Degu cage calculator

[deguconvert]

This is an excellent tool . . . one which I can never seem to lay my fingers on when I want it. LOL! SO! Making a sticky of it!! Hope it helps lots!

www.octodons.ch/rechner/?lang=en


Degutopia has a tool for this as well. www.degutopia.co.uk/deguhouse.htm We are adding a disclaimer to this however. RRSPCA has requirements that are much larger than what is deemed acceptable through this particular calculator at present. If you use this, be fully aware that you will be providing a cage that is cramped and less than what a healthy and active degu needs to continue healthy and active. The Thickets cage that is highly recommended by P@H stores and also Degutopia is unsuitable as a single cage for two degus. Two thickets joined together make it much more acceptable. Our recommendation, if you haven't yet purchased a cage, it DYI caging, or cages that you can increase the overal floor space with the addition of full shelves, and pimp out better than they are sent to you.

[marccc]

help,
ive just done your cage test, ive got this one

www.petsathome.com/shop/chinchilla-and-degu-cage-by-thickets-house-15966

which is the recomended six for upo 6 i got told?

I keep my 3 girls in this one cage??

Do i need to get a bigger one ASAP?>?

[cazara]

This too is so confusing one calculator says I can keep 2 Degu's the other site calculator says I can't keep any in it???

[sam99]

Same issue. The Octodons one says my cage is too small to keep degus in, as the floor area is too small. They haven't taken into account the fact that I have 2 levels and 8 shelves and it is 160cm tall !!!!

[fred]

There are huge differences between suggestions and regulations in different countries. For example in Austria, the requirements for cage size in pet shops are almost 10fold those in the UK. With all due respect to Chloe and the fab work she does at Degutopia, I think that calculator is due for an update. The calculator at octodon.ch is, IMHO, a bit too prescriptive regarding minimum floor area and minimum height; as a result sam99's would not have the required floor area and mine would not have the required size. I don't think this is helpful and I would find it better to just use the volume. There is another calculator around which takes into account shelf space and gives a more graded judgement but it's only in German.
For comparison (for a pair):
Thickets cage 0.26 cubic metre
RSPCA recommendation 0.36 cubic metre
German/Swiss recommendations 0.5 cubic metre
I'd say personally that the RSPCA volume volume should be the absolute minimum for two to three adult goos.

marccc - there are great deals for second hand cages and I have seen lots of people connecting an additional cage to their original P&H cage.

[sam99]

@fred after your idea.... , marccc or for anyone else who may be interested.
I am selling 2 thickets house cages that could easily be joined together.
I haven't put a post on here as not sure of the etiquette involved, but if anyone wants more info then they are welcome to message me.

[deguconvert]

This is something I have often thought, Fred, and thank you for putting this in. The space that is increased by increasing shelving alone is very helpful . . . so long as the owner is doing so. Most of us look at the cages that are available in the stores and think, looks good . . . 2-3 shelves . . . should be great! Figuring that since those who make the cage sell for specific purposes, they must also be aware of the requirements of the animals that will be using it. I've come to realize this is not the case and the shelving put in, doesn't usually accommodate the space needs of the animals. This is why I have often suggested that additional shelving be put in. Spacial volume is great to know, so long as the owner realizes that that spacial volume can only be "accessed and used" by the degus when it has a surfce on which the degu may live, rest, run etc. Increasing the surfaces (ledges and tiers . . . not just a narrow board, but a real slab that can almost be a full new level on it's own), greatly increases the living space for the degus and their enjoyment in their cage! I've not been very successful in getting this idea across, however.

[NightwishRaven999]

May 24, 2011 23:51:59 GMT deguconvert said:

Increasing the surfaces (ledges and tiers . . . not just a narrow board, but a real slab that can almost be a full new level on it's own), greatly increases the living space for the degus and their enjoyment in their cage!

