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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2011 12:29:57 GMT
Hello all, I'm having trouble understanding something one of my degus, Jadzia, is doing. She has this one spot in the cage where there is a small door. She will go there and gnaw at the bars - and I mean really gnaw, she puts her whole body into the effort and the entire cage starts shaking! I wouldn't mind this if it wasn't for the fact that she gets so frightfully angry while she's doing this. If Elune comes up to her while she's at it, Jadzia will bite after her! The same thing about me if I try to get my hand close (she even bit me once and then looked very confused for a moment). She can do this for up to ten minutes, then take a small break and then go at it again. This is really odd, because otherwise Jadzia really is a sweet and amiable degu that never bites and is really eager to be together with both me and Elune. Why does she do this? Could be some sort of mental disturbance because she had been alone for so long when I got her? I could try putting a large piece of cardboard in front of the bars so she can't get to them and see if that helps? And then there is this odd sound that she makes often while she's out of the cage and running around on the floor. She will run around and do a quiet sort of squeak every other step, almost like she's got the hiccups. This only occurs when she's out of the cage, never while she's in the cage. Elune does not make this sound. I have checked her for injuries but she has none, and she doesn't seem in pain at all - she runs around and jumps just as usual, and her general condition is very good. I know she makes the sound in a video I've taken of them, I'll see if I can upload it. EDIT: Here is the soundclip: avalonaraber.com/media/jadziasound.mp3I'm baffled as to what this means, so I hope some of you know what this is all about Storm
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Post by Ady on Oct 12, 2011 13:06:39 GMT
Hi, I would say she gnaws at the door cause she wants to get out. She knows it can be open somehow but she can't open it so gets frustrated and angry. My girls gnaw on the bars more if they get out less and vice versa. About the hiccups like squeaking, mine do it when excited, annoyed or something new happened, maybe she's happy to be out of cage or she likes/dislike something in the room? Someone more experienced will help you with that, I'm sure.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2011 13:15:09 GMT
That's what I thought too.. but when I let her out of that door (she can then go to the windowsill), she just turns around and attacks the door from the outside, even more violently And I do have them out of the cage for a few hours every day. The funny thing is, I can have the big door open so that she can go out that way, but she will still sit and attack that other door. I have uploaded a sound clip now, let me know if it doesn't work
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Post by amie on Oct 12, 2011 16:15:14 GMT
All of my degus gnaw the bars. The only one who can become frantic and aggressive about it, is Stefan (I have nine degus). He's known for his temper tantrums in my house. I have always put this down to his personality. He's easily frustrated and not to be messed with when he's in 'a mood'. Nothing seems to trigger his moods either.
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Post by malteser60 on Oct 12, 2011 17:50:50 GMT
Well, when I let mine out near the cage they would insist on biting the bars from the outside! I put it down to they're being awkward or when they get something into their head they just don't let it go!
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 12, 2011 18:20:27 GMT
I think they are smart enough to know that chewing from the outside might help them get out from the inside at a later point in time, if you see what I mean I would think cardboard will only stop her for a few seconds! You could try wiring a piece of wood over the doorway.
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Post by fred on Oct 12, 2011 18:21:09 GMT
Define normal! These are degus My cage has glass doors so they can't chew bars. Instead they attack the pine boards close to the openings with a vengeance. Mäuschen is a very sweet little goo, but she can go mad when she works through the wood. When she is in this mood, while she doesn't bite, she screams and scratches at her sister and me when we come close. She often continues with this even when the doors are open. With the other responses you have had: yes this seems quite normal for captive degus. What I can't get my head around is how this relates to their behaviour in the wild. There they are heavily pursued by a variety of predators. It seems inconceivable that they could afford this kind of antics. I have no idea what to make of this.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2011 19:45:11 GMT
Thank you all for your answers I suppose that's just the way she is then! I found a large metal plate that fit perfectly in front of the door in question, so I put it in there. She has looked at it a couple of times, but so far she seems content that she cannot get to the door. I'll watch over her for a few days and see whether she gets angry at the bars somewhere else. I just hope that this won't spark any fighting between her and Elune, now that they are going together somewhat well (they're not exactly best friends, but they've only been together for a month or so) Right now Jadzia trying to helping me write this post - I've had them outside in the hallway for an hour while I've been typing on my laptop, and she thinks that walking on the keyboard is an excellent adventure
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Post by nicola27 on Oct 12, 2011 21:13:35 GMT
Oh my God, my Cleo bites the bars, I wouldn't mind but it's SO loud and my living room is quite small and we can't hear the TV properly!!! they have toys, each other, they come out, etc, but she still does it
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madhoose
Foraging Degu
Pumpkin & Pipsqueak...
