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Post by degulord on Jan 8, 2018 15:27:52 GMT
Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and it's been roughly 20 hours since i got my first ever degus I already had a cage built for them, but i ran to some problems, maybe you could help me out. I never thought of how these animals like to pee and sh*t everywhere My second and third floors are covered in droppings and pee. Seems like i will need to clean it every day, but that is very time consuming. Perhaps some sort of barrier around the perimeter would help? i could put wood shavings to soak it all up. I made a "swimming pool" out of wood and clear plastic so they could clean themselves and dig around, but it seems like they prefer to use it as a nest instead. I made a great house in the bottom that is easy for me to clean and disassemble and it is not being used at all. I suppose i can't change anything about it? Photos here: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OkfYfI04T6KuNFd4VaPTfJ8hm7FBEQpj?usp=sharingP.S. I can already see the disadvantages of it not being made out of glass or clear plastic
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Post by ntg on Jan 8, 2018 16:05:12 GMT
The cage looks great what are the dimensions of it? As for the pee question, you really do want to put some edging on the levels (a strip of kiln-dried pine will do) and then put down some form of substrate like woodshavings, finacard, fitch (or carefresh) or hemp shavings to help absorb the pee! It'll help to keep the poop in the cage as much as possible but you can't stop the little darlings from chucking it out the cage
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Post by misscatafer on Jan 8, 2018 16:05:42 GMT
Welcome to the forum what are your degus names and how old are they? Cool cage! Absolutely adore the sand bath at the top degus bathe with sand, not wood shavings.. so maybe if you swapped the wood shavings to sand you would see different activity up there. Be aware that they will chew those wooden shelves to their hearts content Yep! Degus are very messy, they also like to flick their poops all over your house.. As you will soon find out! You will need to cover those surfaces as they will get sodden with urine. Wood shavings are excellent for soaking up the smell and wet. I personally cover mine with wall paper (£1 a roll from pound land) or whatever thick cheap paper I can find, then sprinkle a generous layer of wood shavings on top so they can dig about. Beware though! They will kick this out of the cage for fun. For this reason, I have perspex on the sides and front of my cage where I use wood shavings, then else where I use fleece blankets which I change weekly and hoover every other day. But people here use all sorts of materials on their cages, so it us worth having an explore on here to see what you want to try Regarding the house, degus are very funny creatures and will always do the opposite of what you expect. But they also change their interests quickly! So don't be surprised if they start showing interest soon, remember it hasn't even been 24 hours yet so they are still getting used to everything. Try putting lots of kitchen roll, loo roll, hay and strips of jiffy cloth in there for them to make a nest. Have you got a water bottle in there for them? They would probably benefit from some extra shelving and ledges in there to maximise the space they have. Degus love running and needs lots of level space. What are the dimensions of the cage?
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Post by degulord on Jan 8, 2018 16:23:20 GMT
The cage is 80cm tall, 45cm width, 100cm length. I made the second floor with just one hole so they could run around. And run around they really do There is no water bottle, because i bought a faulty one and the owners of these degus used a small jar of water instead so did the same. These degus were born on the 2nd of October so they are 3 months old males. The names, well.... One is Hepatitis and the other one Schnapps. Don't ask, me and my gf are just weird like that. Running wheel is made out of a 30cm diameter cake pan As for the edges. Yes i will have to think of something, right now there is a mess around the cage constantly.
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Post by misscatafer on Jan 8, 2018 16:42:04 GMT
Very quirky names! Good luck with modifying the cage! Wheel also looks really good.
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Post by moletteuk on Jan 8, 2018 19:07:00 GMT
Welcome! Edging around the shelves and some substrate should totally solve the poo and pee problem. Most degus will develop places that they prefer to pee at least to an extent and then you can put trays or tiles down so it's easier to spot clean those places, and then you should be able to got 2 to 4 weeks between cleanouts. Don't do a full cleanout all in one go, by the way, it will upset them and can make them aggressive without having their scent cues around. Degus never use the cage as you expect and that's all part of the fun of degus. You now have years ahead of you trying to fathom what they are thinking and how they see the aspects of the cage and life generally! I suspect that they aren't sure about the enclosed box in the bottom because it only has one entrance. When I made a digging box my lot wouldn't trust it until it had a rapidly accessible emergency exit (ground level entrance). I think I would try an entrance hole in the top of it in the case of your lower nest box because that will also add security for them to the feeding area. I'm going to link you to our beginner's guide so you know you have all the bases covered and fresh in your mind: deguworld.proboards.com/thread/19754/beginners-guide-degu-keeping
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Post by savvy on Jan 8, 2018 22:19:08 GMT
Welcome to the forum, love their names! The cage looks great, but I would recommend a low guard to help stop the mess.
Degus are weird little guys, seriously weird little guys, but a lot of fun, They will do the unexpected, just because they can, mine have two nest boxes each, several places to hide and still Dixie sleeps out in the open and uses the top nest box as a loo. Now Bumblebee has started doing the same.
