laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 179
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Post by laiyah on Oct 3, 2022 14:19:06 GMT
I had my boyfriend have a look. He told me it was "riveted" (not sure if it's the right term) so we do need to saw it. I was thinking of adding a wheel of the right size on the wooden plank afterward to make sure it stays up and that I can continue wheeling it around without too much worry. As we all know, degu poops just end up everywhere so wheeling the cage around makes it easier to clean up lol. As a side note, the degus did enjoy the fresh wood... (It was gone in 24 hours. ^^" But they keep ignoring the "old" sticks.) I really need to find more trees I can reach. (I don't have a garden, I have basically been foraging the street living trees.)
Edit :
I just saw the post appear after I answered. What do you mean by "slope" ?
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Post by teemu on Oct 3, 2022 14:25:50 GMT
If it's riveted, that'll be more difficult to remove. But given the tools, you can either saw or otherwise get the wheels off.
Degus are generally only crazy about the bark on any sticks you can give them. They'll trim it off in moments and leave bald sticks lying all over the place. The rest will get, at most, chewed up when they need to trim their teeth. At least here, many pet stores sell bunches of apple tree twigs or the like. Degus really love that stuff. Generally, if you're looking for wild trees, try to find ones farther away from traffic, and make sure that it's not a toxic type of wood for degus.
I think Savvy means that you could look at sticking a small ramp, like a piece of plank that you fit between the two levels, to make it easier for them to move.
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 179
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Post by laiyah on Oct 3, 2022 15:49:07 GMT
I think the height difference would be around 1 cm. Would the slope really be useful ?
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 3, 2022 15:50:08 GMT
It's usually worth asking friends and family for bits of trees.
It depends on the degus how much they are into digging, but generally they aren't as interested as you think they might be. Most often they may use a digging area to dig out an underground den so they only do the actual digging once. You could try putting a box in the cage with deep substrate to see how interested they are in digging. You can also use a digging box as a playtime activity if you hide treats in it.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 3, 2022 15:51:27 GMT
I would think Savvy thought there would be a bigger height difference. I don't think a 1cm difference will bother them at all.
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Post by teemu on Oct 3, 2022 15:58:04 GMT
My degus have like 5-10cm level differences inside the cage that they casually leap over since they can't be bothered with the ramps they have. So a couple finger widths will certainly not hinder them
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 179
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Post by laiyah on Oct 3, 2022 17:17:34 GMT
Actually, it's mostly that the 1 cm could lead to them bumping their feet, wouldn't they ? Or am I applying hooman standard to degus ? xD
For the digging, I do have some corners with more substrate and the degus love hiding food in there. I also sometimes throw a handful of leaves/flowers in the box and it'll keep them busy. It's just the small box isn't big enough for the two degus to enjoy it. I figured that worse case scenario, a giant sand bath area would be fun for them ? Did anyone try that ?
I know an acquaintance of mine use a biiiig sand bath area for her hamsters and they love it. (She only has one at a time but she has been a hamster lover for years.)
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 3, 2022 18:20:33 GMT
I'm going to say that you are applying human standards. Certainly I would bump my toes and feet, LOL, but I think the degus will be completely fine with it. The only thought I have is if the opening would be of a width that a foot could fall through and consequently a leg be trapped? I'm thinking about incidences that have been reported on the forum where a degus leg was trapped while running up one of those ramps that are made of many metal bars. Which obviously provides multiple opportunities for a foot to fall through and a leg get trapped. The opening between the two levels shouldn't be that hazardous!
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Post by savvy on Oct 3, 2022 18:29:05 GMT
You could get a half pipe, such as used in roof guttering, but smaller, and place it over the rise/gap. This would hide any gap where legs can be caught.
My degus had metal ramps for years, until Dixie slipped and ended up hanging upside down by his back leg. Luckily I was at home to free him and nothing was broken, but I took those ramps out all of my cages the same night.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 4, 2022 10:38:32 GMT
I'm sure they would enjoy hiding stuff in a big sand bath, but they will probably poo and pee in it quite a lot. But, please don't let me put you off trying a digging area and/or a big sand bath area, it's great to experiment with these things and you never know how your own degus are going to interact with these things. I think trying things and being prepared to adapt them is great for keeping you and your degus happy. I ended up using a a big deep turkey type cooking tray filled with sand as an occasional play time activity (it makes a ton of sandy mess), I would hide treats in the sand and they would enjoy digging for them.
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 179
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Post by laiyah on Oct 4, 2022 15:29:22 GMT
No, the space in between isn't that big for them to get hurt. If I change the platform for a full flat wooden plank, though, I will probably have to consider putting a "quart de rond" to cover the small pacing and to stop the degus would getting too close to the edge.
I do have metal ramps but I only use them if I ran out of possible options for the degus to get around. As teemu said, they tend to jump around, so they also do leap from the metal ramp which worries me (they can get bumblefoot from the mesh, so why not the ramps ?). Thankfully, I managed to find ways to tie my gazillion hammocks around so they are there to stop any unexpected falls and give them footing to leap around. The only thing to worry about is them using the metal bar to climb, but as long as I keep the cage sufficiently full, it shouldn't be too dangerous.
For the sand box, I used to have a small SAMLA with a good two kilograms of bathing sand. They would dig around and hide treat in it, every time they got to the enclosure, it'd be the first stop. And to avoid the big sand mess, I actually put a tunnel on the lid and a small house for the footing to leap out. It was easy to maintain with those reptile shovel, but I admit, I do wonder HOW I'm going to get the poop out if it's INSIDE the cage. Maybe I should think of an extension box on the side. Something to think about since I still haven't gotten around the plexiglass part.
