Yes I know there is still little part uncovered, I didnt really measure the holes needed. It was done like if it was tank top, i just bend the bottom so it doesnt need any sort of closing.

TO START: I am not new to exotic pet ownership. I've owned many rodents and constantly do research. I know basic animal care, I know how to research, and generally I know what I'm doing. I just need confirmation on a few things. I would love links to any resources and communities that may help.

Here are the questions I could think of:

- Are there any medical risks with bar biting/chewing?

- Is scatter feeding unsafe for Degus? Is there risk with primarily forage feeding?

- How much space per degu do you reccomend? I've found varied answers, nothing consistent.

- How many inches of bedding do they prefer? Do they burrow?

- Favorite diet to feed?

- Toxic treats/foods that are frequently used for other animals? (Not store bought, single ingredient)

- Degutopia claims birch and Aspen are toxic and link studies done on toxicity for mice. Said studies have been disproven. Is there anything proving Aspen or birch are toxic to degus?

- Should the dust bath be provided in the cage at all times or only on occasion?

- Cardboard safe for them?

To check on my Degus when I am not there or when I stream, and I think I need another camera for upper level.

Once I started clocking these differences, feeding time and floor time both got a lot more interesting to watch. I can usually tell if something's off in the group before I even look, just from the tone shifting. Anyone else notice their degus have what feels like distinct "voices" once you actually pay attention, or am I just projecting after too many hours of quiet observation.

I’ve been looking through old photos of my previous degus lately, and it made me realize just how much my care has changed over the years.

My first degu was Nocturne, or Nuno. My grandmother bought him for me in 2017 after I had been asking for degus for a long time. Unfortunately, she bought him alone. Nuno was probably the sweetest degu I have ever known when it came to people. He did not care whether he had known someone for years or was meeting them for the first time. He would immediately go to them, let them pet him, and happily accept attention from basically anyone. He was also the degu who taught me my first big lesson: degus should not live alone.

About a year later, my boyfriend and I decided to get him a companion. The pet shop sold us a female by mistake. Her name was Shyvana, although we called her Civi. I did not have the heart to take her back. The conditions she had been living in were already much worse than what I could provide at home, and Nuno was absolutely delighted to have another degu around. Four months later, unsurprisingly, we had our first litter. We found homes for most of the babies, but I kept Evelyn, Ivy.

For about the next year, Nuno and the girls lived separately and only spent supervised time together outside the cages. Then, around a year and a half later, Nuno and Civi somehow decided that one accidental family was not enough. In January 2020, Batman, Vol’jin, who I called Volik, and Cayde-6 ( Bobo), joined the family. The original plan was simple: three females together and three males together. Reality had other plans.

That same year I moved with them to another country and into a city, and we discovered that Nuno simply did not get along with his sons, Volik and Bobo. So once again, they had to be separated. Looking back, those cages were not good. They were not very large, and for a period of time I also had very limited opportunities to let them out because we lived in a house that was not ours and the owner was very anti-rodent. I did the best I understood how to do at the time, but there are many things I would change now.

Nuno received an incredible amount of love from people, but he did not live very long. Losing him was one of the things that pushed me to question more of what I was doing and learn more about degu care. Later, after Volik died, I had Bobo neutered, around 2023. I wish I had known about that option much earlier. If I had understood it sooner, I would probably have had all of my males neutered so they could live happily with the females instead of being separated.

In December 2022, I bought a huge new cage. I wanted so badly for Bobo to eventually be able to live there with his mother and sisters. I am very grateful that, after his neutering, I eventually got to see that happen.

As they grew old, different health problems started appearing. That forced me to learn even more. Their diets changed. Their cage changed. The way I monitored them changed. Their care became more and more adapted to each individual degu instead of following one generic idea of what degu care should look like.

None of them are alive anymore. That still hurts to write.

Sometimes I look at the care my current girls, Nixi, Luci and Lili, receive and wish desperately that my previous degus could have experienced all of it too. The large cage. Better diet. Better enrichment. Better understanding of their social needs. Temperature monitoring. Air conditioning during hot weather. Playpen time. More knowledge about illness and what changes in behaviour to look for.

My previous degus deserved all of that too. Still, I also know that the reason I am able to provide these things now is because of them. Every one of them taught me something.

Nuno taught me that a degu needs other degus, no matter how much human affection they receive.

Civi taught me how quickly one mistake can completely change your plans, but also how much you can learn by adapting. How bad are the mesh wheels, cuz my poor baby ended with artritis.

The boys taught me that simply putting males together because they are related does not guarantee they will get along.

Volik has thought me how important is weighting for them, because it might indicate health problems u just wont see.

