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10K views 43 replies 11 participants last post by  Amethystbelle 
#1 ·
Hey everyone,
I will be moving to my own house here in a few months and I'm trying to decide if degus are right for me. I have done a lot of research so far and they seem like really cool little animals. But I'm worried because they are so prone to diseases. If I make sure they have a good diet and give them bottled water, do I have a pretty good chance of having healthy, long lived animals, or do most of them end up with diabetes and/or mouth diseases?
What kind of a cage would you recommend? Is it better to have an aquarium or deep base at the bottom to keep everything in, or are they not too messy?
Also, does anyone know where I can find a good breeder listing?
Thanks for your help!
 
#27 ·
just a quick one i keep my babys in an aquarium with a mesh hood that we made so it increases the height a lot, they love it and it means no mess on floor also theres not much chance of them getting bumble foot. i've put lots of toys and branches in for them to climb on. it's fun to watch them. also if you put branches in don't use ones you pick up in the park as they may have mite infestations which could harm your degu. pet shops should sell suitable stuff.
 
#28 ·
I think degus make a great pet for the first time exotic owner as apart from the frugal diet they don't really need any other special care and are easy to look after! Any chinchilla sand would be fine i imagine, i just buy mine pre bagged up from the petshop :) If you are going to put any wood or branches in their cage your best of getting eating apple wood as its one of the few woods that is non toxic to degus and as always it should be from a organic tree that hasn't been treated with chemicals. I have brought degus from petshops in the past and i have never had a problem and i have also got them from a breeder. Both have their downsides the main one being a lack of handling for one but with time and effort even the most shy degu can come round. If there are no breeders near you or any up for adoption then do take a look in pet shops as not all are bad and some do take good care of their animals, the general good signs to look out for are bright eyes with no signs of cataracts, a nice sleek shiny coat and good orange teeth, you also want to make sure they look good in general i.e no fur missing of the body or bristles of the tail and that they look well and not looking depressed etc.... Also ask the pet shop staff about them if they know about them and their diet then they hopefully should be pretty healthy!

I think its good that you are asking questions as it shows your eager to learn about the breed before you go ahead and get one as any pet is a big commitment and your making sure degus are the right one for you :)
 
#29 ·
Would a Martin's rat/chin cage work for these guys, or I was also thinking about the chin condo from Quality Cages?
I'm having a hard time finding something with a deep base and no wire floor. *sigh* Do you guys have any advice? Or maybe I should just have my brother make me one. ;)
 
#30 · (Edited)
Hi Jenn.I have raised Degus but at the time my pairs are split.I have several of their babies still with me.They make great pets at any age.

I just want to let you know these cages are not good for degus or chins.IMO
http://www.cavycages.com/
The holes are too big.I wouldn't suggest anything larger than a 1 x1/2 wire to make a cage if you decide to do your own.
I recently purchased several of these cages.
http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/chinchilla/
I got the The Chinchilla Cubbyhole (R-660)for my degus and the The Chinchilla Cabin (R-670) for my chins.I got the drop in pans.
With the bedding on the floor it gives the degus a good place to sleep where they will be off the wire.It is not good for them to have a wire floor all the time.
 
#31 ·
The cages i have are all very simular to the Martins cages (but mine are made by a British company) and they make great homes for degu's. I have the four storey cages (simular to the chinchilla highrise) which are plenty big enough for two degu's or more but it also gives them plenty of space to be apart aswell. As for the wire floors well in mine they are all removable even the base had a wire floor (which i have taken out so just the metal base now) as for the other wire shelves i have covered them with carpet which they all love and sulk when its out for cleaning ;) I have heard of other people using linoleum and plastic to cover the shelves too which are easy to clean so the problem of wire shelves can be got round quite simply. Some wire flooring doesn't hurt but over exposure to it can cause bumblefoot (i.e if they are living on wire all the time), mine have some wire flooring around their wheels and one of their ramps is wire and they are all fine its just if they are on it 24/7. Goodluck with whatever you decide :)
 
#32 ·
We got our cage from a local guy who builds his own. He made it for sugar gliders, but it works just fine. Just don't get a cage with a plastic bottom. They will chew through it. Ours had a one inch hole half way around the side of our rat's cage, and they were only in it for a weekend (we were waiting for a cage to be ordered for us, but it was a plastic bottom cage, so we bought one the guy had made instead, even though it had a wire bottom. I'm just glad they proved they'd chew out before we spent $90 on the cage).
 
