[Elliriyanna]

So I am always interested in learning more about animals and I was looking at Degu's and was wondering what size cage is best for a pair? And wire or solid cages? I know no plastic.


No I am not getting more pets no space and no more cages.

But I am curious my old rat cage which is 30X18X36 with two full levels and 3 shelves ... would it be good enough?


If its not suitable for anything else I will have to sell it. Not that I am saying HEY I have the cage why not get it ... That would be stupid .... I more want to learn they seem like awesome pets


PLUS the more I learn the more I can help people


Also how are they about personality? It would be so cool to have a pet thats up during the day eventually ... Degu's all day rats all night

 

[Sasami]

As big as possible. They are extremely active animals so you'd want to use the biggest cage you could possibly find. A lot of people end up making their own cages (I didn't, though, as I'm not very handy with that stuff, ha!).

The cage should have solid levels (covering wire levels with something could also work, although it'd need to be sturdy to hold up to degus) to prevent feet and tails from getting caught.

That cage sounds big enough for a pair but do you have a picture? I'm so bad at estimating :lol:. What brand is it?

 

[Elliriyanna]

Its what my rats are currently in and it holds the 4 of them comfortably ...

Here is the whole cage ... Yuki is on the bottom as a size comparison ... And he is a big boy

I would make my own if I could build I mean I know what I need.

 

[Sasami]

That looks fine for a pair of degus although you'd want some kind of cage lining/barrier for the bottom. The base on your cage is pretty shallow and litter/hay/droppings would end up everywhere :lol:. Degus love to dig, ha!

 

[Elliriyanna]

yeah I was thinking a large plastic bin or something for at least 6 inches bedding ... I even have to make a barrier for my hammy girls ...

And I know plastic isnt best but anything I put is gonna be chewed

 

[Sasami]

yeah I was thinking a large plastic bin or something for at least 6 inches bedding ... I even have to make a barrier for my hammy girls ...

And I know plastic isnt best but anything I put is gonna be chewed

It would need to be a different material. Plastic doesn't just get chewed by degus, it gets chewed through. My first pair of degus chewed on plastic but not much so I wasn't too concerned with the base on my original cage. I added a third degu and she promptly chewed a huge hole through the base overnight and escaped. I put her in a carrier (hard plastic) for an hour while I went to the store to find a new cage. In that time she chewed through the carrier and escaped again :lol:.

Since then, about half my degus have been plastic chewers and the other half have been plastic destroyers. Never underestimate the destructive ability of a determined degu . They are nothing like mice, rats, and hamsters in chewing habits.

But you could always use plastic and just have it out of reach. Like place the cage itself in a bin to trap litter that's been kicked out .

 

[Elliriyanna]

Oh I know it gets chewed through thats what I meant Yeah I have heard they are TERRIBLE chewers I just dont know what material to use ... Glass or metal seem to be my only options


In time I will figure it out ... I am in no rush

 

[Retrou]

Yeah , chewing is a big problem for these creatures My degus had a lot of wooden houses and "swings" but all of them were chewed so I had to throw it out... even in this picture you can see only few wooden things that has survived but looks terrible!

This is our old cage. I had to throw it out because damage done by their urine made this cage look so poor... even thought I used to clean it every week (lots of work -.-) .
However this is not main reason why I had to get rid of it. The place I'm living in has been renovated so now there's no place for that cage.

So now I must come up with cage idea that would be suitable for my room and degu I really don't know what to do... They like to pee out of the cage and they also like to chew.. Maybe anyone has furnished aquarium and used it as a cage?

 

[Elliriyanna]

I think I like guinea pigs better and its not worth keeping a cage that is too small. Plus I am very happy with my rat family.

 

[Sasami]

So now I must come up with cage idea that would be suitable for my room and degu I really don't know what to do... They like to pee out of the cage and they also like to chew.. Maybe anyone has furnished aquarium and used it as a cage?

How much space do you have?

Aquariums really aren't appropriate for degus due to poor ventilation. One large enough for degus would also be a pain to move and clean.

 

[Elliriyanna]

What I would do is if its a 40 breeder that would be a good base and build up.

Like this

And use coroplast on each level to keep them from peeing out.