laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 181
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Post by laiyah on Jun 14, 2023 13:21:23 GMT
For now, the mite thing seems to have calmed down. (We did a full house swipe) so only time will tell at this point.
Small question though, my degu seems to have inherited the warmest room. So I have been thinking of what I could do to help with the temperature. I have lowered the blind and left just a small opening to avoid having no day/night feeling. I also use a fan to create air flow to help lowering the temperature through the hallway.
I find that my degus don't like the tiles I put in the fridge, maybe because it feels somewhat "wet".
So I wanted to review options with you guys, if you could help. I have found this : A kind of mineral, I believe. (https://www.zoomalia.com/animalerie/tapis-rafraichissant-pour-rongeurs-p-132273.html)
Something that looks like a snugglesafe for the cold... I'm half wondering if I shouldn't just put my snugglesafe in the fridge and it would do the same job (?)
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Post by moletteuk on Jun 14, 2023 18:36:38 GMT
The heavier the item, the longer it will hold onto the cold, so I would go for a granite or marble chopping board out of those options. You might as well try a snugglesafe, it does look remarkably like the one in the link. You can also use any flat rocks that you can find. It will probably work best if you have two or three items you can rotate between the freezer/fridge and the cage.
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Post by bouncy on Jun 15, 2023 7:27:36 GMT
The mosaic tile you found is made of glass. As Molette says, pretty, but won't hold the cold. You may also find they like to chew the mesh that holds them together!
I found some shelves on a German site that are a wooden frame that attaches to your bars like others, and a granite tile fits into it. If I can find it again, I'll post a link.
You don't necessarily need to put tiles in the fridge. Mine detest cold ones when they are in the cage. Room temperature is fine. As I said somewhere before, mine love simply coming out during free range and pancaking on the kitchen floor, then go back to the heat pad after their run!
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 181
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Post by laiyah on Jun 15, 2023 11:25:03 GMT
To be honest, I mostly want to put a tile because the room they're in got flooring lol. Before I moved, they use to live in the living room that had tiles so they would just lay in the playpen under the cage for extra coolness. Nowadays, I mostly use the tiles on the other side to make them file their dangerous claws ! I would love that wooden frame/granite tile thing. I have found a marble tile on a hard discount store website, so I am hoping to find it in the store during the weekend. (Those hard discount stores show "what could be there" but don't guarantee it is in the store you go in) At 5€ a piece, I would get several to make sure I can rotate. I mean, worse case scenario, more nail-filing surfaces, right ! Right now, the temperatures are around 25 °C at the hottest and I try to keep it coolish, but I want to be prepared for when it'll get to the heatwaves. I know last year, they would lay on top of my makeshift metal box with a cold pack inside a t-shirt thing after running. I have A/C now, but I'd hate to have them suffer when I moved and adopted them Thanks for your pointers, I guess I'm just too fussy for my pets lol
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Post by bouncy on Jun 15, 2023 13:37:24 GMT
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 181
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Post by laiyah on Jun 15, 2023 17:06:30 GMT
I do have ceramic tubes. It's particularly handy during transportation as my degus love to hide in tube when I move them around. (Probably spooked by the outside world) And the regular tubes would roll around. They don't particularly go in in regards of the heat.
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 181
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Post by laiyah on Jul 9, 2023 21:33:32 GMT
To keep you guys updated...
We have officially declared that those food related mites are... From a neighbor's. They sneak in during the night if any small source of light is available when we open the windows to have some air in.
So every room are pitch black ++ now and it seems to lower the issue by 99%.
Small question I have is... I have been getting free apple wood for my degus, but they still seem to like the ones I bought more. Is it a season thing ? Would it be better if I got apple wood on specific seasons ?
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Post by savvy on Jul 9, 2023 23:48:58 GMT
Its a degu thing. They will ignore anything new until you decide you to take it out and then they love it.
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Post by teemu on Jul 10, 2023 0:52:43 GMT
There is likely some sort of a taste difference in the wood, due to any number of factors (soil, nutrients, variety of tree, and likely the season as well, etc). What kind of trees are you harvesting from?
