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Post by deguconvert on Apr 26, 2021 17:55:11 GMT
Sioa . . . have you seen them "bury" their treats in plain view? That always made me laugh! Middle of the kitchen floor . . . easy to see from everywhere in the room . . . degu is there, pat, pat, patting. One final look and pat, and then confident NO ONE can find it and steal it . . . off they toddle to do something else. ROFL
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Post by bouncy on Apr 26, 2021 19:38:58 GMT
Sioa . . . have you seen them "bury" their treats in plain view? That always made me laugh! Middle of the kitchen floor . . . easy to see from everywhere in the room . . . degu is there, pat, pat, patting. One final look and pat, and then confident NO ONE can find it and steal it . . . off they toddle to do something else. ROFL And that's after the imaginary hole has been dug!
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Post by degunewbie on Apr 26, 2021 22:20:45 GMT
Oh, that's my absolute favourite act of theirs! When they do their little shimmy with their front paws. It is so cute!
Sioa, I know exactly what you are talking about when you don't feel comfortable with them jumping on the floor. I might be being a little presumptuous though. Besides from the safety aspect, one thing I know I have to do, and still am working on, is feeling comfortable to let them run around a room. I am still trying to figure out how to feel comfortable with that, because I am so paranoid about them getting themselves in danger. That next level I think is important, because that definitely has done some stalling in the progress I made.
Mine do get to run around 2 different spaces, but that's after a couple of hours of me checking absolutely everything, and preparing. It would be ideal to have a space where you just know they can jump out and carry on. It's a psychological hurdle us new degu owners need to overcome. It helps the closeness, so if you can give them the opportunity to safely jump out the cage, then that I think would be good. I have a little house that I put under the cage door so they can easily hop down and back up again.
Thing is they actually like their cages, it's where their smell and home is I suppose. So when I safely spend loads of time prepping my room so I can let them hang out on the floor, they actually all the time return to their cage. Getting them back in is easy. I just need to set up my room so I am fully comfortable with them being out. They are fine, us owners are the paranoid ones!
In worst case scenario, if you have a long flexible tube, you can easily get them back inside; you can block off the exits and easily pick them up that way. You just gently put the entry to the tube right by them, they have a brief think and get inside. Or at least, that's what I have seen so far. That's what I do for an easy ride. They actually don't mind the movement and once higher in the air they don't seem to want to jump out, so you can just point the tube in the cage and they happily walk out. But I'm sure all degus are different in that aspect.
Just thought I would mention this, because when you said about being nervous she might jump off your arm to the space, it sounds exactly like what I experienced. The better situation is that you can feel comfortable letting them explore. My next step is feeling fully comfortable, and making my room fully comfortable all the time, so that I can just open the cage and hangout, and not spend loads of time scrubbing everything and investigating everything, cushioning everything. I wish I had done it sooner, so thought I would share it with you so perhaps you might think about it early. But again, word of warning!! I am not experienced, just going on a similar journey, so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
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Post by bouncy on Apr 26, 2021 23:45:57 GMT
You have to be happy with the space you let them out in. I'm lucky that my kitchen is large enough for the goo cage. I built both the cage and the kitchen, so I know there's nowhere they can go that gives them access to danger. There was no issue until Snoozygoo and Sneakygoo, who decided my kitchen units might be tasty. I just put panels of corotherm in front of the units. Once they get used to being out and about, it's great. Both groups understand my tapping the ramp and saying "bedtime".
They're often timid during their first few runs. I thought I'd lost Spud because he'd come out, become VERY nervous, and hidden inside the smallest corner of their cat scratcher. After a while, they'll be at the bars demanding you to open the doors! I do worry about them. The delinquents think nothing of barging through on the ramp, shoving the others aside. Unfortunately, that's a 1.5m drop. They have climbed onto me too. If they go to my shoulder or back, I just fold double. They're only trying to get onto the worktop!
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sioa
Warbling Degu
Posts: 47
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Post by sioa on Apr 27, 2021 10:02:27 GMT
Yeah, i saw it. First a very tiny.. tiny hole. Then put it inside an then,with their tiny paws making a little Hill π absoluty save spott to hide it π
My fear wasnt that they could run away on the floor, it was more like that they could get when jump from my arm. That are, i would say, 40 or 50 cm to the ground.
Now i have two projects for next month.
First, building a outlet or something like that.
The second ist to extend the cage with a second one.. Actualy i have nΓΆ clue how to connect them.
