New owner advice wanted :)

[sophielovesdegu]

Heyy,

Im going to be getting 2 pet degu's soon and I was wondering im anyone could give me a little bit more information on them

.Do they bite alot?
.Do they run alound alot at night?
.Do they squeak loads?
.Will the degu's be happy if im out during the day and only get to spend lots of time with them in the mornings and evenings?

many thanks
Sophie

[amie]

.Do they bite alot? Not generally, but IF they do decide to bite (which some do), I won't lie, It hurts!... and bleeds a lot lol. They mostly just like to nibble and groom you though.

.Do they run alound alot at night? They can do. You should take their toys off them at night including their wheel, and perhaps warm up a snuggle safe heat pad (about £20 to buy one) and that should send them off to sleep. Also, don't feed them right before bed time. Feed them a few hours before.

.Do they squeak loads? Erm, yes! Sometimes. They have loads of different vocalisations.

.Will the degu's be happy if im out during the day and only get to spend lots of time with them in the mornings and evenings? YES! They're happy aslong as they have each other and a few hours a day running around outside their cage and lots of attention from you.

The basic things are, no sugar diet. Must have a very large cage (atleast 50cm Depth, 90-100Lengh and about 80-120cm tall). There are lots of woods that are toxic to degus and there is a thread on here explaining all the safe ones Haven't got long to reply, so I'm sure lots of other people will fill in my many blanks lol.

[debdegu]

Hi there Degus are quite timid when you frist get them ;D but done worry give them a few days let them sniff your hand and dont rush to pic them up. Also they love to run around in ball or if they get out the cage like mine do have your door closed mine come back eventully.

They can have small dozes of some type of nuts, and they can have sunflower seeds in small doses, youll have to get lots and lots of wood for them. They love to eat or mine do and love there sandbathes.

I advice a hammok for them to share mine love there and sleep in it cozy as can be ;D one of my silly degus sleep on its back.

Do they Squeak? Sometimes yes diffrent noises but an alerm squeak can happen when something stattles them but its rare for them do it unless they want ateetnion. Degu dont mind me beign out durring the day i just talk to them before i go and vist them at night

[sophielovesdegu]

Thankyou! Really big help, i was worried they would be upset without me there ahaa

How often do they need sand baths? and do they need normal baths? and i think this is the last question lol, what type of bedding do they need? ive heard carefresh is not as good as it sounds and the ink on newspaper is bad for them and if you shred paper the ink on that is bad to, whats the best and cheapest (or best investment ) I can get for them?
All i need now is a cage and some bedding and im set to go! thanks for the cage dimensions btw!

[debdegu]

Well i give my degu a sandbath 1 or 3 times a weak i try not to give them it to much cause they try to fight to much ;D not bad fighting just squecking. I use hay and not bedding, but you can buy bedding with no ink on.

that all i can say

[sophielovesdegu]

Hey debdegu thanks for the information! and i was just wondering why do you use hay? personal preferance or any bennefits from it? And il look into the bedding with no ink on aswell thanks!

[debdegu]

Jun 21, 2011 19:25:08 GMT sophielovesdegu said:

Hey debdegu thanks for the information! and i was just wondering why do you use hay? personal preferance or any bennefits from it? And il look into the bedding with no ink on aswell thanks!

I use hay because it easier for me and it helps there teeth.

[nickymills30]

hay is a very important part of a degu's diet x

[sophielovesdegu]

Hay sounds good then! Ahaa thankyouu x