@ Deguconvert
You made a very good point !
I couldnt agree with you more ! Cage levels are a great way of adding floor space in the cage. When most of us think of levels, we think of small wooden ledges where the degus can perch and rest. This is nice and quaint, but doesnt help much as far as running space goes.

I have made an effort to apply this in my newer cages setup, using 3 levels which are nearly the same size as the cage floor...allowing only a few inches between the front of the levels and the front of the cage.
I have lights on the top of the cage, but with such big levels, the bottom floor was very dark. I decided to install a fluorescent light underneath the second level so that the cage bottom is lit as well.

Its the best way to ensure your degus can make full use of the cage height. I used to change the cage setup often, but even after almost a year of having this kind of setup...I have not changed it. The degus really make full use of the space they are provided. Its so fun being able to see them running full speed up and down the levels

Here is a photo to better illustrate the cage setup.

[kovu07]

Wow brilliant cage

[fred]

Following the comments by nightwishraven and deguconvert, I have had another look at the rather heated discussions on the German forums. Most contributors there agree that the total running space is crucial; i.e. cage floor plus (near) full levels. During these discussions this calculator has been developed: degu.ldka.de/rechner.php

If anyone wants to have a go,”Ebenen” means full levels in addition to the cage floor. The calculator is quite flexible and has fewer minimum requirements.
For Länge (width) the minimum is 100 cm, if it is shorter, the sum of width and depth must be 160 cm. For Breite (depth) the minimum is 50 cm. The minimum Höhe (height) is 30 cm per level. IMHO width x depths is still not flexible enough, and there is definitely no need to have this minimum height for all levels. The results come colour-coded (not completely consistent) at three levels Basic Cage “A maximum number of XX degus can be kept”, Good Cage “XX degus have reasonable conditions”, and Top Cage “XX degus have excellent conditions”. Overall, this seems an improvement over the other two cage calculators.

If we could have a discussion on this forum and come to a consensus view, I'd be happy to produce a calculator based on the community consensus.

[kovu07]

I'm confused by that calculator, my degus will have 3 levels, so I typed in 3 for Ebenen and it came up with a message about needing a minimum of 30cms?

[fred]

Yeah, that has been criticised quite a lot. Just change hight to the number of levels including the floor x 32 cm and see what you get then.

[kovu07]

I will do

[amie]

Not that I understand German, but I think the colour alone is telling me off, lol.

My cages are 142cm height
94cm lengh
60cm depth

The cages have (on top of the bottom level) two levels equal the size of the floor space and additional levels half the size of the floor space. I keep two degus in each cage and probably wouldn't keep more than four in one of them.

I get this result from Octodons and I'm failing to understand that calculater! LOL.

Length: 94 cm
Width: 60 cm
Height: 142 cm
Base: 0.56 m2
Capacity: 0.801 m3

Your cage is appropriate for 2 to 6 Degus.

[fred]

amie – It doesn't like 94 cm but would like to have 100 cm; this is where common sense needs to come in. I have used length 100, depth 50, 142 height and 3 levels (2 full, 2 half) as input and the calculator says maximum 4, reasonable conditions 3, excellent conditions 2 degus.

[amie]

Thanks

I'll try to have common sense in the future.

[fred]

Oh no, amie - I meant the calculator to be the one with the lack of common sense!!! That's the problem with both this and the octodons.ch calculator - a measly six centimetres making the difference between unsuitable and great cage.

[kovu07]

Agreed it doesn't make such sense 6cm isn't life or death for degus lol

[amie]

Ok, lol. Sorry Fred. My mistake. I'd just woken up after 3 hours sleep (night shift) and I was much touchier than normal. Holding my eye lids open with match sticks kinda touchy! lol.

Yeah, the calculater isn't the best to be honest. My cages are huge with lots of REAL levels and I'd never keep a degu in anything smaller as a permanent home. It made me look at my cages and think "Really, NOT BIG ENOUGH!?" LOL.

[kovu07]

lol Amie, nope not big enough, you need to buy your degus a seperate house.