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Post by moletteuk on Apr 27, 2021 11:18:20 GMT
Depends how the cages sit next to each other, but generally wire and metal mesh are helpful for joining, you can make a short tunnel with mesh folded into a tube and you can 'stitch' it together with wire.
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sioa
Warbling Degu
Posts: 47
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New degu
Apr 27, 2021 19:18:56 GMT
via mobile
Post by sioa on Apr 27, 2021 19:18:56 GMT
Tommorrow i will Show you the cage and my ideas. Another question. Is it normal that they defend their food? When one is eating and the other comes, they are sqeaking and turning away. Is this a normal behaviour?
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Post by savvy on Apr 27, 2021 19:34:59 GMT
Perfectly normal, they can get very territorial about food.
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Post by bouncy on Apr 27, 2021 20:15:27 GMT
Oh yes, mine have fisticuffs over food. Usually, alpha has a tantrum, making the others wait. You could put food in more than one place to avoid this.
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 28, 2021 18:29:27 GMT
Yes . . . food in more than one place is really helpful! I had to keep dishes in three to four different places when we had 7 females together and that worked well. With our two males in the one cage, I still had two bowls on different levels for them, because of how territorial they were. They picked their bowls, and stuck with them. So at feeding time, they were always ready and waiting at the right bowl. LOL!
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sioa
Warbling Degu
Posts: 47
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New degu
Apr 30, 2021 17:01:17 GMT
via mobile
Post by sioa on Apr 30, 2021 17:01:17 GMT
Ok thanks So, Today i finished the outlet for them. Now i am confrontadet with Another Problem. When they are in the cage, i can nearly Touch them, both of them will come into my Hand or sit on IT. When they are outside, they completely ignore me. How Do i bring them back to cage? This time i somehow lured them back, but i dont think that that will always work π
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Post by bouncy on Apr 30, 2021 17:41:42 GMT
If you can fit, try sitting inside the run. You can either encourage them to climb on you with seeds etc, or you can sit there doing something else like a puzzle. They like to climb, so you'll be their new jungle gym! Just avoid sudden movements!
When it's time to go back in, lure them into a tube, then put your hands over both ends and deposit them back. Over time, you can train them. I stand up, tap the ramp, tell them it's bedtime, and they generally run back in by themselves!
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Post by teemu on Apr 30, 2021 17:44:48 GMT
That is definitely something that will take time to learn for them. The outside world is so very intresting, and the degus will also be alert and cautious at first, so they don't trust hands as much.
One possibility to get started is to lure them into a sand jar/box, since degus love sand bathing so much. I've used a box with sand in it a lot, they just can't resist jumping in. Or you can use something else they'd want to jump into. Trying to grab them will definitely be harder until they trust you completely.
During the playtime, it's a good idea to sit with them if you have space, or even lie down. They'll learn to love climbing on you as well.
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sioa
Warbling Degu
Posts: 47
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Post by sioa on May 1, 2021 14:15:17 GMT
OK, then i will sit next to them I had to grab at one of them last time π i underestimated how high they can jump π
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Post by deguconvert on May 1, 2021 22:24:56 GMT
OH YES!! They can jump really high!
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Post by bouncy on May 1, 2021 23:40:11 GMT
Yep! I've got a video of Sausage, who decided to spend an evening just jumping up against the front of a cupboard. He was well over 50cm!
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sioa
Warbling Degu
Posts: 47
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Post by sioa on May 5, 2021 10:35:28 GMT
So every day a new behaviour They both make great progress..today creamy sat on my had Β°_Β° But since a days Toffi is ignoring me..when i sit in front of their cage, creamy is coming, toffi looks at me and then go into her wheel.
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Post by bouncy on May 5, 2021 10:53:28 GMT
Don't take offence - degus can be so fickle
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Post by teemu on May 5, 2021 12:54:22 GMT
The wheel seems to be a pretty common way for degus to react when they're a bit apprehensive or trying to think. It makes sense, since in nature they'd be moving away from the thing they're careful about, so in the cage they're still moving, and a wheel is a good way to move.
It likely means that Toffi isn't scared of you (she'd be hiding if that was the case), but she's not totally sure if she should come over right now. One of my new degus, Posso, is like that.
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sioa
Warbling Degu
Posts: 47
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New degu
May 6, 2021 9:39:42 GMT
via mobile
Post by sioa on May 6, 2021 9:39:42 GMT
OK, then i will wait a few days und hope that she will be like before xD
And i have the feeling that they are fighting more π€
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