Simulating The Degu's Natural Habitat !

[emz]

They are curious animals and will probably wonder what is inside even if they couldn't smell it. I am not sure how good their sense of smell is I will have to look it up so I know in the future.

If the cotton breaks up easily, then yes it should be fine. See how easy it breaks up when wet to ensure that if it is ingested it won't cause harm.

If it is made from anything man made avoid it like the plague no matter how harmless it may seem - I learned that the hard way as you know with the nylon in my slumber tunnel.

[louwra]

Some excellent ideas in there! thanks for that

As substrate I use magazorb, google it, I really like it, I buy it online from Farmway, think the bag was 85 litres for roundabout 8 quid!

I use a plastic fishtank as a digging box, I fill this halfway, and bury treats in this for them to dig and find

I am gathering ideas and materials to convert our box room into a huge degu space, goos on one side, and the chins on the other side

[brydyslass]

I've not been on for a wee while and have just been reading through this thread.

Lately I have been giving my boys "uncooked" twigs from crab apple and hawthorn and slightly larger ones from silver birch as they are plentiful where I go walking - it is away from main roads etc. They have loved the fresh uncooked twigs.

Should I still be cooking them?

[emz]

You should be putting them in the oven for a while to kill any bacteria especially if the wood has mould on it etc.

[brydyslass]

Thanks for that emz.

Thankfully I haven't picked any with mould on them. Will uncooked do them any harm. I don't fancy the fight they are going to put up if I remove the offending sticks LOL.

[emz]

Just leave the ones you already put in there now I guess? And just adopt the practise from here on out. Or maybe if a cage clean day is nearby remove any large pieces then whilst you're cleaning the rest out and put them in the oven? I don't think little twigs matter as much more the large chunkier branches.

[brydyslass]

Thanks for that, really appreciate the reassurance. Will prob wait till cleaning day. The wee twigs have been reduced to matchsticks. Husband reckons there is definatly beaver in them!

[louwra]

Mine love fresh branches with the leaves still on it. As they are from my own garden I know they are clean, we never use insecticides .

have planted hawthorn a month or so ago, so hopefully will soon have a hawthorn supply for them as well

[tanyajk85]

i took your advice and went treckking down the woods - avec mon pere - and found two big branches that look lovely in my cage! they are now soaking in salt water in the bath! i was planning on putting them in the oven also but the flaw in that plan is that they are too big!
will salt water be enough? or is there something else i can do incase there was not enough salt in there??

tanya xxx

[emz]

If the water was boiling hot it'd def be fine.

[tanyajk85]

hmmmm....no it wasnt it was cold? they were in there about two hours? and ive scrubed them and then sprayed pet safe disinfectant on them?

tanya xxx

[emz]

I guess it should be ok from what I understand salt water kills bacteria through the process of osmosis. I forgot about that, the boiling would have also been to kill bacteria. Scrubbing them down was a good idea you don't want the branches all salty and wood is quite absorbent.

[tanyajk85]

Its all good i put them in a v.hot bath with a couple of kettles worth in n gave them another scrub an squirt with pet safe disinfectant! Dont think ive ever cleaned trees before ha ha! So hopefully they should be oki now

btw i had a look for hammocks n couldnt find any nice ones :s

tanya xxxx

[emz]

www.hammockyhammocks.co.uk/

[tanyajk85]

Thanks em went on and they had none of the ones i wanted left left in stock ha ha! Went on to cavy coture instead (found it on degutopia) thanks for the heads up though

Tanya xxx

[emz]

If they aren't in stock I tend to email and ask for an in advance order. Their quality is usually worth the wait especially for my Steve so he doesn't get hurt ever again.

I have heard good things about fuzzbutts also. www.fuzzbutt.co.uk/

[tanyajk85]

i had a look on that one but they were too big to fit where i needed it to fit because i did find a nice pink flowery one HOWEVER! the one i ordered from CC has arrived this morning (very quickly i mignt add .... and also pink ha ha!) going to do some more work on it today - hopefully getting my glasss woooop! will post some pics on tribute to emz with the new hammock! exxxxxcccciiiiting

tanya xxxx

Ps. sorry for destroying your thread on creating natural environment NWR with talks of pink hammocks he he

[puppy00]

thanks! I want my degus to feel "at home" in their new cage.

[NightwishRaven999]

Some photos I would like to share.
This is the bottom floor of the degu cage.
It is basicly a burrowing pit, filled with bedding, hay, a few clay pots, branches and coconut shells.





One way of adding some character to the degu cage is to stuff the bottom with large clumps of meadow or timothy hay. The degus love to forage through this and create burrows.
It also looks quite lovely and natural.



They love to create pits and tunnels and cuddle up in there at night.

[deguconvert]

I love that idea! Think I will adopt that with my next clean out!