Hey there! I think about getting degus. Do you know anything about recommended group sizes? (I’m thinking about adopting 6 degus) Guys or girls? What about the cage size? Type of cage? Do they need something to burrow? If so, how deep? Etc Thank you!

Hey! The general advice that I’ve seen suggests keeping degus in groups of two – seven. I’ve got six degus, but they’re in two separate groups so the most I have out at any time is four.

I don’t have any experience with female degus so I couldn’t really recommend which sex you should go with. My boys are very friendly, the little guys more so than the big guys. Whichever sex you decide to go with make sure that you know how to sex degus yourself before you get them, even if you’re getting them from someone who seems as though they should know how to sex degus. I think there are a lot of people who just take a quick look and say ‘that’s a penis, this one’s a male’ when males and females all have cones which are easily mistaken for a penis if you don’t know about this. If you’re adopting degus and they’ve been keeping males and females together there is a possibility that the females could be pregnant. Degus are pregnant for three months but only show in the last two weeks and they have litters of 2 – 10 pups.

If you’re adopting six degus I would recommend getting them as an existing group; introducing degus can be tricky and moving to a new home will already be stressful for them.

I’ve recently written a post on what makes a good degu cage and what degus should have in their cage.The first post has a link to how to calculate what size cage you need. Most cages you can buy will be wire cages like those that I have, there are guides around on how to build your own cage, these are usually wooden often with a wire mesh for the front or top to provide ventilation. It’s more likely to be a question of whether you want to buy a cage or build one yourself.

Ideally degus would have something to dig in as they live in burrow in the wild. You’ll need to take account of the space that would be taken up by a tank when deciding what size cage you need/where to place shelves. My guys don’t have anything for digging at the moment; I’m in the process of trying to find a tank that would fit in to the space available. I did get a tank for them to dig in while they were out of the cage for their run, but they’ve always been more interested in running than digging, I imagine they would pay more attention to something in their cage.

You can see a post on handling degus here. When you first get them try to give them the same food they’ve been eating and introduce what you’re intending to feed them gradually over the course of a week.

One last thing to consider is that degus are classed as exotic pets. Do you live near a vet that would treat degus? The first vet I went to said they would see degus but very clearly didn’t know a thing about them and usually only treated dogs and cats.

I could keep talking for pages, so I’ll leave it here. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions or you want any more detail on anything 🙂

Choosing a new cage for the little guys

It’s been nearly two years since we adopted the little guys: Daniel, Jack, Sam and Scott. When we got them we put together a cage for them using two second hand pets at home cage (those things are expensive new and just one wouldn’t be suitable for two degus, nevermind four). So. Two cage with lots of extra levels added, a huge metal wheel and lots of hiding places. It’s worked well enough, but the cage isn’t without it’s issues (such as the door being to one side of the cage which doesn’t provide easy access for cleaning out the cage) and the cages weren’t new to start with so the time has come to buy a new cage for the little guys. The cage the big guys (Thomas and Tobias) came with is the same sort of thing, but the way the shelves are laid out makes it easier to clean and the cage is still in a better condition than the cage of the little guys.

After lots of looking around and not really finding anything I was 100% happy with I narrowed my options down to the following cages:

Keep reading for my thought on these cages.

Ideally I would have looked at all of these cages in person before buying one, however I couldn’t find anywhere that sells them locally. All three of these cage have doors which are such that the front of the cage opens fully for easy access to the cage. They also all have solid floors.

Liberta Cage

The trays are deeper than they look in the photos, I should be able to put in plenty of bedding without worrying about it all being kicked out again
The direction of the bars will make it more difficult for the degus to climb up the cage
Hammocks etc. can only be hung from the top of the cage

Critter Nation Cage

The trays don’t look as deep
The half width shelves look sturdiest on this cage
The wheels on the stand look as though the have brakes
Hammocks can be hung from the middle level of the cage as well as the top

Savic Cage

The cage is solid around the full levels to prevent bedding being kicked out as much, but the actual trays don’t look as deep and it looks as though there is a gap along the side of the tray through which bedding could be lost
It’s possible to hang things from the middle level of the cage
The half width shelves aren’t as wide as those in the other two cages

Please note that I have compared these cages for how I intend to use them with bedding, I’ve seen lots of people with rats who use fleece instead in which case shallower trays might be more suitable.

The cage I settled on is the Liberta cage. The cage arrived flat packed and was fairly straight forward to put together by myself. It takes quite a lot of space to put together.

I have added two full wooden levels and replaced the two metal half width shelves with wooden ones. As the levels are much closer together now I have removed the ramps, otherwise I would have replaced these with solid ramps – whilst the ramps provided shouldn’t cause bumblefoot because they make up only a small part of the cage, I would personally worry that a paw or leg might get caught if a degu decides to push someone else off.