(If you're wondering why I'm no longer using the SAMLA, it's because they actually chewed holes on the bottom of every corner.)
For the wood, I'm really trying to get some apple wood from my in-laws' vacation home, but they KEEP FORGETTINGGGGG ! I swear, at this rate, I'll go to the vacation house with an axe and they won't ever get their yearly apples. Aaah. I can't exactly plant an apple tree on my balcony, which is somewhat unnerving.
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 179
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Post by laiyah on Oct 24, 2022 11:56:42 GMT
Hi everyone, Just to keep you guys updated. Between before and now, we have learned that our electricity really needed to be redone. (Basically, people just did some serious weird stuff that wasn't really great.) Thankfully, I managed to get the degus to a friend's since I realized it'd be better for them to be there than in the middle of those two weeks of work (electricty, kitchen and bathroom - which we managed to get working in the same time span so it really will be those weeks). I assumed being around other rodents was better than hearing all those breaking, dragging and so on noise. That gives me a little buffer time to deal with the house working and starts planning more cage modification. We have sawed off the extra wheels of the perfect cage and it can now be combined into a perfect one double cage. I have realized however that Mélusine climbs up the cage from OUTSIDE. Do you guys have any advice on that point ? She basically can climb up to the top and usually just... venture on the metal top for absolutely no reason. I think she isn't able to climb down, or at least, she definitely uses me as a hooman lift. And then climbs up again... The other point is, my friend's pets died so she offered to sell me her ferret nation at a cheap price. (But it needs some work to make it better for the degus). My question is basically... Is it better for the degus to have the double cage or the ferret nation once I renovate it well ? I realize the topic would now be better in cage, but I have a very scattered mind and I'm not sure if I should repost a new thread... ^^;
As a side note, I'd like to know how often do degus attitude change ? I don't hate their change, I'm just surprised by how much confident they've gotten. Does that mean they now trust me ? (They literally started to do things while I was driving them to my friend's.)
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Post by savvy on Oct 24, 2022 13:01:15 GMT
I can't answer about the cage, but I think you did the right thing moving them out with all that work going on. The dust would not have been good for them.
As for your question about degus attitudes, they change as often as the wind. Seriously, they have attitude in spades and know how to use it, lol.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 24, 2022 16:11:22 GMT
I suppose you might be able to fit a 'skirt' that sticks out all the way round the outside of the cage that she can't climb past. Or maybe you could attach a strip of wood or perspex with no footholds near the bottom that she can't climb past.
I think you would need to check the bar spacing on the Ferret Nation, I think it is 1" and some small degus may be able to slip through. Check the length too.
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 25, 2022 18:43:03 GMT
I was also wondering about the bar spacing on the ferret nation cage. It is my recollection that they are truly too wide, and in order to modify the cage so that they can't escape through the bars, you essentially have to use either small chicken wire all around, or Perspex. It depends what you feel up to doing, I suppose. What are the dimensions for ferret nation cage she would sell you?
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 179
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Post by laiyah on Oct 28, 2022 9:08:18 GMT
The bar spacing is the same as the current cage 2.5 cm. It's just enough to keep ADULT degus in, but I don't plan to get babies until further notice. I want to stay focused on my two degus (even though my friend said I could adopt two more from the rescue to create a bigger pack - we're both at the rescue as fosters) and be a great owner for two before ever thinking of getting a big pack. The ferret nation is supposed to be : 91.5 cm x 63.5 cm x 159 cm (Lxlxh). I could probably make some pans with wood and just slip it in and out for the litter. The biggest downside is I doubt I'll be able to get a second ferret nation to make it bigger. (If you want a vague idea of its look : petcomfort.be/fr/products/frettenkooi-ferret-nation-142 ) If I recall right, their current cage is 79 x 52 x 140 cm, but I have two of them. The only downside is the plastic floor "hang" on the edges so I will need to have more work on how to put floors there. The biggest selling point of the ferret is the double doors that fully opens (like a savic) and the degus are more easily spotted (at least unless I add more floors). For the "skirt" you talk about moletteuk, is this it ? fr.shopping.rakuten.com/photo/2011680165_L.jpgI'll be honest, I actually asked my friend to keep them like two weeks ago and she told me she could like three days before the work starts. I AM SO RELIEVED. I am pretty sure the degus aren't getting as much free range, but seeing how our electrician is DIGGING through the walls because the work was done terribly... and they hid some stuff (security boxes were invisible...). I think we seriously dodge an anxiety level that would be the double of what they are at right now.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 28, 2022 18:22:23 GMT
Sorry, I meant 'skirt' more in a structural way, so not fabric at all. I mean a platform that sticks out at right angles so that if a degu tries to climb there is something sticking out/overhanging so that they can't climb past it. Does that make sense? It would need to be made out of wood or perspex.
I would say running space is the most important thing for degus, so on those grounds two of the current cages joined would be better. But, it's a personal decision and cage access and having everything solid with good easily cleanable flooring etc are important, so I think you have to choose what will work for you. Most people do like the ferret nation style of cage design.
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Post by savvy on Oct 28, 2022 18:33:02 GMT
I think what moletteuk means is something like a large squirrel baffle (déflecteur d'écureuil) which is used to keep squirrels off bird tables. It basically stops them climbing any higher. This is the closest I can find. www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/133911788905163547/
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