Degu Housing Testimonials

[NightwishRaven999]

Hello friends and fellow degu owners.

As some of you may know, this is an exciting time for the Degu and Chinchilla World forum. Over the past year we have had dozens of members build their own wooden degu cages...and most have seen great results.
With Fred working on a new degu cage calculator and new members signing up each day, Deguconvert and I should be able to team up and start our 'Building Your Cage' section later this summer.

This summer promises to be quite fun and lively.

After doing some small edits on the Octodon Degus website, I decided it was time to add a new section to the article on How to Build a Degu Cage.

I will need YOUR help for this !
We will be creating a new section on this page, for testimonials, reviews and short experiences relating to wooden DIY cages.
We have many members on here who have built cages, so we need your input.

To those who wish to participate and help others learn more about DIY cages, this is what I would like.

I would like you to write down a testimonial on DIY cages.
It does not have to be long and elaborate.
You can post them on here, or you can send them to me by pm if you prefer.

This is an example of what I am looking for.
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Testimonial

Jordan (username NightwishRaven999 on the Degu and Chinchilla World Forum)

I currently house my six degus in a very large wooden cage.
I have been keeping degus in wooden cages since December 2008 and have had no bad experiences since. So far I have built three wooden cages (including a vacation cage), each time improving the design and making the new cage larger than the first.
My degus really enjoy the amount of space they have and I enjoy watching them run around, burrow and play.
Cleaning a wooden cage is so much easier than cleaning a metal cage, like the one I used in the past. I can now use large amounts of bedding without worrying than the degus will throw it outside the cage. At first I was worried about proper ventilation, but I quickly realised that my fears were unfounded.

With lots of bedding, the cage smells fresh and stays clean for several weeks. I now have more time to watch my degus and play with them and I spend far less time cleaning up after them.
With a wooden cage, I also have the opportunity to try and lanscape the interior, in hopes of recreating a semi-natural habitat for my degus.

I have no regrets about housing my degus in a wooden cage and would highly recommend this type of housing to all those who would like to give their degus more living space, without paying a fortune.
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That is my own testimonial...you can use it as a guideline to write your own or you can come up with your own original way of writing down your experiences.

Remember, your testimonials will be on the octodondegus.weebly.com/ website.

Even after reading the article on cage building and seeing photos of DIY cages, people would feel less doubtful about wooden cages if they read about the experiences others are having with this type of housing.

The more of us participate in this, the more people we can help convince that buying cages in pet shops is not the only way of housing degus.

Big thanks in advance to those who are willing to contribute to this project !

Fellow degu owner
Jordan

[fred]

This is a great idea!! Just one suggestion regarding the testimonials. Perhaps we should add a statement to the effect: “my degus have lived in it for x years and so far they have NOT eaten it”. Besides ventilation this seems to be the most common myth keeping degus owners from wooden cages.

Do you plan to show pictures of some of the cages to which the testimonials refer? I think the biggest problem I have with the English version of the calculator is the lack of web pages I can link to. I realised that when I followed up molette's suggestion of mentioning playpens. In the German version I could link to several sites but there are none in English.

[NightwishRaven999]

@ Fred
The webpage already contains several photos of well made degu cages, but I am willing to take in new photos to add to the article. Lots have thanked me for posting photos and mentioned that they helped a lot.
So if anyone would like their photos used, please post them with your testimonials !

Good idea Fred, thanks !

I will be linking your degu cage calculator on my site for sure. I have a few hundred degu owners subscribed to my Youtube account and was thinking of creating a promotional video or message and sending to all contacts.
There is also a good lady called Terri Ann who runs a well liked and popular degu website called - The Degu Cage. degucage.com/
She regularly creates new pages and often promotes good products or good ideas on degu housing and care. She has already promoted my video on How to Build a Degu Cage and seems very open to the idea of DIY cages.

I was thinking of contacting her to let her know about the degu cage calculator you were coming up with. I am sure we can also create a new sticky page on here where we can link your cage calculator. You might be suprised at the amount of traffic this forum can bring to your calculator.

[deguconvert]

Just over a year ago, I under took a mission to build a wooden cage to replace the seven foot tall wire cage we had been using for three years. I have been SO MUCH HAPPIER with this cage. It is so much easier to clean, there is much more space for the degus to run about and play, and it is much less odiferous than the metal cage. The odor in the metal cage,even one day after a full and intensive clean was noticable at the least, and it only got stronger after that. Because I can now supply a nice deep pile of substrate on every surface, the cage odor is basically non-existant. They have been very, very content and happy in this cage!

[NightwishRaven999]

Thanks so much for this Faith !
It will be going straight onto the article on cage building !

Anyone else want to join in ?

[emz]

Count me in will write one when I get time.

[NightwishRaven999]

Thanks Emma ! That would be great !

Faith ! You testimonial has been published right alongside mine on the cage building article.

[deguconvert]

SWEET!!! ;D ;D ;D

[davx]

Hi there,

what's about outdoor cages? I keep my degus for three years in an outdoor enclosure during the warm months. If you are interested and it fits to the concept of your DIY page, I'll send you some photos. For a first impression look to my homepage under:
www.octodons.ch/index.php/Deguaussenhaltung1

For the testimonial I need some help, my english is not so proper.

In addition, a short testimonial for an aquarium extention I published here (in german):
www.octodons.ch/index.php/Kaefig_aufsatz

[Bexi87]

I started building a wooden cage a couple of months after bringing home my first degus (2 sisters). I am no DIY expert and I was little daunted but I made a plan, took a lot of advice off websites and a couple of weeks later I had a fantastic cage.

