How to Tame Degus !

[NightwishRaven999]

I posted this on another forum and new degu owners thought it was very useful. So I though about posting it here. I already have a video on the matter but I recently wrote down a small webpage on how to tame degus.

The method I use is not a 100% guarantee but from the comments on the video "Tips for Taming Degus" and the pms I have received, it seems to be working for many degu owners.

The article was written especially for new owners.
Hopefully this will prove helpful.

octodondegus.weebly.com/how-to-tame-degus.html


Emma already posted the link on a few topics, so thanks for that
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If any of you have been keeping degus for a while now, and have managed to tame them and bond with them, please feel free to post about it here.
I may decide to relate a few of your experiences on the website (with your personal opinion of course).

[roobarb]

i have had myn 2 days and i am holding them all ready. my technique is to stroke them while there in the cage then slowly put your hand in. then grab them. i have found out that my'n like to explore so try letting out in the room! ;D try it out

[roobarb]

what is your technique

[emz]

Grabbing them sounds a little extreme or am I imagining this wrong?

[smux]

There should be no need to "grab" them when getting them out of the cage, just associate coming out time with certain words said in a certain way. With my boys it's "come on then!!" said excitedly, and they then know what's coming so come to the door...when I open the door they come out and onto my shoulder (usually, with coaxing, as they try to escape into the bedroom which isn't where we play).

Getting them BACK on the other hand usually does entail grabbing, but I don't just quickly grab them without a thought for their feelings on the subject. I tend to get them to come to me, maybe even up onto my shoulder thus saving the time, and I corner them into a space where I can extend my hands and pick them up. This even works well with the girls, the dexterous 2 year olds, although "cornering" is a lot harder with those 3 :-)

This is all about technique...it used to take me almost an hour to catch the 4 boys (back when it was 4 boys) but I got it down to under 10 minutes pretty quickly as I learned new techniques...and I was careful with them at all times :-)

[emz]

Getting them back is easy for me. I either wait for them both to jump back into their cage to use their wheel and simply close the door behind them or I coax them into a tube so I can then carry them back to their cage (if I am in a hurry.)

I don't think you should ever have to grab a degu unless it is an emergency - like if you don't they could become hurt etc. This is just me though I have never been comfortable with grabbing any of my pets I only interact with them if they want me to. I guess that is down to preference.

[becksybonkers]

I have only had my degus for about a week and allready they are used to me picking them up.
i tend to open the door to my cage whilst i say "do you wanna go for a wander?" in a high pitched voice, then when i open the door they usually both come towards me, then when the walk onto the opened door, i gently scoop them up with 2 hands. now they enjoy coming out of the cage and being handled. i still havnt yet let them roam the room free yet. do you have any tips on how to let them roam the room first time?

[smux]

No tips from me, except keep doors closed to rooms they can't wander into and be aware that anything wooden will attract their teeth like flies to...well...you get the idea. Also, they tend to leave messes around so if it's carpeted be ready to hoover and possibly clean the carpet (although if it doesn't bother you I wouldn't do it any more often than usual...it doesn't bother most degu owners :-))

Oh, and don't let them escape into the room if you can't actually catch them to get them back in. Over time they'll choose to go back in the cage for themselves, but the first time is explore heaven for them and nothing short of a bomb blast will get them back in the cage.

You can also take some of their toys out of the cage and onto the floor to make them feel more comfortable.

Lastly, be aware that they're going to be more independent once they're out of the cage...they might come over to you but it won't happen as often...it's normal.

[DorsetDegus]

read your guide, some good tips, I totally understand what you mean about different personalitys and traits, my naughtiest is my original degu, my only male koffie. He is getting better tho and will now climb onto my hand to eat treats instead of climing onto my hand and simply using it as a ledge to get away , my 2 old girls are lovely, very tame, but one is shy. And finally my 2 baby girls, one is very eager and loves climing like her dad koffie, but the other is very shy like her mum

[cazara]

Hi everyone Great site most helpful. I just bought two girl Degu's from a pet store as I didn't like the tiny cage they were in and the floor was all mesh will not enough shavings in it.
I have reported the store and have now got my two girls (will double check they r girls tomorrow after seeing the video link on sexing).
My partner is building a three tier cage for them right now at his home. The cage I have is plastic to house a dwarf Rabbit and I knew they would be chewing it sooner or later.
So far they are very nervious the girl in the shop was too rough when trying to catch them in my opinion she even shoved one up against the cage then grabbed it out.
I am trying to find out what treats to use and how much food to give Riff and Raff as i do not wish them to get over weight.
I did own a guine pig but that was a while ago I have Degu pellets a salt lick and mineral stick for them.
Any advice most welcome am used to pets and animals but brand new to my girl degu's Raff is chirping right now as I type not sure if it a good thing or she telling me to go away lol
Thanks to all who have put great info out in this site you guy's are amazing thank you so much

Happy Degu's make happy Owners
Cazara xxx
P.S. I have to use both hands to scoop them other than this can't get them near me. Once they r in me arms they like to get ears rubbed and sit happy with me I just hope it's happily and not them too scared to move!!! will work this out in time once I learn their personality's

[amie]

Hey, welcome to the site!

