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Post by bopeuph on Sept 29, 2006 1:30:16 GMT
How much success have people had in potty training degus? Nausicaä has left droppings all over the cage, and urinates on the glass of the aquarium constantly. My girlfriend let her climb around on the top of the cage once, and said she peed on a spot on the wall about 6 inches away (that's a heckuva spray!). My girlfriend wants to change the cage more than once a week, but I think that could be getting too much. Any tips?
Nick
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Erica
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 159
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Post by Erica on Sept 29, 2006 2:31:11 GMT
Whenever I've left the dust/sand bath in one of my degu's cages too long they invariably used it as a latrine. Degus like to keep their cage relatively clean by urinating outside the cage and flinging their feces outside the cage (if possible). I guess that makes them clean ... but our house dirty! Also, they usually urinate in the same spot so you could put down extra bedding in that area or change that area twice a week. My boys defecate on the same ledge all the time so I just clear that ledge twice a week and the whole cage once a week. I hope that helps.
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aqh88
Warbling Degu
Posts: 44
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Post by aqh88 on Sept 29, 2006 21:59:19 GMT
Leaving sand in the cage does work as a litterbox but is expensive if you can't get cheap sand. I use handy sand which is as fine grained as chinchilla sand(not chinchilla dust) and has worked fine for both gerbils and degus. It's only about $2 a 50lb bag at Menards so mine have a 5g tank inside their 90g always filled with sand. It has to be cleaned about every 3 days but the rest of the cage could go 2weeks without cleaning. I don't know about degus but my gerbils also eventually learned to bury their dirty bedding in the sand and I'd run it through a fish net to clean the dirty bedding and droppings out so it would last a little longer.
Degus do mark things with urine quite frequently and there's no way to stop that. Usually though humans can't smell it.
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Mandy
Warbling Degu
Tilly and Milly
Posts: 31
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Post by Mandy on Oct 11, 2006 10:27:31 GMT
Hi eveyone I am glad we are not the only people having this problem, we brought are Degus at the weekend and we are finding feces everywhere in are house. Is there anyway in stopping them urinating on the wood as its making the house really smelly? We are cleaning are cage out eveyday at the moment but it still smells.
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dreamcatcher
Burrowing Degu
Not my pups, but aren't they cute!!
Posts: 134
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Post by dreamcatcher on Oct 11, 2006 11:07:21 GMT
you probably have urine hiding somewhere. I found that as well after a while I had the most horrible smell and realized that ya okay I was cleaning the cage but it sits right beside my computer desk and I wiped everything else down but the desk. PEEUUUU What a stink that was!! I happened across a cheap roll of plastic at a yard sale on the weekend and went to the dollar store and bought some cable ties. I cut the plastic to size and tied it to the cage. I may have to change it at some point soon but at least the pee and poo is staying in the cage. Oh and I also only did the side that they were flinging from. So the back is done and the one side beside the stairs cause lets face it...........when you come into someones house you really don't want to see poo everywhere!! I don't want them secluded from the kids and I so I left the other two sides open and just wipe those sides down. Saves alot of cleanup mess. Anyway,that's just an idea. I hope it helps.
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Mandy
Warbling Degu
Tilly and Milly
Posts: 31
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Post by Mandy on Oct 11, 2006 11:32:26 GMT
Do they not eat the plastic? ;D
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Erica
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 159
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Post by Erica on Oct 12, 2006 2:47:04 GMT
My degus would definitely chew plastic as long as they can access an edge to start.
On my cages I've attached a 4 inch or 10 cm high "pooh barrier" outside the cage around the three sides of each ledge. On one cage I used sheet metal (thank you handy husband) and wood on the other two cages. The girls chew at the wood but the cage is huge so progress is very slow. I'll eventually replace that with sheet metal.
I put bedding material ONTOP of my wooden ledges where my degus were urinating. It absorbs their urine and is excellent at reducing the smell. AND it's much easier than replacing the wood.
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Post by Sunshinemeg on Oct 12, 2006 10:07:16 GMT
Degus fling poos as a way on increasing the size of their territory, by marking as far away as possible, it lets other degus know they are there!
Urine marking is the same principle, but can be reduced by varnishing wooden sections with a child friendly paint, and wiping with antibacterial wipes reguarly to reduce the residue.
Sand baths work well, but can become expensive, they also need the sand baths to roll in for their fur, so if used as a toilet box needs to be kept extra clean.
hope this helps.
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dreamcatcher
Burrowing Degu
Not my pups, but aren't they cute!!
Posts: 134
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Post by dreamcatcher on Oct 12, 2006 12:48:17 GMT
Do they not eat the plastic? ;D Yes they would eat the plastic which is why I put it around the outside of the cage instead of the inside. It is one full sheet so the only edges to chew would be the outside edges which they can't get at because the plastic is on the outside of the bars. Anyway this seems to be working out really well as my cage sits right beside my desk and the banister for the stair case and my banister hasn't been covered in pee. And I have found no little droppings on the stairs. ;D WORKS FOR ME!! ;D
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Post by andrea on Oct 12, 2006 17:27:24 GMT
I have 3 females in a 55G tank which I find keeps everything very clean. However my two males are in a large cage, and I found they were spraying on my walls and other pet's cages! So i wrapped 3 of the sides of the cage in cardboard covered in tin foil (outside of the cage of course) and so they only have the front of the cage to toss things out of. I have found this has really helped out with keeping everything around the Degus alot cleaner. I can always detatch the cover and give it a whipe clean, and ti was very inaxpencive and quick to make. I also keep a dust pan always handy to sweep up anything that's come out the front.
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Erica
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 159
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Post by Erica on Oct 14, 2006 2:15:02 GMT
It's always nice when your degus don't pee on your desk!
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