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Post by haarrrllll on May 19, 2020 16:12:44 GMT
Most advice I have read mentions that you should give your degu a sand bath to use only occasionally (daily), rather than leaving it in the cage with them. I've tried this before, but the cage looks so much more boring and empty without the sand containers.
I swapped to leaving the sand baths in the cage. They use it much less, they use it for burying food, and obviously it's another place to poop in.
I clean the sand more regularly than the cages, mainly just to scoop the poop out and any bigger bits of straw. I've seen no negatives in terms of the health of the degus fur or grooming behaviour.
Am I just leading myself into needing more sand changes? The quality will obviously decline much faster if it is left in there with them.
Are there any substantial enough reasons for me to keep the sand out of the cage?
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Post by bouncy on May 19, 2020 18:13:15 GMT
I started out having just a bath out of the cage, but all of mine have a couple of hours free running every evening.
Since I put their new palace together, each group has a small bath permanently in with them, as well as the wooden microwave lookalike for free running. They don't really spend any more time in the bath, but I do find more stuff buried in the outside bath!
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Post by deguconvert on May 19, 2020 19:13:05 GMT
I had the sand bath in and out regime for a time when I first started keeping degus, but eventually I stopped taking them out, and left them in full time. I found that my goos were happier with full time access.
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Post by moletteuk on May 20, 2020 18:17:54 GMT
I think full time access is preferable. You can sieve the sand to get the mess out and even bake it in the oven if you want to sterilise it, although I never bothered.
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Post by butters on May 20, 2020 21:05:51 GMT
Same here started to take the sand out every day but now it stays and we sieve the sand once in a while. I can't get hold on good sand anymore. most of them have lot of dust in them. Tried several brands but they are all pretty dusty. In the past we had a good one but don't see that one anymore. We tried Beaphar, JR-Farm, Vitakraft, Witte Molen, all dusty  |
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Post by bouncy on May 20, 2020 23:39:36 GMT
You could try Farm Friends, which makes the not good Gerry Gerbil, Charlie Chinchilla, etc food.
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Post by haarrrllll on May 21, 2020 12:43:56 GMT
Leave the sand in then, nice one. I wouldn't like some else telling me when I can and can't have a shower!
Has anyone tried that Supreme Chinchilla bathing sand, Tiny Friends Farm, with Charlie, Harry and Gerri on the front. Seems expensive.
I've used a whole range of sand too, I've never found my favourite. The smoothest seems to be funner to use for the degus, but they kick up alot of dust. Maybe the perfect sand doesn't really exist.
Baking the sand in an oven to sterlise it... That sounds interesting. Does that refresh it too? How long and what heat?
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Post by bouncy on May 21, 2020 14:07:57 GMT
I've used some of that sand before, but only because it was given to me as a freebie. It's OK. I honestly can't remember which I have at a moment - I bought a 5kg bag. I sit down with my tea strainer to remove the poops and other buried and discarded waste, like seed shells, and top up as appropriate. Never baked it before, though.
Don't worry, all friends who visit know never to use the tea strainer!
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Post by moletteuk on May 21, 2020 17:14:32 GMT
Well, it depends how much sand and how deep it is on the tray, you just want it to reach over 100C for a few minutes, so I guess spread on a deep baking sheet 20 minutes to half an hour at 180C?
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Post by haarrrllll on May 21, 2020 20:05:06 GMT
That's ace, cheers molette, and I'll still be able to use my tea strainer which getting essence of alfalfa hay!
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Post by butters on May 21, 2020 21:37:44 GMT
Leave the sand in then, nice one. I wouldn't like some else telling me when I can and can't have a shower! Has anyone tried that Supreme Chinchilla bathing sand, Tiny Friends Farm, with Charlie, Harry and Gerri on the front. Seems expensive. Almost 7 euros for a kg is kinda expensive yes but it gets very bad reviews on amazon. They changed the formula and it very dusty according to the reviews. |
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Post by moletteuk on May 22, 2020 10:27:09 GMT
That's ace, cheers molette, and I'll still be able to use my tea strainer which getting essence of alfalfa hay! You still need to seive it first otherwise the poos and hay will burn. Just drink herbal tea and you'll never notice  |
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Post by deguconvert on May 23, 2020 19:46:30 GMT
ROFL!!
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