You might want to make a new thread out of this so everyone will see it They might miss it being posted in here. Hmmm, let's see. Try clicking 'home' at the top of the page, then scroll down and click 'degu behavior' or 'chat' (as there's quite a few questions in this post) and there will be an option to start a 'new thread' at the top right hand corner of the page (I think, lol).

As for the constant chirping, if it's a short and sharp squeek, she is probably freaked out by something, which is understandable as she's just had a big change in her life. If it sounds more like low chirping or 'chitter chatter', this is good. She's talking

I'm not sure if the salt lick is a good idea. I don't use them. Other members will have more information on that though.

Definately best to check they're both female. or atleast both the same sex, as pet shops.... well, pet shops get it wrong quite a lot! lol. Male and female degus both have a urinal cone. With the males there is an obvious gap between the cone and the anus. With female, there's is no gap (or perhaps a VERY slight gap.) If you're having trouble sexing them and need some help, please don't hesitate to post pictures.

Have you looked into minimum cage size for degus?

[cazara]

Thanks Amie, Yes we both looked at cages and my partner is building their new permanent home should be done by Wed. At present They are running around the rabbit indoor house It's big enough just not the height they will like I don't think. Their new home will be a three tier with wooden ledges and ramps for them to climb and jump around.
They jump on top of their nesting box and jump off it but don't sleep in it lol they sleep behind it (strange)
I have just put in a plastic house which they seem to prefer as are going in it unlike the wooden one the now.
They are defo girls from seeing the sex video on Degu's. I looked at the cage's in the web shops online and our cage being built is bigger so plenty of room for 4 but will only house my two so they can escape from each other if they wish.

[amie]

Ideally, you want to aim for something that's 36 inches in lengh (3ft), 20 inches in depth (width) and 40 inches tall. They can live in smaller cages quite happily if they get time out of the cage, but I'd say that size is ideal for four and a size they'd love.

May I ask what wood you're using to build the cage with as lots of woods are toxic to degus. It needs to kiln dried pine wood. Especially if it's wood they can chew.

LOL.... mine never sleep in their nest either. Always in their hammock.

Glad they're both the same sex!

[cazara]

ohh no am not sure of the wood my partener is using ohh no now I'm worried. I think it be ply wood and pine from b@Q for the posts. Great now need to phone to say stop building lol he not going to be happy right off to research Degu friendly wood for me girls. And thanks for saying that to me appreciated I'd be heart broken if anything happened to them

[amie]

Right, don't panick too much! If they definately can't get their teeth into it then it's ok. I THINK (although I'm not sure), that ply wood is ok for the cage aslong as they can't chew it. Any pine you use MUST be kild dried as it's toxic to them otherwise. I, personally, would think it'd be best to use ALL pine wood just incase, as there was a topic on here about whether degus could chew flat surfaces.

I can't be 100% about the plywood having never built my own cage, but I'd post a thread asking about if it's ok to use plywood the outside of the cage (the bit they can't chew! lol.)

Anything they can chew, they WILL chew. They love destroying things. It's their favourite thing to do, lol!

[amie]

This might help you

deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Cage&action=display&thread=5734

[danni84]

had my goo' 2 wks ago, left them settle for day or 2 then i put my hand in 2 came to me, i open the door they want to come out, i go by cage they bomb to the front, well iv got them coming to me but cant get my 2 greys to come to me, i let them out last wk whilst cleaning cage, well that was a laugh getting them back took about hour or so, going to build a run so they can get use to us and the smell on carpet, they brill goo's, we got a german sheperd, he goes right up to the cage, they go to him for a sniff, seems he got more attention than us hahaha, all good though,

[cazara]

I have just bought a huge ferret cage from ebay it's all metal three tier It's called a sky cage. I'd rather this than they die from chewing home made one I just not up to taking risks with my animals at all. As my partner said so u got all princess (dog Guinea Pig ) so now we have the princesses Riff and Raff. Lmao now if they fight I will have spare cage lol I will make sure the home made one has all wood covered in mesh so they can't eat the wood.

Danni84 congrats and well done. Thats brilliant progress my two will run over my hand but still won't let me lift them out without cupping them up in both hands which I don't like doing but needs must at the moment.

They really like rose petals i gave them one each which they grabbed out of my hand then sat chewing them, baby steps at the moment for me Holding out for day they run to me and want out lol

I just read on this forum cat wood pellets for bedding is bad stupid pet shop told me to use them i have a 30 liter bag of them not sure now what to do am away to shred more paper for their cage till i find out for sure if it defo not safe

[amie]

Aslong as they can't chew the 'bad wood' (if any) then it'll be fine. Anything they chew needs to be safe wood. It's always handy to have spare though.

Cat litter pellete are a big no. Dust extractedsawdust is ok or there's a type of recyled cardboard called finacard that you could use. It's really good

[cazara]

Thanks I have the reciept so wil take the pellet's back and inform the girl that they are a no for Degu's I think I will refer her to this site to learn from in case she want's to learn more for future customers I will be nice.
I got my girls eating out of my hand a few hr's back I used dried Parsley I think that will be their chocolate the way the came to my hand no problem.
I managed to lift Riff up off the floor but couldn't with Raff she kept on paw on the cage floor and I didn't want to try lifting her till all paw's were safe in m hand.
I'm so shocked did not expect them to come to me as this is my 3rd day of ever owning a Degu and ever being near any in my life.
Will keep trying with them it still early days baby steps