I need ideas to keep my degus busy

[laiyah]

Hi everyone,

if you've read different threads I've made, I have moved into a new place to dedicate a room to my degus. Sadly, we are still in a very awkward time period where we haven't reassembled every furniture we've disassembled and the whole place is basically crowded with cardboxes and furniture planks. The degus are in their room, with a lot of other stuff that's just.... there. (At one point, we needed to try to store things to be able to move around). Thankfully, we still managed to keep some space for them to free range (the enclosure) but I can feel the degus are BORED. They are obviously screaming HOW DO I GET OUT OF HERE TO EXPLOREEEEEEE ?!! but I can't just let them go around since they could just bump the wrong thing and end up squashed.

I have a lot of tubes but I tried to fill some treat balls, but they've kind of gotten bored of them. Do you guys have any idea of easy ways to keep them entertained ?

I have two wooden puzzles, but tbh, they are trying to tear it down with their teeth rather than solve it.

I am hoping at one point to have the time to get a DETOLF to separate it into two separate space (one being sandbath and the other just a mix of different litter so they can make a small burrow).

[teemu]

Do you have long tubes they could run through? My degus seem to go into a kind of tunnel trance and just run back and forth in them when I give them one.

[laiyah]

I have a bunny long tube. It's about 50 cm. Is that long enough ? I am considering buying one of those plumbling PVC tube because they're pretty cheap for 2 meter long. But at the same time, I feel like they have enough tubes. (I have two savic plastic tubes, three paper ones, two wooden bridges I bend into a semi tunnel, one nylon one and the bunny long tube (in fabric)).

The sandbath in a big container (20L) was destroyed because it was a plastic container... they gnawed at the corners. ^^; So right now, they have a regular sandbath box so I can't hide treats inside.

They get toilet paper often since I empty the nest completely to take out the urine stained papers and then they get to bring the clean ones back to the nest with extra paper.

Right now, I feel like the most amusing part of the day for them is the time I let them run free in the enclosure while I work so they can plan their escape... (But I am still trying to avoid that !)

[moletteuk]

Fresh twigs and branches were the things that occupied my degus best

[deguconvert]

If you were able to get some of those plumbing PVC and possibly some U joints or 90 degree corners, you could make a fun maze that is enclosed and safe. If you were able to have it open and end into their cage, even better!

[winic1]

Take small boxes, from cereal, from snack bars, whatever, and cut one or more door holes and degu-sized windows in them, while leaving the one end open, and make a playground of things to explore by putting them all close in the same area. Make it more exciting by putting treats or snacks or even just pellets in a couple of them.
They'll either play by running in and out of them all, or by chewing them up, but either way it keeps them busy.

[teemu]

For even more fun times, make the holes too small so that they *have* to do some teardown to get at their treats. They'll smell them and will probably go right through anything that stands in their way

My degus are, for some reason, also really intrested in plain paper bags. They jump on them, go check out the inside and then have fun pushing them around or shredding them.

[laiyah]

I tried to put some eggbox for them, but they really don't show much interest. I think, right now, they need exploration time. I have been trying to give them some time out, but it's only a question of time before one tries to chew on the heater's cable (and I immediately put them back in the cage).

I should be getting a second cage this afternoon (they're both second hand, but I really wanted one because it can be disassembled if I need to go to the vacation house.) so i'm hoping it'll help a bit once I attach them both together as I'll also be able to provide more toys. I'll get the PVC tubes as soon as possible, but the issue being I still need to focus on putting together my new home haha. I'll try to empty some of my cardboard boxes to make a faux labyrinth with litter.

[savvy]

My first thought about the new cages are the doors, or more importantly, the door locks. You may need to come up with a better way of securing the doors than just a metal pin on a chain; it might not take them long to figure out that by pulling the chain up, they can open those doors!

Never underestimate neither a degus intelligence or their desire to explore.

[winic1]

A good-sized binder clip can be used to secure doors like that, clip it around door edge and a cage bar, and it will then also give them something to rattle and fuss at, which may drive you nuts but gives them great joy.

[laiyah]

To be honest, I have had this cage for almost a year now. The degus still haven't figured out a way to open it and the few times they got out we're because I forgot to lock the bottom door. Once, I went to sleep and forgot to close the middle floor door and they just cuddled at their spot and left the open door alone. Haha.

But yeah, if it becomes an issue, I have locked them before with binder clip. And I can also use luggage lock. (Padlock)

I just need to seriously get more toys to furnish the cage. Haha. But I'm hoping the degus will get more things to do.

[laiyah]

In the end, I was unable to resist the urge to assemble the second cage and tie it up even though I didn't have enough things to put inside. I literally did it the same night, but the degus are obviously going around all day. Every time I open the door to the room, I find them in a different hammock.

Since the cage came without the metal mesh underneath, I temporarily highjacked the plastic trays to cover the bottom and put all the hammocks I had on hand to stop any unexpected falls from degus. I believe I'll be going to the hardware store soon, so I'll get a thick wooden board I'll probably cover with ceramic tiles until I can order a glass panel and put the plastic trays back up to prevent even more any possible fall.