I don't think there will be any health issues, no matter which season you are harvesting the wood, so it comes down to what they accept, in the end. I don't really have a good idea of whether some season would be best (I've gotten mine wood from an apple tree at various points of the year, and they've always been happy to accept), but you could try it during various points of the year to see if there is a difference. Who knows, it might get some interesting results.
I would expect that they will eventually go through even the wood that isn't their favorite. Apple tree bark seems to never last long in my cages.
Good that you've found what's going on with those mites, by the way. Interesting that they are drawn to the light. I wonder if it would be possible to treat the window frames with something that repels them?
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 181
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Post by laiyah on Jul 10, 2023 9:56:44 GMT
Teemu, let me tell you how annoyed I am. I am very allergic to mosquito bites, so I have mosquito nets on my windows... Since it's toward a balcony, it really has MINIMAL opening. It's those mosquito net with magnet at the opening... I don't want to stop airing home at night since we're getting closer and closer to temperatures where I will have to turn on AC at nights. Plus, the stuff that's been said to repel them are essential oils. I'd like to not overly use them since I'm assuming it'd bother the degus' noses. It's very weird because the wood I get for free is from my boyfriend's aunt. She has several trees. But somehow, the degus don't seem to enjoy them. (Maybe not fresh enough ?) Some have moss on them, so I can understand that the degus don't like these, but the "normal" ones... It's the same for platanes. They seem to only enjoy them when I get platane wood in winter and FRESH. Once it dried out, they don't care if it has bark. I literally got them a tree branch that like, 8 cm thick, they ate the bark for five days before it has become a climbing sensation. (There are still bark on it) I took a small pear tree branch yesterday from someone, one ate the leaves and ran with it. The wood is forgotten lol. The plum tree was mostly leaves before they gnawed at the wood a bit. Always fresh. If the leaves get too dried, they get ignored. They only eat my strawberry leaves if I pluck them fresh. ^^; So... I know I joke about them being deluxe degus... But are they ? lol
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Post by teemu on Jul 10, 2023 17:22:34 GMT
Huh, that's very interesting. What kind of pieces do they get from the apple trees? Maybe if the bark is really thick and old, it won't taste very good? Knowing how animals usually act, young, thin bark (so either saplings or newer branches) is the real delicacy. The apple wood I get from my store is very thin branches, which they always clean up immediately. But they have accepted branches I've harvested as well, even if they're older and thicker.
It does sound very plausible that they ultimately just don't like that particular variety of apple wood, though. Degus often get more picky with age about stuff that they have not gotten used to. My degus adore apple branches, but snub their noses at almost all others.
That situation with the window sounds difficult. Unfortunately, the nets probably don't do anything to mites, since those are like 1/3rd of a millimeter in size. I do agree that strong odors like the oils are not good to have around degus. How potent is the stuff? Would it be possible to rub a small amount of it on the frame (probably outside the window, rather than inside), or would that cause a strong smell already?
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Post by moletteuk on Jul 11, 2023 10:37:24 GMT
I would think it might be more likely that you are just seeing the mites when the conditions are right, so when temperature, humidity and light levels are a certain way, and they usually hide out in cracks and crevices at other times. That's why they are difficult to get rid of too, because it's difficult to find and treat the cracks and crevices. Of course, it may be that you have a different type of mite than the kind of thing I am thinking of.
Are there any different conditions where the apple trees have been grown, like near a road or factory or agriculture that may have sprayed with something, so that the trees may have picked something up? I would try scrubbing them if possible and try again if you can be bothered.
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laiyah
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 181
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Post by laiyah on Jul 14, 2023 22:26:26 GMT
Sorry, what I mean by "mite" it's pantry moth. In French, they're called mites. For the trees, I suspect it's probably just the apple type. They don't get sprayed and the aunt gives us a whole batch of different branches. Small new branch that aren't where they want or the tall, old ones. They really are luxury degus who knows what they want. I have dried verbena, they like the "old bag" but not the new batch lol. I mean, I'm keeping the fresher one for my infusions, but they just don't want the new ones xD
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Post by bouncy on Jul 15, 2023 11:10:25 GMT
Mine like apple branches, but after they've been dried out for a year. Worth a try, or baking them on a very low heat in the oven?
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