Things I wish I’d known before buying this cage:

In order to get the trays out the doors need to be opened by 180 degrees, something to keep in mind if the cage is going in a narrow space.
The half width shelves rattle and seem as though they would be incredibly noisy with degus running over them.
The way the half width shelves are attached means that they can only be attached on the right hand side of the cage.

The little guys have really taken to their new cage and are enjoying redecorating (chewing all the new shelves).

Sexing degus – hint: that’s not a penis

I’ve heard several people say that they have been mis-sold degus as a same sex pair when they haven’t been. If you’re planning on buying or adopting degus it’s a good idea to know how to sex them yourself or you might end up with more degus than you expected!

There’s a more in depth guide to sexing degus here, this is just intended to be a brief warning to make people aware that it’s not as straight forward as it seems. Both males and females have a cone, the penis is stored internally, so you can’t tell the sex just by glancing briefly. The way to tell whether a degu is a male or female is by whether or not there is a gap between the anus and the cone. If there’s a gap the degu is male, if there isn’t a gap the degu is female – photo under the cut.

source

What should degus have in their cage?

This continues on from my post about what makes a good degu cage.

A degu cage requires:

Solid floors
Two or three full levels
Hiding places
Bed
Wheel

Also required:

Dust/sand bath
Digging

There should be one more hiding places than you have degus so that they can always have somewhere to hide. Having more hiding places will reduce fighting as they will be able to hide when they want to and won’t feel the need to defend their spot.

There are multiple options for their bed: you could go with a wooden bed box, a hammock or a plant pot. Any enclosed space in which they can feel safe would be suitable. Your degus may have a preference, for example when we first got the little guys we gave them a bed box, but since we gave them a hammock they’ve taken to sleeping there in warmer weather. If using anything that can be chewed this will need to be inspected for damage and repaired or replaced as required. The little guys have chewed through the strap of the hammock before, which gave them a shock when the hammock suddenly moved.

The degus should always have access to a wheel. This should be at least 12 inches in diameter as a minimum as anything smaller can cause damage to their spines. Possible materials for the wheel are metal, plastic and wood. The wheel should be solid in order to avoid injury to paws and tails. I wasn’t able to find a solid metal wheel with a large enough diameter so I made a wheel using a cake tin, lazy susan bearing and rivet gun using this guide.

Both of my sets of degus have an upright wheel in their cage, the little guys also have a flying saucer wheel.

In order to clean themselves degus require a sand or dust bath – they should not be washed with water unless there are specific circumstances that require it, such as a bad reaction to a topical medicine. In the rare cases where a degu does need to be washed with water something such as a gentle baby shampoo can be used.

Either sand or dust can be used, my guys started off with sand baths and when later presented with the option to choose between sand and dust the vote for dust was unanimous. As the dust is finer it can work it’s way through the fur to the skin better and perhaps does a slightly better job of cleaning, however it also makes quite a mess, even with an enclosed bath, and so long as they have a sand or dust bath I wouldn’t worry too much about which one they are given.

It is recommended that the sand/dust bath is not left in the cage permanently as the degus will begin to use it as a toilet. The bath could be put in the cage for 20 – 30 minutes a day, or the degus could have access to it when they’re out for a run. Personally I leave the dust bath out so that they can have a bath while they’re out for a run if they want to, which they don’t always. A bath every two – three days would be sufficient, if they bathe too frequently this can cause their skin to dry out.

It is possible to toilet train degus, so a bowl with a little sand could be left in the cage to be used as a toilet.

In the wild degus live in burrows and where possible they should be provided with the opportunity to dig. This is difficult to incorporate in most store bought degus cages, it could be done more easily if you were building your own cage, however this is time consuming and impractical for most people. If there would still be enough running space in the cage you could provide a small tank or plant pot in which the degus could dig, although finding one large enough for the degus to be able to dig in properly might then encounter the issue that it won’t fit through the door of the cage. I’ve tried to provide a tank in which my guys could dig while they were out for their run, however they were always more interested in running around than digging.

Other things my guys have in their cages include hammocks, logs, branches, tubes and tunnels.

What makes a good degu cage?

Degus are incredibly active critters, they love to run, jump and climb and they need a cage that allows them the space to do this. Most cages I have seen as advertised as suitable for degus are not big enough or unsuitable in a number of other ways. The size of the cage will depend on the number of degus.

Degutopia has a simple calculator which gives you a rough idea of how many degus your cage could be suitable for, however this only calculates volume and as degus are very active it is necessary to work out the floor space in the cage, this is referred to as the Cumulative Available Running Area. Pet shops will often sell degus with cages that are too small for them, I know that a large chain in the UK does this.