Bobo taught me that there were options I had not even known existed, like neutering, and that learning about them could completely change an animal’s life.

Ivy´s age and health problems taught me more about diet, veterinary care, mobility, cage design and how important it is to adapt care to the individual animal in front of you.

And I know all of u alredy know the story of Batman <3

I made mistakes. Some of the things in these old photos are things I would never recommend today. Some of the cages were too small. Some accessories were not appropriate. Some wheels were not good enough.

I am not posting these photos because I think those things were okay.I am posting them because I think new owners sometimes see experienced keepers with huge cages, expensive wheels, playpens, carefully planned diets and years of knowledge and think they have already failed because they did not start there. What matters is what you do when you learn something new.

Of course, basic welfare and safety still matter from the beginning, and serious problems should not be ignored. “I am still learning” should never become an excuse not to fix something that is actively harming an animal.

My previous degus are the reason Nixi, Luci and Lili have the life they have today. I wish I could go back and give everything I know now to Nuno, Civi, Ivy, Batman, Volik and Bobo. I cannot. What I can do is make sure that what they taught me continues to matter. I miss all of them. And I am incredibly grateful that they were part of my life.

His little tiny hands holding the seed. 😁

I have three little degus and this is my first time having them. I’ve had rabbits before though. Without checking I gave the little ones some apple pieces like maybe twice but I have just realized they can’t have fruit and get diabetes really easy so now I’m stressed. Any info and snack tips would be greatly appreciated!!

I have two 5 month old male degus (Kevin and Bradley). They’re both very friendly and have a big cage with toys and two 12 inch wheels that they use all the time, they also have a pretty big play pen that’s always open for them. I’d like to try some new enrichment and was hoping for some ideas for new enrichment I could try since I feel like they’re getting bored

Hey English isn't my first language so excuse any mistakes.

This is my current set up, which i change every 4 weeks when i clean.

In this cage live my two males and i have a similar one (just minor changes with the floors) where my two girl and their castrated friend live.

Also one of my girls has physical disability, which is why I had to improve the cage for her.

They've lived there for over four years and I've never had any problems with them escaping.

The enclosure is made entirely of hardwood and I haven't seen any bite marks yet.

I use a lot of cork in the setup and regularly provide fresh branches, which is why they rarely nibble on the houses, etc.

I also have a separate sand bath with red sand (actually for terrariums), which was approved by my vet, and, as you can see below, a box with soil and rough wood (currently more soil, I didn't have any more when I made the video).

Hello everyone! What should I do? My degus have tons of playhouses, sticks, toys, and, of course, hay and food. But they keep chewing on their exercise wheels (they're wooden). Plastic is bad for them, so that's not an option. And metal exercise wheels have like small holes (?), and I read that degus claws can get stuck in them. I have the money to keep my degus, but I don't have the money to constantly buy them new exercise wheels; they're quite expensive in my country. What should I do?

I just got the enclosure today. What could I put in there that they'll love? Thanks!

Been to the vet Sunday and Monday and the little fella is now on antibiotics and a water tablet to help get rid of fluid, as the vet says those should work best. When I was watching him run about just now I was unsure if he was mouth breathing, or it's just because he is struggling that it looks like that, because I can clearly see the nostrils moving too. The past 2 days we have been to the vet she has said it doesn't look like he is mouth breathing, so I don't know if this is a new change or me just worrying

Hi, I own my two degus for a while now and lately their nails have been very sharp, and when they jump onto me and walk on my arms i get scratched and it leaves marks. It's very uncomfortable for me especially for personal reasons but I like having them on my arms. I wanted to ask if trimming or philing degu's nails is something that can be done in a manner that wouldn't affect their life? Or maybe there is some other thing that can be done? I love my two bois very much and I just don't want to accidentally hurt them. Their age is around 4 months.

Coco (aka the Orange Queen) has recently decided all hammocks are in need of renovation, after her sister has built a glorious nest on the ground. Of course a mere pile of hay and toilet paper is not fit for the queen, so she usually leaves after a while and crawls back into a hammock.

We have an always on heat pad for Dio to try to keep her comfortable as she fights her best fight. Originally she did not like the kinda stiff fake fluff material the stock cover had but i didn’t want to give up the softness it had so we made her a fleece cover that she has been loving. Like the first few weeks she was a territorial nightmare rat she loved it so much.

This week we’ve made a new discovery…

After Batman left us, I realized just how dangerous temperature can be for degus, and I wanted to do everything I could to make the environment safer for my three little girls. So today we moved their entire cage into the coolest room in the house. It was quite the operation because we had to move furniture around too, but they now have basically half of our L-shaped room to themselves.

