hey all, picked up 2 degu's today so thought id sign up and say hello. bought 2 boy's which weve named sam and max. brought them home this morning and since then theyve been an absolute blast.

im amazed how quickly theyve settled in. took them an hour or so to scout out their new home and figure everything out, dont think theyd ever used a wheel before cause it was like bambi on ice for a while watching them figure out how to use it. now though they wont get off the thing, both of them have been on it at times its hilarious watching them trying to run in tandem.

im pretty sure we have all the bases covered but jus wanted to ask a few questions to clear some things up:

1)the pet shop we bought them from didnt have any little wooden houses for them to sleep in but they had a used 1 out the back which they gave us for free. ive filled it up with straw but theyve been to sleep a couple of times now and have snuggled up outside the house. is this because the house has the scent of other rodents on it? if so what is the best household stuff to clean it with?

2)i know they like to chew everything plastic but is it ok to use it in their cage? i was thinking about using some small diameter plastic drainpipes that they could tunnel through but dont know if them chewing the plastic is bad for their health?

3) with the little bath they have with chinchilla dust should i take that out after theyve used it? ive read i should but ive seen them use it plenty of times today so wasnt sure if id be better off just leaving it in.

i think thats it for now, gonna make their cage a more fun place to be over the next few days just need to pick up some supplies and i can get started. heres a few pics of them:

Hi. Congrats on your new degus their amazing fun.

Don't use any household cleaning products to clean with. You need animal safe disinfectant which can be bought from most pet shops.
As for the plastic, i wouldn't use it personally. Degus can ingest some shards of broken plastic which could become lodged in their stomachs, intestines etc.
Hammocks are always good to have in the cage.

What we do is go to our local wood, collect logs and branches, clean them and disinfect them, make sure they're bone dry then give them to our degus. They're great for their teeth and it's something new in their cage, and it's cheap

__________________

hi and welcome oh they are so lovely i wanted to get some few years back but couldnt find them then so we got gerbils instead, they were so much fun

__________________
Stryder the Utonagan


www.carolscaninecare.co.uk

http://www.nuadalseurope.co.uk/

Hi Congratulations they are lovely i have 9 Degu boy"s and have been keeping them for quite a while now i think you"ll find a hammock is sufficient enough they love them ! dont bother with wooden house"s i think there a waste of money, there"s a cool disinfectant called Johnson"s Clean 'n' safe, i have porcelain sand baths which are in the cage all the time, which i clean out every other day and as for plastic it"s a no no ! always have wood, good luck with them they are so much fun ! if you want to ask anything just fire away !!

__________________

thanks for the info guys/girls. ive taken there wooden house out and tried them with the small cardboard box they were brought home in but they still continue to sleep outside, seem more than happy curled up together in the hay!

havent bothered putting any plastic in, instead bought some untreated pine from the local DIY shop to make them little ledges to jump on and scout around, also bought a bicycle speedo to hook up to the wheel so i can see how many miles they do in a day. will post some pics up when its delivered and fitted.

can anyone tell me if its possible to get them on the same sorta sleeping pattern as us. we live in a student house so they stay in my our room which is where we sleep. had me up sunday morning at 5am and today at 7am, they seem to like squeaking alot when they wake up aswell a bit like an alarm clock lol. im hoping i wont be waken up till 8am tomorow but i guess well have to see

Yes it is possible our's are all in the bedroom with us, we normally go to bed at 9.30pm watch telly till 10.30 and they go to bed at about 10.00 every night and we don"t hear a peep till about 5.30 in the morning! try it and see, they are active all day good luck x

__________________