down, spray it with pet safe cleaner and leave to dry (if you wish, I didn't), then put back in.
Mine absolutely destroyed hemp flooring, so bare in mind it may not work for you. Mine completely removed it all, tore it all up and made nests with it, even my chinchilla. Not at all economical or affordable as it would mean buying new hemp every 2 weeks max, for 3 aventura cages and one huge 5 floor cage.
I still haven't found a bedding/substrate that works for me. I'm currently going back to coco liner and trying everyone with that. It's similar to hemp in that it's in sheets.
I do think they will end up chewing plastic if it's not covered. I used to use plastic baths for my degus, they'd chew holes in the corners so all the sand would leak out, probably every month lol! So it's best to avoid plastic if you can.
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 20, 2017 17:40:14 GMT
Sometimes they can start to chew the plastic overnight all of a sudden, and they are quite likely to riot and make a mess in such a restricted size cage, so do think about increasing the cage size if at all possible.
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GFE
Newborn Degu
Posts: 19
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Post by GFE on Oct 2, 2017 16:27:39 GMT
Sometimes they can start to chew the plastic overnight all of a sudden, and they are quite likely to riot and make a mess in such a restricted size cage, so do think about increasing the cage size if at all possible. For now I put a hemp floor and they didn't destroy anything... also I put a digging pit and it seems to work! I know that the cage is not ideal but really I don't have more space and I don't see haw to improve (my only choice is to make more hight but no idea how). With time (a year or more) I found a place that build's wood cages and I would try to order one more higher so they can have more floors. For know what I do is once per week I put them in the corridor of my house with toys, digging pit etc. so they can move a bit more and investigate. |
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Post by bouncy on Oct 14, 2017 16:35:28 GMT
The easiest way to give your goos a lot more space is to make the levels bigger, so they take up the whole cage size. A DIY store or timber yard will cut pine boards to size (remember to measure INSIDE the bars) and ask them to cut a hole somewhere along the edge for the goos to fit through. Get a packet of nuts and bolts (the packet should say M6 or M8), and a packet of BIG metal washers with a small hole in the middle. Again, the store should help you. Try and get bolts up 5-10cm long. Where you want a level, put a washer onto the bolt, put it through the bars, put another washer onto the bolt, then a nut. Tighten the nut! Put one in each corner, the cut wood on top, etc voilà! No DIY skills needed, and degu running space doubled!  |
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Post by degugoodolls on Oct 20, 2017 0:43:37 GMT
I had a cage similar to this for quarantining rats. You can fairly easily make scatter guards out of corrugated plastic (easy to cut with a hot Exacto knife and ruler) to create a border on the bottom to hold the substrate. I cut mine so exact that I could just pop them in and they would hold with the tension but it can also be fastened with binder clips or zip ties. It's easy to clean because all you have to do is unclip or cut off the ties and wipe it down. Even cardboard will work okay for a short time if attached from the outside.
Alternatively and not very attractive. You could get some sort of plastic storage bin that's big enough to sit the cage it. While it won't hold the substrate in it will prevent it from getting all over the floor.
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