Cage Bedding Reviews !

[deguconvert]

Hi Shomoca! It is good to hear back from you, and to hear what you have experienced so far. I think that you might be able to use just hot water with a 1/2 cup of white vinegar in there to help eliminate any odor. Make sure it is thoroughly dry before putting it back in.

If that doesn't work, paper bedding is good. . . just not the pellet form of it. Those pellets are very compressed, and if a degu (or any animal) chews on it and ingests it, it will expand in the gut, which can very quickly become dangerous and life threatening. We do not recommend using them. The softer, fluffy kinds are good and are absorbent, and deal with the urine odor fairly well. It needs to be at least 5-10 cm deep. With a depth like that you should get at least two weeks use out of it before needing to replace. You can look for the places that are most heavily used and scoop them out, replacing with fresh substrate.

[shomoca]

Thank you for the advice. I won't throw away the coco then

I looked again at the bedding I have now on the top level and it's also for cats; made out of wood. ... I've put the bedding only on 1/5 of the surface, where they pee. I will buy a paper one and spread it on the whole surface.

[savvy]

The wood pellet cat litter isn't suitable for degus as it will swell if eaten or wet which could cause intestinal blockages.

Don't forget, a degus natural instinct is to chew everything.

[deguconvert]

I'm glad to hear that you will be purchasing and using a paper one instead of the cat litter. I know there are people that use it and recommend it, but it really is not a good option for any pet rodent. As Savvy has said, it has caused very nasty, and often fatal, issues within the gut of gnawing animals that ingested it. I encourage you to remove the litter as quickly as you can. You can lay down kitchen paper, or loo roll, or even purchase a small bag of carefresh paper bedding from P@H to use for the time being, until you find something you like better.

If you haven't already, do have read through all the pages of this particular thread, as there are several soft paper, hemp, and wood chip like substrates discussed and reviewed, for both coverage, price, odor control, and the length of time it tends to last before beginning to pong. I'm sure you will find at least one or two that will interest you in here!

[copperk]

Hello my ? Is

Has anyone heard a viviarium or terrarium would be fine to use . Im so appherhensive about it .

Also my parents house they keep it like in my craft room temperature 60 to 70
I also have a aircondioner in that room .but its nice and cool. Is that to cold for them .
And what kind of bedding is really good to spread in their cage .

[savvy]

Vivariums are not great for degus as they don't have the airflow they need. How much space do you have for the cage? Degus need a HUGE amount of space. Please read deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9396/forums-cage-size-recommendations for more information as to space, floor levels etc. If you get the basics right, you're degus will have the best start. Avoid anything plastic as they can chew through and escape.

You can get heat lamps etc if they room is on the chilly side. I don't have them, but there are other forum members who do and I'm sure they'll advise.

As for bedding, avoid anything dusty, so no sawdust. Wood shavings can be used as long as it's large flakes, there are various paper based beddings available (avoid cat litter, it isn't suitable). Degus also use hay as a nesting material and for eating (it's not unusual to hear them munching when they're in bed.)

[moletteuk]

Just a final note on the cat litter type bedding for degus - you can test it by soaking a sample of it - if it swells in size it is not safe, most are not safe.


Homemade custome designed vivariums with plenty of ventilation are ideal, but bought ones designed for reptiles need further ventilation adding for them to be suitable. 63 to 70 degress F is fines but they would likely need a heater of some sort to be happy at 60F Bedding depends what country you are in.