Ensure that there are levels the full width of the cage (usually two or three) so the degus can’t fall too far. My guys are good at climbing up things but sometimes struggle to get back down; they also occasionally push each other off shelves if they’re trying to protect their food.

One of the most important aspects of your cage will be whether it has a solid floor. If a cage does not have a solid floor there is a high risk of injury as the degu may break a leg if they slip through a gap whilst running, it is also likely that degus will get bumblefoot, a painful foot infection. If you have a cage with wire mesh floors these can be covered with something such as wood, tiles or as a temporary measure, with cardboard.

If the cage is placed somewhere it is going to get a draft then the cage should be raised off the floor to avoid causing the degus illness. Some cages come with a stand, another option would be to place it on a cabinet.

The cage shouldn’t be placed next to a window or directly in the sun. My guys love sunbathing – any time there’s sun on the cage they will be lying there, spread out, enjoying it. However I ensure that there is no point at which the entire cage is in the sun, there will always be somewhere in the shade the degus can go to if they want.

Hi is it ok to give them mint leaves? I never tried giving mine. Should it be fresh or dry?

Hi, yes, it’s fine to give degus mint leaves, it can be fresh or dried. Most of the fresh herbs commonly sold in supermarkets are safe for degus. There’s a lot of information degu safe food on degutopia: http://www.degutopia.co.uk/deguveg.htm#VEGLIST and there are also many degu specific forums around. Degutopia’s list isn’t definitive, but it’s useful as a rough guide. There are people who feed their degus a completely fresh diet, although this can be difficult to do if you don’t have a garden or a lot of time. My guys get a mix of nuggets, seeds and fresh/dried herbs, fresh vegetables and unlimited access to hay.

Favourite herbs for my degus are dill and chives, they don’t like rosemary or tarragon which is tougher even though they’ll eat branches. As I’m sure you know, degus are prone to being fussy and changing their mind about whether or not feel like eating something on any given day.

Tail injury

Scott lost part of his tail at some point before we got him, he’s got a shorter, stubbier tail than usual and the tip isn’t covered with fur. It isn’t usually a problem; we unfortunately had to confiscate his plastic wheel they usually have access to when they’re out for a run (they have huge metal wheels in their cage) because the wheel had ridges and his tail was being rubbed raw as he ran. Apparently he loved that wheel too much to be bothered by it.

Scott’s tail tip sometimes cracks and bleeds a bit because it’s not protected by any fur. The vet suggested that I try some Vaseline on it and assured me that even if he licks it off it’s perfectly safe for him.

After putting Vaseline on Scott’s tail tip daily for the last week it’s no longer cracked and looks much better.

Handling degus

I received an ask about handling degus, I’m still quite new to tumblr and not sure on messaging etiquette and when someone would expect me to reply publicly or privately; I replied privately and then the message disappeared? Once I sent the message I thought that maybe other people would have found it useful and I’d like it if people were to generally ask me questions about degus (whether they have their own or they’re just curious about the little critters).

So, my advice on/experience with handling degus:

Degus in a new home will take some time to get used to you and their new environment. The sort of home did they came from will make a big difference in how long it takes them to trust someone new. The big guys came from a better home than the little guys and it showed in how long it took the little guys to trust me.

If you’re struggling to get your degus out of the cage you could try tube training them – teaching them that going through a tube gets them a reward.

The big guys don’t like hands much and it’s easier to get them to decide to do what I want them to. I’ve trained them that if I click my fingers and they come to me/jump on my shoulders they’ll get a treat; and if I stand by their cage and click my fingers they’ll run in to the cage because they know I’m about to sprinkle their seeds. It’s much easier to get them to decide they want to go away themselves than it is trying to catch them to put them away!

If the degus are getting spooked easily obviously try to avoid any loud or sudden movements; my guys get more spooked while they’re out if someone is standing in their room than if they’re sitting. They don’t get spooked by nearly as many things when they’re in their cage. They also tend to get spooked if someone is looking at them and yawns without covering their mouth.

If you need treats for training degus I would recommend puffed rice, in the UK this is sold as a cereal and is available in the free from section in supermarkets.

The little guys all have different ways in which they like to be picked up, but I would generally recommend scooping them up and not picking them up from above. One likes to be scooped up from the front, another needs to be scooped up from the sides with two hands simultaneously because he’s a wriggly little thing that doesn’t want to be picked up. The big guys don’t like being picked up and it’s better to let them climb on to my arm.

If degus are used to being handled from a young age it will be easier to get them used to being handled by someone new later on.

If anyone has any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.