question about housing males and females. - Paw Talk

pixidance · #1 11-05-2007, 03:16 PM

I'm seriously considering buying this cage for my goos.

I have 4 females and 2 males. The site says that the two level one has a locking ramp meant for separating animals and for convenient cleaning. If I housed the girls on top and the boys on the bottom, would this cause a problem?

It looks like the ramp has a grid on it, which could easily be covered with something.

I really like the idea of having one tall cage for everyone as opposed to the 3 foot wide one I have and the 20 gallon tank with a giant topper. I no longer have floor space in my living room.

**Sasami** · #2 11-05-2007, 05:03 PM

That's a really neat idea but I would think that the males might fight? Since they'd smell the girls?

I don't know since I've only kept females but I've read of that happening.

pixidance · #3 11-05-2007, 06:04 PM

the boy's and girl's cages are right next to each other now, like within 6 inches. They don't seem to fight over the girls. On occasion they'll go to that side of the cage and start chirping at the girls and stomping their feet, though.

MañasMom · #4 11-05-2007, 10:38 PM

That's an awesome cage. I wouldn't imagine it would be a problem, if they're all close now and don't fight. As long as it doesn't rain pee on the girls' heads. LOL

They have some super nice cages there. I think I'll browse the site and see if I get any ideas!

Amethystbelle · #5 11-06-2007, 12:48 PM

Its a great idea however i do tend to agree with Sasami as male degus are known to fight in the prescense of females as females come into season when there are males around. I've known people have to keep their goo's in seperate rooms due to this, however every case can be different. How old are your boys?

The other thing i would look into is the width between the bars as with ferret cages it tends to be wider then in a chinchilla/rat cage so a degu may be able to escape

pixidance · #6 11-06-2007, 01:07 PM

The wires are 1 x 5. When the ramp is up, there is only a 2 inch square of exposed bar, which could easily be covered by something else.

The boys are about 2ish now, it's hard to say, since the gal I got them from found them in a box when they were small. She'd had them a little over a year and she said they were the oldest in the box(meaning biggest).

I've had them since July quite close to the girl's cage and they get along very well (I'm assuming since they were all raised together).

leplake · #7 11-06-2007, 06:37 PM

If fighting males and things like that are not a problem I think the only thing I'd worry about is how it closes off. I for one have found out how mastermind ish degus can be in terms of opening doors that are supposed to be closed... If they were to figure out how to open it back up,(Which I wouldn't put it past them) you could end up with unintentional pregnancies.