Degu Cage advice please?

[pinkhairedelf]

Hi Guys,

Have been lurking here for a while now and have been looking up information on Degu keeping etc. We quickly figured out the cage P@H reccomended for 3 degus was far from suitable.

My other half has decided to build one similar to the one he saw on octodondegus.weebly.com/ We told P@H this to which they advised us they would refuse to sell us any degu's if they were to be housed in a wooden cage - hmm yet they can keep 8 in a single thickets cage???

Anyhow we are thinking a largish frame, with glass doors etc. The frame will be made from MDF or ply, the complete levels edged with kiln dried pine, and the small ledges made of the pine too.

We were also considering a smaller layer where they can scurry etc. There will also be a tank area where they can dig. Can you guys look at our plan and see if its going to be suitable please? The plan only shows the full layers, there will be branches and ledges etc as well as toys, metal wheels etc etc. We really want to have everything sorted before we buy them so am open to all suggestions.

Also i saw someone recommend self adhesive tiles for the shelf lining - can someone explain what type etc? Also the person at p@h said you cant keep them in 3's - should be 2's or 4's is this true?

Sorry for all the questions!

[fred]

Hi there and welcome to the forum!!

P@H are getting ever more bizarre. Recommending a far too small plastic gerbilarium but refusing to sell into into a large wooden cage?? Am I too cynical or could this be because they don't profit from the wooden one? The only 2 or 4 is absolutely nonsense too. Don't listen to anything they say. We are here to help you with any questions you may have. If you decide to get your degus from P@H, you need to make sure that they are correctly sexed. They are notoriously bad at this. If you go for three, the chances that you'll get a same sex group will be slim.

Your plans for the cage look very good and I'd have only a two comments.
- Personally, I would try to add another 10 cm in height and have four levels. Running is much more important than climbing and you could easily increase their space for this by a third.
- I think you may need vents in the sides to get sufficient circulation

[pinkhairedelf]

Thanks Fred,

Do you mean add 10 cms on top and reduce the others? eg, a 40,20,40 and 30 level?

[malteser60]

Hi pinkhairedelf, I'm very very interested in this thread cause I'm also going follow NightwishRaven's cage building design.

I can't answer any of your questions on the cage design (especially as I have a ton of them as well) however I can answer P@H questions. I completely second what fred said, it is rubbish what they told you. My advice if you go to P@H is to just lie and say you have gotten a second hand cage instead. I had the same issue with them with regards roborovski hamsters where a P@H employee basically said I'll be sending the hamsters to their deaths if I put them together - thing is roborovskis are like degus in that they're social and I definitely did not condemn my hamsters to death. Instead I have two very loving hamsters from different litters that are attached by the hips to each other.

Anyhow, I'm rambling! Yes you can have 3 degus together. Essentially you're aiming for a pair or more, but never a single degu (exceptional circumstances otherwise). Wooden cages are excellent if constructed well, as you saw by NightwishRaven's website.

About the only slightly positive aspect of your encounter with P@H is that they won't sell an animal to less than suitable conditions. Just wish they learnt what suitable conditions are!

EDIT: Also meant to say the stick on tiles you can buy by the box - essentially sticky back lino. You can get these from b@Q (if in the UK).

[fred]

Nov 10, 2011 21:56:30 GMT pinkhairedelf said:

Do you mean add 10 cms on top and reduce the others? eg, a 40,20,40 and 30 level?

Yes, something like this.

[fuzzymum1]

I used b&Q value tiles to line the wooden boxes I made to replace the plastic trays in my cage and they've been great. They've been in the cage since mid april and make cleaning up easy. The goos can't get to the edge of them as they're in the bottom of the box.

[NightwishRaven999]

Hello Pinkhairedelf and welcome to the forum !
Very happy to see you plan on building your degus an enclosure.

You have already found good advice here, about adding another level to the cage and about not listening to Pets At Home. As was mentioned, pet shops will rarely encourage DIY projects, since these do not generate any profit for the shops in question.

Most people tend to go with the flow...and rather than opening up to new things, we prefer to follow everyone else and look upon anything that is different with ignorance and fear.
Most rodent owners have never housed their pets in wooden enclosures, so it is normal to be faced with doubt and discouragement when talking to others of this housing method.

We are glad to see you did not let Pets At Home discourage you from undertaking this project.
One thing that can help the employees open up is to speak to them about your DIY enclosure after it has been tested or used for a long time.

Most of them time, people will be surprised to hear degus have been housed in the same wooden enclosure for a few years.
Photos also help aleviate much of the fear and doubt...

That is why do many of our photos have been included in the cage building website.

Your plan looks good and with a third level, your degus will have an even larger living area.
You will notice a large increase in their level of activity once they are housed in the wooden enclosure. I am also glad to see you have included a digging pit/aquarium in your plan.

Keep us updated on your project and feel free to ask more questions if you have any.
Many of us here have become experienced with DIY housing and others who are looking into these projects will benefit from following your progress.

[pinkhairedelf]

Hi guys,

Thank you so much for your replies. We havent even started look at local rescues etc for Degus at the moment as we want to make sure that we have the cage etc sorted out perfectly for them.

Stage one commenced today and there have already been some modifications. In addition to the digging area there will now be 4 complete levels (3 at 35cm deep and a little tunnel run at 15cm is this big enough?) measuring 100 length x 50 width. This of course doesnt include additional ledges, bridges etc which will be added later on in the building stage.

We have also added a 7cm wide by 100cm (full length) open (mesh covered) vent across the top, as well as the area by the tank being open for more ventilation.

would you still reccomend vents on the other shelves too? or is open top and bottom sufficient?

Sorry for all the questions but we want to get this right!

Thanks again