#33 ·
So a Martin's cage isn't going to be a good idea? They are plastic trays. :( Will they give me a metal tray instead?? Any other cage companies that make their cages with metal trays?
Thanks.
 
#35 ·
Do Martins cages have plastic trays? I was sure someone told me they had metal bases either that or i'm losing my mind :lol: !? As long as they can't get to the edges of the plastic you should be fine its only when they can get their teeth onto it you will have problems so if the cage sits inside the tray they shouldn't be able to get at it to chew :)
 
#36 · (Edited)
ditto about if the plastic tray is inside the cage, it should be fine. The cage I had them in that they chewed a hole in had an entirely plastic bottom. They were able to grip where the plastic met the metal bar/cage part. I put a pic of the cage, that I got from petsmart's site. And yes I know this cage is too small for degus. The cage belongs to my rat, Milo. I moved him into a smaller one (that I use to put my animals in while cleaning their cages) for the weekend so that they could stay in his while their cage was being ordered/shipped in. Fortunately, he's a major home body and hasn't even noticed that they started chewing.

This is the type of plastic bottom cage you don't want to use.
 

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#37 ·
Does anyone know where I can find Gertie guinea pig pellets? Does Petsmart have it?
 
#39 ·
If you have a Petsmart near you im sure they'll have some or they'd be able too order you some in as Amethystbelle said over here in the UK you can get them in most good pet shops and stores.
 
#40 ·
Thanks guys, I did end up finding it at Petsmart, they just had it under a different name. Though through the window on the bag, it doesn't look like pellets??
Would it be bad to just feed Gerty instead of mixing with degu pellets? I can't find any sugar free chin pellets.
~Jenn
 
#41 ·
I bought a wire cage and just lined the bottom with thick thick cardboard.....(my b/f works in a printing shop and gets these boards frequently). It prevents bumblefoot and they also chew the corners to bits keeping them busy. I moved mine from a tall 3 level wire cage to a long hutch and I must say that they have become more happier and friendlier in this hutch. I'm not completely sure why, I guess mine just love to run and scamper more than climb, although they still scale the side of the cage when it's treat time. To prevent the bedding being thrown everwhere we put up 2x6 wood boards surrounding the edges, it's good for chewing and keeps the mess in, also they have a little ledge to walk on too.

My b/f also put together what we call a jungle gym and put it inside....it's wood stacked together in all sorts of ways for them to run on and hide in. My degus chew everything so I don't have many toys for them. Boost's favorite pasttime is trying to take off the wheel that I have hanging off 's' hooks on the side of the cage - a good space saving idea. You wouldn't believe the amount of power these guys store in their muscles till you see her pulling on the wheel!

When I got them I fed them a mix of rabbit and chinchilla food and now for a change of pace given them guinea and chin food. They really don't like the guinea food very much though so I think I'm going to go back to rabbit, unless I can find degu food here (very rare).

It's great to see you doing all this research. We did the same and I bought a small book too that helped me decide if they were really for us. And we are always happy to help you out with any questions you have.
 
#42 ·
I wouldn't ever recommend feeding your degu's rabbit food as rabbit food often contains a compound called Coccidistat that is extremely harmful to degu's and its not always listed on the label so you could be feeding it them without knowing so its always better not to feed rabbit food. Guinea pig food and pellets and a few chinchilla pellets are a lot better for degu's and a much safer and healthier diet than rabbit food :)
 
#44 ·
XTRAWLD said:
Really? I remember someone specifying rabbit food to me, I had no idea.
It's true scientific research has been done into it and most people advise against it and also rabbit food tends to contain more sugar than guinea pig food which is also bad for degu's :)
 
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