I figured I should ask you guys about this since I believe some of you (if not all of you) will be more knowledgeable on the subject... I am considering putting some plexi on the sides on top of the glass bottom and put a very thick layer of litter so they can dig. I was wondering what kind of height I should aim for ? Like, how much litter will be enough for them to have a blast ? And how thick should the plexi be ?

EDIT :

It seemed the issue going out from the bottom...

She found a way up... LOL

[savvy]

Degus always find a way, lol.

Firstly, I'd avoid glass like the plague, its too easy to chip or break, thick plexiglass will be fine as a floor and far safer.

You can make the digging space as deep as you want as long as its not filled with anything likely to trap them. The thickness will depend on how you are going to construct it; is it going to be open topped so they climb over and in, or is it going to be an enclosed box with an opening with or without a tunnel entrance?

[laiyah]

I was considering investing in safety glass. Mostly to avoid degus chewing on the material. The degus do have the tendency to break out of confines and then chewing on accessible surface... But maybe I can get a thin steel place at the bottom to protect a plexiglass layer ?

For the digging space, I figured I can put it inside the cage so I was thinking open top. The plastic tray could go on top of it if they wanted to go up. I was thinking maybe "tying them" together with shelf brackets inside the cage and if I end up moving it, I could always add a top after.

For the depth, I was mostly wondering if degus really needed deep litter like hamsters and gerbils, or is it more a "10 cm tall is fiiiine" kind of thing.

[savvy]

All safety glass does is shatter into tiny pieces if broken, a bit like car windows.

Thick plexiglass, covered in adhesive vinyl floor tiles would be fine.

[deguconvert]

Laiyah . . . I would like to understand better what your end design is with the two cages. Are they being joined together to make a larger open cage? Have you considered making your own DYI levels to provide larger, more complete levels, that will give more surface area than the narrower levels that climb up around the edges of the cage?

[winic1]

you could also make a bottom by using a piece of wood, and then covering it with large floor tiles so they can't get to and chew the wood beneath. As long as they can't get to the wood, they can't chew through it.

[laiyah]

Hi everyone, sorry for the late reply. We have been very busy and we have been uncovering some small but annoying issues in our new home. (Notably, we've been surviving the month without internet and the electricity work of the appartment is a bit... wacky).

To answer you, deguconvert, right now, I have the two cages. To link them, I took off the side wall so they can be put next to each other. The issue that popped up was the wheels of the cage allowed a small opening between the two cages :
media.discordapp.net/attachments/625035860055949313/1026479238116814888/IMG_20221003_145028.jpg?width=308&height=675
That was how Mélusine got out.

Since I just bought the bigger appartment to give the degus the luxury of the room, I have to focus on making sure the house works fine before being able to do big fixes for the degus. The end game WOULD be to change the narrow platforms with a complete level, because while a set of three makes it a "complete" floor, it kind of prevents me from putting everything I want on a "flat" surface.

After looking online on people make double cage design, I have found a fix for the escape issue...
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/625035860055949313/1025172806419357716/Screenshot_20220930-003036.jpg
I need to saw off one set of wheels so I can tie the two cages together securely.

I also found a second issue... it's that the one I own and the second one I bought aren't the exact same model. As in, one is the earlier version and the other is the "updated version". You can see in this picture : repairedesfurets.fr/wp-content/uploads/DOUBLE-PERFECT-1024x723.jpg The two versions' floors aren't attached at the same spot... which will be a problem that won't ever be solved. I guess they'll have to be cautious of the "small step" in between.

So, right now, in terms of priority :
- Wood plank (the hardware store told me they don't cut plexiglass so I need to order online. Nonetheless, by putting the wood plank + pee pad + tiles, it'll free a full floor set to avoid any big fall.) - DONE
- Tying the two cages together securely after sawing off two wheels on the older cage
- Get the enough plexiglass to provide a tall layer of litter (where I can put food for them to find and they can hide it) OR a giant sand bath
- Provide a small labyrinth or at least a tube so they can go in and out of the enclosure to their cage
- Customize floors

I am a bit annoyed because I didn't find the big PVC tubes I wanted for the degus when I went to get the wood plank. Did the whole city go and buy them out ? Aaaah, I feel bad because I really wanted to do the PVC labyrinth since it was going to be "fast and easy". (Do note the quotes)

Maybe if I find the "older version" or the "newer version" on second hand, I will be able to provide full floors on the same level...

[teemu]

How are the wheels attached to the cages? If you can get a closer look, they might be screwed on, or otherwise affixed in a non-permanent way. They look like the type where there might be a screw at the bottom. If not, an iron saw should go through that pretty quickly. You'll need to either prop the legs up on a wooden block or remove all the wheels, for stability, but it should work.

As for tying them together securely, you can probably do just fine with metal wire, preferably thicker gauge. Almost everything I've added to my cages is held together with steel wire, and I can safely say that enough of that stuff will hold anything together. You'll just need a good pair of side cutters for it. Make sure all ends are outside the cage, and twist them together before bending them so that they won't stick anyone walking past the cages, and you should be set.

The fact that the levels don't line up exactly is probably not a problem Having a bit of a step has never stopped a degu from running all over everything.

[savvy]

Instead of a step between the floors, would it be possible to put in a small slope? This would still give them the floor space.