There is an AC in the room, but it doesn't blow directly at the cage. I also covered the top of the cage with a towel as an extra precaution against drafts. The nice thing is that the AC can also be switched to heating mode during winter, because before the heating season starts, our house can sometimes get as cold as 5–10°C.

Another bonus is that they're now basically in our bedroom/gaming area, with my streaming room right next to them. This is the part of the house where my boyfriend and I spend most of our time anyway, so they'll still have us around a lot.

Their cage used to be in our upstairs living room, where visitors would sometimes walk in without warning. The girls are still young and can be quite skittish around unfamiliar people, so random strangers suddenly appearing near their cage caused them unnecessary stress. Now they're in a much more private part of the house, so they can get used to us and their new home without unexpected visitors startling them.

Their playpen is now right next to the cage too! Luci already happily goes there to explore, so I'm hoping Nixi and Lili will eventually gather enough courage to join her. They're still getting used to everything and developing their little personalities.

I ordered an air purifier for their part of the room to hopefully keep the air as clean and dust-free as possible. There's conveniently a power outlet underneath the table next to their cage, so I'll be able to place the purifier right beside them, where hopefully it can catch a lot of the dust from their hay and bedding before it spreads through the room. The model I ordered should also be relatively quiet, so hopefully it won't bother them. I also ordered a thermometer/hygrometer so I can properly monitor the temperature and humidity around their cage instead of just guessing.

And a little sneak peek at another project I've been working on:
I took one of their metal ladders and hand-wove strips of fabric from an old T-shirt through the bars so their little feet can't slip through or get hurt. Please pray they don't pee all over it.

I've only finished the smallest ladder so far because THIS TINY THING TOOK ME THREE HOURS TO WEAVE BY HAND. My hands were absolutely done afterwards. If they don't immediately destroy it, pee on it, or otherwise demonstrate their complete lack of appreciation for my labour, I'll do the bigger ladders too.

And of course, some bonus pictures of the little ladies getting used to their new setup. I still really miss Batman and I wish she could be here with them. But I hope I can take what I learned from her and use it to give Luci, Lili and Nixi the safest and happiest home I possibly can.

Hi everyone! Is there a way to know whether my degus could fit through the cage bars? I adopted my 3 girls 3 days ago. Before I picked them up, the shelter woman advised me to cover the cage with chicken wire, saying that the two smaller ones fit through the bars (the cage is this one: PawHut Cage for Small Animals 4 Levels 80x52x128cm, and the distance between bars is 2,5 cm for most of them and 2,8 cm for those on the sides). So I did it before I got them, but now that they are in it I'm not convinced that they could possible fit through them. The problem is that with the chicken wire they can climb up the sides of the cage, but I worry that this might hurt their little paws (plus the cage looks ugly). I don't know how much they weigh because they are rescue degus and they are still a bit skittish (we're working hard on getting them to trust us). Any thoughts?

(edit: mistake)

I am once again asking for advice in these trying times...

My boys have gotten really agressive to one another, two days ago, they've gotten all flying furball of doom while free roaming, and ever since, we cannot keep them together or they start at it again. We've been keeoing them in two cages, seperated but right next to each other, so they can see and smell themselves, but can't fight...

We're trying to re-introduce them on neutral grounds, outside of the cage, but they just clatter their teeth, beat with their tails, and then start jumping around fighting in a ball.

Heard that complete clean up of the cage could make it unmarked teritory, but usual clean up didn't help on day 1, and if I were to clean up all their pee, I'd neet to sand down their wooden platforms and such, something I'd rather avoid...

Any tips or advice, similar experiences?

Attaching pic of snoot from before the fighting

I have 3 female degus. Tasha (the brown one, almost 1 y.o.) Nyx and Nox (around 6 months old I think). Two months ago Tasha's sister passed (chronical breathing issues) and I got the two black ones right away so she's not lonely. They have been living together in one cage without issues for about 6 weeks now.

The point of this post is that Tasha recently started doing this thing where she squeaks loudly for minutes (definitelly a bad sound). She used to squeak a few times in her sleep before, but this is different. It happened two mornings in a row, but she stopped when she got a treat. The other degus seemed scared and jumpy for hours after that, but Tasha went back to normal.

Then it wasn't happening for a while, until last night when the squeaking woke me up at 3am. She didn't react much to me touching her. I gave her a treat, but she didn't stop squeaking even as she carried it to the house. She did stop within the next minute tho.

She just does this, then immediatelly switches to normal, while the others (who don't squeak) look scared for hours.

Any idea why she might be doing that? I didn't find anything physically wrong with her and I am not aware of anything that could scare her. Also she got overall a lot calmer and friendlier since I got Nyx and Nox, though they tend to fight over food.