Two versus one and a chewing problem.

[cookiedegus]

Hi everyone,
hope you had a wonderful new year.
I have three females and 7 degu babies (born on December 10-12th’, two litters) and my youngsters fight with the oldest one, but she doesnt strike back, only gives a warning, they climb on each other and act like crazy! Oldest one is not the mom but is guarding the babies in the house at night, momas only feed em, we dont know who the father is too, so that might be a problem for momas.
i got a suspicion, that maja(the oldest one) js taking care of them and has been here since the first living days, and the babies appreciate Maja more than mamas, so thats why they try to fight Maja. Also i noticed that sakura and kanele(the mamas) are chewing the cage bars so much now! They have some gnaw sticks, mineral stones(known as chalk or something) and they get to run twice a day, also gets chew toys and everything but they are only interested in food
I dont know how to help them or whats wrong with them, but it may be because i took the wheel out (dangerous to babies since they are still weak, planning to put it back when they are 1month old) since they run like crazy too, they still get to be in the wheel At the bathtub (the considered playground) 
thanks for any advice!

[deguconvert]

It could be that the cage is feeling small for the dramatic increase in numbers now. Can you tell us the dimensions of your cage, the number of complete levels (levels that are the full length, width, and depth of your cage), and maybe show us a photo of it as well? Degus require quite a lot of surface area to live on.

[deguconvert]

Also . . . your two young females that just gave birth . . . I see they are five months old, which means they are about the age when adolescence starts, which can be very competitive and aggressive. They begin vying for top position in the hierarchy of the group they are in. If they are fighting with Maja, that means they recognize her as the dominant . . . but that could well change in the days (weeks or months) ahead. It sounds like they are beginning to be more competitive with each other, and that could mean they are equally balanced. Both dominant, both challenging for dominance, both determined.

Which could well make cage size even more pressing.

[cookiedegus]

Thanks for replying!
I understand that they are in adolescence stage, but uhm, im kinda sad.. to tell my cage measurements.....since my parents dont want to buy a new cage even with my own money....so i did a solution, that i asked my grandfather to make a custom built cage 120 in height, 80-100 length 3-4 levels, width 60cm, its gonna be done in march, which i am very worried too since the babies are gonna be 2months old at that time (im planning on keeping 3 out of 7 😔)I currently have a very small cage and i feel like a such bad mom for those little goos, i feel like im making theyre life worse 😭, my cage is 60 in height, 60 length, 50 width, which is connected to a 60x50x50 cage by a tunnel ..i am very unpleased with my cage size since ita very small for them 😭, i am begging them to buy us a bigger cage but we dont have the required space but we have the money, i dont even know what to do....did anyone have a similiar problem and can help me? 😔😔😔

[bouncy]

We have had a few members who had restricted space. We had to work to be creative!

First things first, work out how much space you're going to need vs how many goos you're able to keep:
deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9396/forums-cage-size-recommendations

It's obvious from what you say that floor space could be an issue. Is there any available space off the ground that you could use? For example, I used to have a set up of five full levels from the ground that were only 90x35cm, but this led up to two levels of 90x105cm that were on top of the cage of my other group. I've seen a set up built as kitchen units without doors which then extended up the walls.

Have a really good think about what you could manage. Any squabbles you have now are going to get significantly worse as the pups are weaned and start running amok. Unfortunately, you may not be able to keep them all if you can't create space for them

[deguconvert]

Are you limited to where in the house you can keep a cage for your degus?

[moletteuk]

Custom cages are often a good option for making the most of available space in a room. Could you speak to your granddad to see if you could help him build it sooner?

[deguconvert]

I was thinking the same thing as Moletteuk.

[cookiedegus]

Well, the problem is that he lives in a different city (300km from me) i can only come at summer, but my parents said(finally convinced them) that theyre gonna buy them a cage 101x70x90 and yes i have limited space, its mainly degu stuff cause everything cant fit, but i will move them and on the floor is gonna be the new cage, but im gonna connect it to the old two cages just for the extra cage(if i have the space), when its done i will show a photo!

[bouncy]

Excellent news!

[deguconvert]

WOO HOO!! That is AWESOME, Cookiedegus! So relieved for you and for your degus! Please thank your parents for us as well. We know it isn't easy to do.