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Post by kathhong on Jul 4, 2018 10:02:45 GMT
I need some recommendations on getting the (almost) perfect cage for my degu. I'm from Malaysia and it's very very rare to find degus here. Believe it or not, I didn't know what is a degu until the first time I saw one at a pet exhibition. It was love at first sight, so I bought one home without knowing much information about it. I had lots of hamsters before so I thought the care needed for degus should be much the same.... Until I found out that degus need a lot of space so here I am looking to expand her living area by getting a proper sturdy cage for her, which also prevents her from escaping.
As I am in Malaysia, there are not much choices of cages for degus. There are a few but they don't seem very appropriate to me, such as having plastic base, paint coated metals and etc. I would like to get one that is sturdy and safe for my degu, may be planning to get a friend or two for her in the near future so an expandable cage would be good. Since I need to get it imported from overseas, budget is also quite an issue at the moment as shipping fee would cost a bomb, but I really hope to get the first cage right.
Been doing some research and I found Critter Nation Single Storey from Amazon that quite fit my criterias but I don't really like its plastic pan and the scatter guard. As according to reviews, the scatter guard doesn't aid in keeping the bedding and litter in the pan. I found a forwarder who would help me ship the cage from only USA at a slightly cheaper shipping price.
I also found this Aventura cage (http://www.littlepetwarehouse.co.uk/products/metal-aventura-huge-metal-rat-ferret-chinchilla-cage.html) that can be shipped from UK but this is a bit too expensive for my budget, though it's a double storey.
Anyways, I'm looking for recommendations or reviews for metal cages which I can import from as soon as possible. DIY is currently not an option as that takes a lot of time and resources, such as safe wood, which I am not sure if I can find in Malaysia. Thanks!
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Post by savvy on Jul 4, 2018 10:21:45 GMT
The aventura is certainly a recommended cage, as is the Liberta.
Both of these cages are made in China, to the best of my knowledge. Would it be cheaper to ship from the manufacturer to Malaysia?
The correct cage is vital so you are right to get the right one.
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Post by bouncy on Jul 4, 2018 10:36:09 GMT
Hi Kath! I'm really pleased to see you are committed to your little fluff! Have a look at our cages and housing threads for cage size recommendations, which will also give the names of the cages recommended. Also look at our "show us your cages" section. Others have been unable to find a cage of the correct dimensions, and have ended up getting two the same and joining them together. I will try and find the links for you, but China has also started to make replicas of these cages, which might help. Whichever cage you go for, there are a few things to think about: - Go for a cage that has metal trays, not plastic, or you'll have more escapes!
- Look for a bar spacing of no more than 1.5cm
- Think about access. Cleaning and access is important, and so is your comfort. Think big doors
- Goos need solid floors, not wire, to walk on
Unfortunately, there are no "perfect" cages out there, and we have all had to modify our cages in one way or another.
I know you mentioned no DIY, but have a think about furniture that could be converted, such as glass front cabinets or TV units with a big enough footprint. We have lots of information in the cages section about how to go about this.
As a new owner, I would urge you to read through the stickies in each section. Degus are weird creatures. I've also kept hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, and fostered chinchillas, but degus are another totally different game. Their brains have already been found to have huge similarities to humans, and they're extremely intelligent. They spontaneously problem solve. Like us, they also need company. Whilst it's nice to think that we can provide everything they need, they should ideally be living with at least one other degu (preferably same sex or neutered male), and depression and self harm is not unusual. This also raises other questions of introductions.
In the meantime, I'll see if I can find the Chinese links for you!
We love to meet new goo owners, and are happy to help as much as we can
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Post by bouncy on Jul 4, 2018 11:36:15 GMT
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Post by winic1 on Jul 4, 2018 12:24:11 GMT
I have a Critter Nation, but the double unit (a single isn't really big enough at all, especially for more than one degu). We made our own scatter guards from plexiglass. The plastic bottom trays have not been an issue at all, probably because of the small strips of wood we lined all the edges with, so they chewed the wood instead. But even if they chew the plastic trays, they cannot escape because they sit inside the cage, so there is wire cage underneath as well. If they did chew on the trays, you could always replace them with wood or tile, as the cage itself is still intact. Here's a look at my cage and the kinds of things you can do with a wire cage. Adding more levels greatly increases the room-to-run for the degus. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15977/paradise-critter-nationAnd as the others have said, most of our cages (I am in the USA) are made and shipped from China, so maybe you can get one shipped directly to you to save some money.
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Post by kathhong on Jul 4, 2018 16:39:01 GMT
The aventura is certainly a recommended cage, as is the Liberta. Both of these cages are made in China, to the best of my knowledge. Would it be cheaper to ship from the manufacturer to Malaysia? The correct cage is vital so you are right to get the right one. Are both brands from UK? I don't see a lot of Liberta cages around. Is this the one you recommended? www.amazon.com/Liberta-UK-Double-rongeurs-Taille/dp/B0033YV7T8If that's so, it would be way over budget for me. The Aventura looks better than the Critter Nation but it is a bit expensive for me, so Liberta is definitely out of my list. I'm not sure if I can get the cages shipped directly from the manufacturer in China as the sellers are either in UK or USA. Sigh.
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Post by kathhong on Jul 4, 2018 17:18:44 GMT
Hi Kath! I'm really pleased to see you are committed to your little fluff! Have a look at our cages and housing threads for cage size recommendations, which will also give the names of the cages recommended. Also look at our "show us your cages" section. Others have been unable to find a cage of the correct dimensions, and have ended up getting two the same and joining them together. I will try and find the links for you, but China has also started to make replicas of these cages, which might help. Whichever cage you go for, there are a few things to think about: - Go for a cage that has metal trays, not plastic, or you'll have more escapes!
