How do you deal with degu pee during playtime

[tolisgoal]

Currently, I get my degus out multiple times a day, in 15-20 minute periods at a time. This is mainly because if I leave them outside for to long, they are bound to pee and poo all over the furniture they climb onto and/or other innaccessible areas where it's really hard to reach the pee without moving stuff around. Poo I don't mind tooo much, since they are not wet and can just be collected easily. But pee is far more annoying to deal with, and is what in the end smells. I hear that normally people let them out an hour at once, or even longer. I would like to do this but if I leave them out for more than 15-20 minutes at a time they end up having to pee or poo and they usually like doing it in rl secluded that I can barely reach.

So I was thinking, first of all, how do you deal with this with your degus, any tips or things I should be doing differently?

Second, can I potty train the goos? I have a huge bag with different treats that I don't usually feed them since I mainly give them sunflower seeds, so I'm sure I have a good amount of tasties for training. So far I have trained them to come when I snap my fingers, follow my snapping even throughout the house (I've found them during some great escapes they've made using said snapping), taught them to climb onto my leg using my pants (similarly with snapping + the greek word for "come on up") and they also allow me to pick them up both when in their cage and when I want to place them back in. Since they can learn all of this, I wouldn't imagine it's impossible to train them to pee in certain areas, instead of anywhere they happen to be?

Thank you in advance!

[teemu]

My experience is that there's no way to prevent this. Degus do not pee on surfaces outside the cage because they need to go (well, they do, but that is usually not the reason), but because they are marking the location. They do this in the wild because it lets intruders know that this is their territory, and also to let their own pack members know that the area is safe to be in (and they also use it to remember where they've been). It's a very deep level instinctual thing for them, and I've never managed to get a rodent to not mark their locations. Rats are very similar.

It is possible to potty train them in the cage to use certain areas by carefully depositing wet bedding in one spot, so that they associate a certain area with doing their deed, but I don't think it's possible to get them to stop marking behaviors.

The only real way to help the situation at all has been to cover any surfaces that will see a lot of degu traffic, and to try and block off areas that they should not be in and that will be really hard to clean.

[savvy]

As teemu says they are territory marking, but there is also another reason, and its very practical: degu pee glows in black (UV) light. So they can use their pee trails to navigate their way back home in the dark if they need to.

There's really no way to stop it, all you can do is protect any surfaces they have access to.

[bouncy]

Oh yes, it's a pain. You'll only find the hard poos because they eat the soft ones (aren't they considerate!). They are also experts at flinging the stuff! I've known the stuff to fly long distances! I swear it's part of pup training!

They do have two types of wee - the big puddles, and the lines or dribbles (territory marking). The more you clean, the more they do it because they want to re-mark as theirs. I let mine roam in the kitchen because they can't get behind anywhere, the floor is tiled, and there's nothing for them to chew.

Just remember - if they wee on you, be proud! They are telling the world that you're THEIR gooman! Just be grateful your goo's favourite perching place isn't your head and neck, like one of mine!

[tolisgoal]

I see, it is part of the goo experience. Well it's not like it's that bad tbh,maybe I can somehow block those areas, tho I fear they'll start peeing elsewhere which would arguably be worse.

I think I'll just keep cleaning those areas every other day and call it that.

1 goo has peed my roomate on her hand, tho she rarely handles them, I have only gotten peed on when they were very young. Maybe my roomate won them over somehow while I was away.

Thank you for all the replies, I now know my place as a degu wee cleaner is set for the next 5+ years 🫡

[moletteuk]

If you do want more control over this I think the best way is to restrict them to certain areas and make those a bit more degu resistant. If they do favour some places for peeing you can put down square plates or tiles or baking trays and put some degu soaked substrate there to encourage them, you may need to velcro down the plates to stop them kicking them out of the way. You can also buy heavy duty rubber mats like those sold for garages that may be of use.