My cage is made with MDF, glass sliding doors and shelves lined with kiln-dried pine and covered if self-adhesive tiles. It currently houses 5 girls who have lived in the cage for 8 months. They love it.

They have lots of space to play and have enough room to be apart if they want. The amount of mess has been reduced, the noise is less and they are so easy to clean. When I had 2 girls in a wire cage they needed cleaning every week, all 5 girls now only need cleaning once a month!

I'm currently in the process of building a bigger and better cage for my gang so I am spending a lot of time online looking for ideas.

I would really recommend building a DIY cage, the only warning I would give is that it is very addictive! You will want to build more and more!

I hope that is what you are after!

Bex ;D

[des]

The missus wrote a diary about building our cage, complete with pictures of her progress. She built it pretty quick, in ten days and had no large experience with handiwork prior, so it might be interesting for you. I'd have to translate it first, but that shouldn't be a problem.

[NightwishRaven999]

@ Dingle87
Thank you very much for the testimonial !
I will be adding it to website tonight.
This is exactly what I am looking for


@ des
Thank you, it would be very kind of you to translate this for us.
Am anxious to see this !

davx
From your message, I would say your english is fine.
I would love to see those photos ! I will have a look at the two webpages tonight.
Thank you very much !

[NightwishRaven999]

@ Dingle87

Your testimonial has been added to the website !
Thank you very much for contributing.

[Bexi87]

Great stuff! Thanks

[fred]

Look what I found this morning:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLXcTrGcI74
I will be spreading this link

[emz]

Testimonial:

For just over a year now, I have kept my two male degus (Steve and Felix) in a DIY cage. I first got the idea seeing nightwishraven's Youtube channel when browsing for degu cage inspiration. When he joined degu world not too longer afterwards I was delighted as the cage bug bit hard and fast especially with everyone's encouragement and support. Since June 2010 my cage has always been odour free and is much roomier than a metal store bought cage. No more scrubbing wooden shelves every 5 or so days and not to mention how much money you save on substrate in the long run. It can be a bit of an investment but is well worth it. I am already planning my second DIY cage for later this year!

[NightwishRaven999]

Thank you very much for the support Fred !

@ Emma
Thank you so much for this
I have just added your testimonial to the website.

[fred]

When I got my first two degus four months ago, I was clear – from this site and some German degu information sites – that they should be in a wooden cage. Not being terribly good at DIY, I acquired a large wooden vivarium (second hand). Adapting it to degus and fitting shelves took me just half a day. The whole set-up cost less than £ 100.

I think my two girls enjoy their cage very much and I enjoy watching them through the glass doors. They have a 10 cm layer of bedding at ground level in which they love to dig while I do not have to worry about material that is thrown out of the cage. The shelves are of kiln tried pine/timber on which they chew a lot while the wood of the vivarium itself remains untouched. I clean the cage every three weeks as a matter of routine but I always feel it isn't necessary yet as there is no smell at all.

All in all I couldn't be happier with my set-up and I am currently looking for another vivarium to put on top and double their space.

[NightwishRaven999]

Thank you very much Fred !
Your testimonial has been added to the website along with Faith's, Bex' Emma's and mine.

[Maravilla]

We started in autumn 2009 with our degus and our first DIY cage. As degus are known for gnawing a lot we were thinking about a cost-saving method to build a cage: huge, with lots of space to run and play, protected from gnawing and with space beneath for all the accessories (food, cleaning material etc.).
We decided for a cage consisting of four heavy duty shelves so there was no need to protect the posts separately. It took us a couple of days to build the cage; especially painting the levels was time-consuming. 5 ladies lived in this cage, had fun… probably more fun than we had every second week as it was hard to clean because it was so deep (90 cm).
Time passed on, troubles and fights in the group forced us to split it. There was a need for a new cage (May 2010). This time, with more experience and knowing better our little friends, we decided for a wooden cage. Huge as well, quite long as degus enjoy running and less climbing, but not as deep as the first one (60 cm). It took us five days to build it, painting included. This cage consists mainly of wood (pine and spruce), laminate for the walls and wire mesh for the doors. Only the holes in the levels are protected from chewing. It looks nicer and fits better in our living room.
Some more troubles, two new degus; and the idea of cage number three was born (autumn 2010). Same design and materials as the second one; it replaced the heavy duty shelves. As we had at this time already three groups of degus, we had to plan a cage for two groups. The decision was to made one really big one (200x70x210 cm), divided horizontally so that each group has 2 big levels. Beneath there is as well space for food etc.

People sometimes think that big cages can replace a running wheel or running plate. Our degus have quite a lot of space to run and play and use every single square centimetre, but they have running wheel and plate and use both extensively.

Wooden cages have lots of advantages: You can adapt them to your needs and space. You can make them the style and colour which best fit you and your furnishings. You can extend them more easily. If informed well before planning, you know that you meet your degus’ needs. You can build doors big enough to reach every single corner... a problem metal cages have.

I personally think that having a wooden cage makes you more creative. Once infected by the building fever (it is a very severe illness, without any chance to cure!) you will continue building things for your degus (a house, a table, a sand bath,...). Just try it out. Your degus will love it.

Do degus chew through a wooden cage? I don’t believe it. Not, if the cage is big enough and furnished adequately, with different things to explore, gnaw, run, hide, play; and nice food. Why should they want to leave it?