Heating lamp or mat?

[nika]

I’m getting everything ready for our degus to arrive. I think I’ve pretty much checked all of the boxes, but I’ve just read on this forum about someone having a heat lamp for her degus in England.

I live in Scotland, my house is generally kept between 17-18 degrees C. Should I provide them with a heat lamp? Or mat (they’d chew that wouldn’t they?)? If so, I’m which area of their cage? They have a large (very long and pretty wide) play area, they also have an eating area and a dark sleeping area.

Thank you for the help

[misscatafer]

Hi Nika. I don't personally use a heat lamp, but I do use a snugglesafe in the winter months, you can buy these cheaply off Amazon. The temperature of your house is fine though for degus. Degus are sensitive to the cold, so investing in a couple of snugglesafes would be a good idea, they are also useful when you have a poorly degu as they provide comfort and pain relief. I wouldn't use a mat as like you envisioned, they will chew it. People on here tend to use lamps in their cages for health reasons, to provide a source of vitamin D for their degus, you can research it further in the health section.

[nika]

Thank you!

So given its summer (ish lol), I can put a lamp on the list of things to buy in the coming weeks rather than *right now*? I do want them to get their vit D!

[deguconvert]

Direct sunlight that isn't passed through a window, will allow for natural Vit D formation, so if it is a warm day and there is a window you can prop open for the sun to stream through and into the cage, that will be great. I would be very careful about taking them outside, LOL! They are seriously fast and nimble and do not care to stand still much. I would personally be quite afraid of them running away on me. So, you don't need a UV light right at the moment, but by autumn, if you can have managed to have found one, it will be a benefit to your degu. It is not an actual heat lamp, but if you have the snugglesafes on hand, you'll have given them warmth and excellent lighting for Vit. D formation.

I'm going to give you a link to a post where I have links about Vit. D. deguworld.proboards.com/post/192384 and then I'll give you the link for the whole thread to give you context . . . deguworld.proboards.com/post/192384/thread. I encourage you to read through the stickied threads in both the health board and the diet and nutrition board. You will find lots of interesting things in there! It's a LOT of information, so . . . pace yourself. LOL!

[moletteuk]

They will greatly appreciate a heat source, but you won't need one right away. They just love hanging out in a warm place but they are also very useful for keeping a poorly or elderly degu going. You can use a snugglesafe, or a lamp, or you can get metal heatpads that run on mains electric or I mounted a tube heater in an inaccessible space under a shelf so the heat filtered through. You will probably be able to make an informed choice once you get them and see how they use the space, a snugglesafe is handy to have around in any case.

We now recommend a UV lamp to enable degus to produce their own vitamin D, a UV lamp is different to a heat lamp. Extra vitamin D requirement depends on how much they are already being supplemented through a commercial food (it does not occur naturally in food, well neglible), and also depends if your degus have a genetic tendency to dental disease.

[nika]

Thank you so much for the information, I’ll look through all of that. I’m slowly assimilating information, hopefully I’ve taken everything on board that I need to to get off to a good start