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Post by Xellie on Apr 8, 2019 18:08:41 GMT
My Degus are of an unknown age, but they must be at least six and half years old since that's how long I've had them (and they were fully grown when I got them) and over time I've noticed they're becoming a lot quieter and less interested in play... is this normal?
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Post by bouncy on Apr 8, 2019 18:13:45 GMT
Just like us humans, they'll start to slow down. It's perfectly normal. Just like men, they may grow old physically, but they're still mental teenagers!
*ducks from male members and goes into hiding*
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Post by Xellie on Apr 8, 2019 19:58:38 GMT
Yeah, I'm thinking about making adjustments to their cage so it's easier for them to climb to the top floors (they had a ladder but they ate it, so they've been using a perch as a stepping stone to the top floor) and just making sure it's friendly on their creaky old bones!
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Post by winic1 on Apr 8, 2019 20:19:09 GMT
They love ramps as they get older, so much easier than ladders or stairs or jumping from thing to thing.
A simple board works, and then to make it not too smooth and hard to get a grip on, rough it up by scratching lines across it, or making slight saw marks if you have a little hand saw, or put a woven grass or sisal pad, or cocomat, or anything safe like that on it for grip.
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Post by winic1 on Apr 8, 2019 20:19:48 GMT
If you have pieces of tree bark big enough to be the ramp, that works great, too.
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Post by bouncy on Apr 8, 2019 20:37:28 GMT
I have a large ramp in and out of the cage. To create traction, I stuck bits of dado rail across it.
If they start to get wobbly, you may want to think about walls or rails to the side of the ramps too.
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Post by klbishop on Apr 8, 2019 20:59:36 GMT
lol, Ive noticed Pablo and Miguel slowing down over the past few months - I recon they are pushing 9 years old now so its not surprising, occasional bounding around for spurts of energy.
Favourite things now are to cuddle up under the heat lamp and snooze.... perfect way to retire ....
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Post by degulover21 on Apr 8, 2019 21:17:45 GMT
I’ve noticed mine anit as hyper as they used to be, mine are only 3 years.
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Post by bouncy on Apr 9, 2019 1:12:45 GMT
Right, let me get the cage build done, and I'll start a design for a goo Zimmer frame!
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Post by moletteuk on Apr 9, 2019 9:47:53 GMT
They do slow down and enjoy resting on a heat source or in sunlight more and more. I gradually made more and more cage adjusments as my goos aged, I decided that ramps were the way to go, I used planks of softwood mainly with saw cuts across for grip, but I did have one with slats added. A couple of places where ramps weren't possible I used a series of steps.
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Post by savvy on Apr 9, 2019 11:06:47 GMT
Yeah, I can definitely tell the difference in my two. Reggie the 1 year old whirlwind and Dixie the chilled out 8 year old.
Reggie can do 3 circuits of the whole cage while Dixie is still moving down to the next level.
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