- Look for a bar spacing of no more than 1.5cm
- Think about access. Cleaning and access is important, and so is your comfort. Think big doors
- Goos need solid floors, not wire, to walk on
Unfortunately, there are no "perfect" cages out there, and we have all had to modify our cages in one way or another.
I know you mentioned no DIY, but have a think about furniture that could be converted, such as glass front cabinets or TV units with a big enough footprint. We have lots of information in the cages section about how to go about this.
As a new owner, I would urge you to read through the stickies in each section. Degus are weird creatures. I've also kept hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, and fostered chinchillas, but degus are another totally different game. Their brains have already been found to have huge similarities to humans, and they're extremely intelligent. They spontaneously problem solve. Like us, they also need company. Whilst it's nice to think that we can provide everything they need, they should ideally be living with at least one other degu (preferably same sex or neutered male), and depression and self harm is not unusual. This also raises other questions of introductions.
In the meantime, I'll see if I can find the Chinese links for you!
We love to meet new goo owners, and are happy to help as much as we can Thanks for providing so much info! I've checked out some threads regarding cages previously. I'm very impressed with all those DIY cages and I'm really quite tempted to do one myself but I really don't think I can as I do not have any basic tools to build/modify. The most I can do for DIY at the moment is probably adding more stuffs into a cage by getting some wood/metal ledges for my degu. Those were quite scarce here but I managed to have found some in a few pet shops. I'm also getting my boyfriend to see if he has anyone or knows any carpenter here who can do some DIY stuffs for me, such as making my own scatter guard. I'm fully aware that degus are highly sociable animals and need a lot of interactions, thus needs company. It's fortunate that I'm currently having a break from studies/work so I have a lot of spare time to play with it. That's why I'm trying to get a proper bigger cage as soon as possible, and then get another degu. Thanks again for being so helpful with the links! It would really help a lot as I'm having a hard time finding the most suitable and affordable cage for my degu. However, for the link that you've provided above, I've seen it before in their Malaysia site. They are selling the cage way overpriced. With the price that they are selling, I can TWO critter nation double storey through my forwarder alone. But still, thank you.
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Post by kathhong on Jul 4, 2018 17:31:19 GMT
I have a Critter Nation, but the double unit (a single isn't really big enough at all, especially for more than one degu). We made our own scatter guards from plexiglass. The plastic bottom trays have not been an issue at all, probably because of the small strips of wood we lined all the edges with, so they chewed the wood instead. But even if they chew the plastic trays, they cannot escape because they sit inside the cage, so there is wire cage underneath as well. If they did chew on the trays, you could always replace them with wood or tile, as the cage itself is still intact. Here's a look at my cage and the kinds of things you can do with a wire cage. Adding more levels greatly increases the room-to-run for the degus. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15977/paradise-critter-nationAnd as the others have said, most of our cages (I am in the USA) are made and shipped from China, so maybe you can get one shipped directly to you to save some money. I've seen your post regarding your cage before I even created this post! I really love how you modified and set up your Critter Nation cage. Loving everything from your cage, especially the branches and flooring that you've done for your degus. I plan to replicate your scatter guards if I still can't find anything better and affordable. I just hope that I can find the materials needed and someone to do it for me. I love how escape proof the Critter Nation cage is but I would also like to avoid the trouble of having the need to keep replacing the plastic pans/trays whenever my degu chewed on them. Thanks for sharing! Still trying to see if there is any way I can get the cage shipped from China or to maybe contact the manufacturer.
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Degu Cage
Jul 4, 2018 17:48:00 GMT
via mobile
Post by bouncy on Jul 4, 2018 17:48:00 GMT
I thought you would be interested a second degu, given how keen you are to make the habit as ideal as possible I'll keep looking for the site, but it may take me a while......
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Post by winic1 on Jul 4, 2018 18:30:52 GMT
I have a Critter Nation, but the double unit (a single isn't really big enough at all, especially for more than one degu). We made our own scatter guards from plexiglass. The plastic bottom trays have not been an issue at all, probably because of the small strips of wood we lined all the edges with, so they chewed the wood instead. But even if they chew the plastic trays, they cannot escape because they sit inside the cage, so there is wire cage underneath as well. If they did chew on the trays, you could always replace them with wood or tile, as the cage itself is still intact. Here's a look at my cage and the kinds of things you can do with a wire cage. Adding more levels greatly increases the room-to-run for the degus. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15977/paradise-critter-nationAnd as the others have said, most of our cages (I am in the USA) are made and shipped from China, so maybe you can get one shipped directly to you to save some money. I've seen your post regarding your cage before I even created this post! I really love how you modified and set up your Critter Nation cage. Loving everything from your cage, especially the branches and flooring that you've done for your degus. I plan to replicate your scatter guards if I still can't find anything better and affordable. I just hope that I can find the materials needed and someone to do it for me. I love how escape proof the Critter Nation cage is but I would also like to avoid the trouble of having the need to keep replacing the plastic pans/trays whenever my degu chewed on them. Thanks for sharing! Still trying to see if there is any way I can get the cage shipped from China or to maybe contact the manufacturer. I have never had to replace a tray, in all these years. Have not been chewed. I think it's a combo of having the wood trim covering all edges so that they're not easily accessed, and having so much wood available that they didn't feel the need to chew on the plastic. I'm on my second group of degus in it, so it has worked out well. They did immediately start working on chewing all the edges of the wood trim, so that they were rounded instead of the fresh, square edges they started as. Then they went on to all the natural wood and bark and little apple sticks I give them.
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Post by kathhong on Jul 6, 2018 17:51:17 GMT
I thought you would be interested a second degu, given how keen you are to make the habit as ideal as possible I'll keep looking for the site, but it may take me a while...... Sure, no problem! Anything that helps. Thanks a lot!
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