Posts: 85
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Post by madhoose on Oct 13, 2011 12:23:04 GMT
I'm the same .. only one of mine does it in fact he's only started it recently but he can get quite frantic about it and you really don't want to get in his way.. he started with the bars at the door but has now moved onto the lock itself and puts all his might into gnawing through it.. i was starting to worry there was something wrong but as i see this is quite normal.. thank goodness
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Post by malteser60 on Oct 13, 2011 12:44:37 GMT
What gets me is the guilt trip they put me through when they go mad at biting the bars. I start thinking what a bad degu owner I am not giving them enough time out, or toys, etc. Then they do it from the outside and I think, great guys, just great, this has nothing to do with being bored is it! Grrr....
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madhoose
Foraging Degu
Pumpkin & Pipsqueak...
Posts: 85
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Post by madhoose on Oct 13, 2011 16:17:12 GMT
Ha, that's exactly it Malteser
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mhb
Burrowing Degu
Mystified and Entertained on a daily basis
Posts: 173
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Post by mhb on Oct 20, 2011 15:52:37 GMT
Ours have taken to going for the rivets of the wheel now - they have more space, more toys and come out more often than ever before but still one of them goes at the wheel. It is incredibly loud and irritating, but I guess they just know how to wind people up. lol
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mhb
Burrowing Degu
Mystified and Entertained on a daily basis
Posts: 173
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Post by mhb on Dec 23, 2011 14:50:40 GMT
Just to quickly update on this. Due to a promotion at work I have not been able to construct my blog yet about extending our thickets cage for our girls but I will get round to it before starting next years mission - a much larger wooden home.
Still the point was that our they had started attacking the rivets of our recently purchased John Hopewell wheel in October... last week the wheel started making a horrendous noise. turns out it was dragging on the cage because they had managed to remove all but one of the rivet heads. So I have had to drill out the bracket and drum and trim down stainless steel bolts to put through and secure with washers and nuts. They have now started on these but at least it will take a bit longer to get through those!
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 23, 2011 20:22:38 GMT
GOOD GRIEF!!! LOL! What little monsters!! I can't believe they could do that . . . then again . . . we are talking about degus. LOL! I'm glad you were able to repair it, but it sounds like it was quite the job!
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Post by scoobos on Jan 11, 2012 16:09:17 GMT
In response to the OP, one of my goos does this on the side of his wooden cage and gets angry when other goos get in the way. I've found that I can "fight" him with my fingers , while he does this. If I GENTLY push him away a little with two of my fingers - he starts degu boxing with me ! I quite liked this, until he went too far and bit me really hard the other day, drawing blood (I can't blame him though, but I've learnt that when he starts really going for it I best back off!)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 18:06:35 GMT
Jadzia is still at it, now more than ever since we moved the cage into the living room. However I have found a way to make her stop without risking my fingers - I simply blow on her. She stops immediately and looks annoyed She'll try again, I'll blow at her again, and after a few rounds of this she will give up.. until next time!
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Post by winic1 on Jan 11, 2012 20:08:24 GMT
Gee--wonder if a simple conditioning experiment would work on goos. Every time you blow, ring a bell or beep something, or some simple noise. After a while, if Pavlov was right and degus are conditionable, you should just be able to make the noise and make her stop as if she'd been blown on. Then you wouldn't have to get up to blow on her.
My first cat, I would discipline/train/stop her by using a squirt bottle. Part Siamese, very smart, very obstinate cat. Worked great, could peg her from anywhere in the room without even getting up, minimal water damage. After a while, if she just saw the bottle being picked up, whoosh, she was gone from whatever mischief she was pulling. Moved in with a new roommate who also had a cat, even her cat picked up on the bottle thing very quickly (her cat had brain damage from being hit by a car). One day, both cats were playing at chasing each other, up on top of the kitchen table. Roommate sees, this, can't find water bottle, so she picked up a bottle of maple syrup, held it out and went "ssshhhht sshhhht" like squirting noise, and whoosh, both cats ran off and away. So funny. After a while, my cat only had to see me start turning my head back and forth looking for the bottle and whoosh, she was gone. Worked for all her 19 years.
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Post by malteser60 on Jan 12, 2012 12:18:50 GMT
I've used the blowing technique on degus and it works wonder. It worked for stopping them biting my fingers too hard. Exactly the same as stormsong, I gently blow, they look up a bit annoyed, then carry on again. Repeat this a few times and they get fed up and go somewhere else. Now they don't bite that hard, although it does need reinforcing though as they seem to forget after a while.
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 12, 2012 15:35:06 GMT
I LOVE the maple syrup SSSHTTT SSSHTTT story!!! ROTFL!!! That's just so funny!!!
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