I would also recommend that you double check the sex, just to make sure you do have two boys. It's very easy to mis-sex degus and mistakes can mean you are overrun with pups before you know it.
If you have any questions, please ask, there are no silly ones when it comes to degus!
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Post by misscatafer on Jan 8, 2018 23:06:09 GMT
Following on from Molette's observations, it could be that that nest box is on the lower level... I have switched my cage around countless times.. Giving them many options for housing and neat boxes etc... But thinking about it they have always chosen the highest possible location to sleep, whether this be a hammock, pile of hay or house. They are prey animals after all so are always on high alert and need a good view of their environment in order to feel safe. That may be why they chose to sleep in the dig box on the first night as it provides a good look out post.
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Post by claire on Jan 9, 2018 3:47:33 GMT
Best advice i can give you... trial amd error. Youll soon learn what they need and become more imaginative than you ever thought you could be lol. Check out the cage page in this forum. Maybe a mod could put a link up. So many ideas there it's where I got my inspiration from .
Good luck with your new fur babies oh and.... PICS !!!!@
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Post by bouncy on Jan 9, 2018 10:08:56 GMT
Excellent cage! Unfortunately, degus don't share our logic. They just don't. It doesn't mean they won't change anything around, either. They are great for totally ignoring what you see as the best toy in the world, only to show any interest months later. Just try not to take offence As ntg mentioned, try chinchilla sand in the bathtub. Mine go mad in their bowl, and they're great to watch! Perhaps, once you've swapped in the sand, put a whole toilet roll in there. You can watch the comedy of degus playing with it, with lengths of paper being dragged around all over the place until they decide where to make their nest.
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Post by claire on Jan 13, 2018 5:00:07 GMT
Ahh the good old bog roll maze 🤣🤣🤣
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Post by degulord on Jan 14, 2018 17:45:48 GMT
Thanks for the replies. Here is the upgraded cage: drive.google.com/open?id=1Zpjl7c4Z--TWErDby-5N2l-ignYp2DqLI put 5cm tall walls in the second and third floors. Added wood shavings of both small and large fractions. The box in the top has become a nest. They carry all the cardboard i give them to that place and make a circular wall. The house in the bottom serves as a peanut hiding spot which they both use so it doesn't work well for them, but omg it is so fun to watch For extra chewing material i put two large pieces of birch wood. I noticed they chewed a lot of wooden parts of the cage in the first floor so i added extra "railings" that i could change if they eat them all up. Changing those seems easier than cage repair Both are boys 100%, i've seen them clean themselves openly as if to show off "look at mine, it's bigger"
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Post by randomname on Jan 14, 2018 17:59:01 GMT
Looks fab. Loving the wallpaper too
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 14, 2018 18:09:24 GMT
I love it! Looks so amazing!! Well done! Sounds like you are developing some excellent strategies for dealing with typical degu destruction as well.
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Post by degulord on Jan 31, 2018 9:31:34 GMT
Hey again, My degus seem to be eating their cage more and more. They are now eating a whole new part of the 1 1/2 floor above the house which is kinda hard to replace... I put pieces of birch wood, cardboard box pieces, a mineral brick for rodents, a whoole coconut shell broken into several pieces, other small wood pieces for them to chew, but they seem to mostly like the cage construction wood. They only rarely try something else. That is annoying. It's been only a month and i need to perform repairs.
Any ideas what else i could try?
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Post by bouncy on Jan 31, 2018 13:09:14 GMT
Try protecting the exposed edges with some aluminium edging from a DIY store. It comes in different shapes and sizes, and should mean at least that they can't escape. You can either glue it to the wood, or drill and screw it on.
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Post by degulord on Jan 31, 2018 15:08:21 GMT
Try protecting the exposed edges with some aluminium edging from a DIY store. It comes in different shapes and sizes, and should mean at least that they can't escape. You can either glue it to the wood, or drill and screw it on. Aluminium is exactly what i thought about when i was in a hardware store today. Problem is, if i protect one place, they might start chewing somewhere else. I want to find something they would chew no matter if my cage is protected or not. Today i bought a carrot flavoured mineral brick, i hope they like it
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Post by bouncy on Jan 31, 2018 15:15:21 GMT
The only problem with that theory is they'll chew what you don't want them to, just because! They're sneaky gits lol
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Post by misscatafer on Jan 31, 2018 16:54:15 GMT
Try hanging some wooden blocks on chains around the cage, I use extra large parrot toys, mine get through about one or two toys a month and are playing with them constantly, they love them! It may distract them from the shelving and provide more stimulation, but with degus, who knows! It may be worth a try though.
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 31, 2018 17:02:26 GMT
What parts are they chewing? Is it the edging that keeps the substrate in, or is it the surface that is the floor of that level?
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