The cage my degus are in has wood shelves. And while some of the babies will go in their little "litter box" that I have at the bottom, the adults refuse to do this. So they pee on the shelves, and besides the fact that I have to take out the shelves every few days to scrub them because I get white (mold?) spots, it freaking STINKS! Like you walk into my apartment and you can smell degu pee, even though these degus are on the farthest end of the apartment away from the door.
Now I know to litter train most animals, you can like pick up their feces and put it on the litter box to give them the idea...well its not like I can pick up their pee, and I'm not home 24/7 to do this anyway.
Someone suggested putting tile on the shelves, but then when they pee on them, it'll slide off onto my carpet, which will only create a smellier mess because carpet isn't easy to clean either. And as I don't own this place (I rent), I hardly want to ruin the carpet and not get my deposit back when I move out.
I don't mind vacuuming up poos and stuff, it's the pee that I wish they could keep to one spot.
Any suggestions? I love them to death, but I don't have the time to take out all the shelves and clean them every other day, and I'd hate to get rid of my furballs, but the smell is just killin me....
The white spots are probably just dried pee. It probably isn't mold, but just the dried pee spots. (Yeah, "just pee" - LOL)
On my upstairs with Imana, I use part of an old floor rug. I've cut it to the right size/shape, and keep that up there. It soaks up the pee right away. And since I have 4 of them, whenever 1 gets icky and smelly, I just replace it with a clean one. Then when all 4 are dirty, I just throw them in the washing machine.
I don't know if that would work for you, but it's 1 idea.
I'm sure you could potty train them, but I've never attempted it - it just seems like such a daunting task!
I hope this helps a little, I hope you can find a solution that works good enough for you. I know their pee can be a little rank! _________________
Ok, well I'm glad to hear that the white spots are likely just pee, I was really hoping it wasn't mold, but I've never seen anything like the white spots before..
That's an idea I might have to try with the rug...do you just have it sitting on top of the shelf? Or like attached somehow?
Her's is kinda sorta attached. Depending on how big your shelf is that you want to cover, maybe you could attach it with plastic zip ties or double sided carpet tape?
Her's is on her entire upstairs, not just a shelf, so it fits a little differently. _________________
My boys are so icky. they pee/spray everything inside and outside of their cage.
I gave up and put them in a huge aquarium.
However I am now building a huge metal topper with flat shelving that I can wipe up.
I would not cover the shelving with plastic, the Degus will just chew/eat it and plastic is not good for them.
As for carpet I'm really surprised the Degus don't chew it, I would be to afraid to place carpet in my cage, if ingested it could case a lot of problems. _________________ Save a life, Opt to Adopt!
LOL, well I used to have them in a huge aquarium, but I decided I wanted them to have more room, and bought a big cage and decked it out for them.
Unfortunately, that picture shows how it looked for about 5 minutes after I took out all the shelves, scrubbed them down, and put them back in. Right after that, I think they knew I had cleaned it (lol) and so they went right to work peeing on everything. Oh well. It's still less smell right now than it was...
What do you all think about maybe figuring out a way to cover the shelves in fleece? I have chinchillas too, and the chinchilla community uses fleece for chinchilla products because of the way it breaks down differently than other fabrics....so any thoughts on this?
I think it really depends on the individual Degus. Mine did enjoy shredding the carpet at the very beginning, but once she got used to it, she doesn't pick at it at all.
Yours may totally leave the fleece alone, or may decide to give it a good chew. I think you can try it, and watch them closely to see how it goes.
That's an amazing cage! You'll need a lot of fleece or carpet! LOL Seeing a cage like that always makes me feel so excited, because I imagine what it looks like to a tiny little Degu. They probably feel like they are running free in the Andes Mountains! _________________
I'll have to try the fleece then...I should have plenty laying around from making chinchillas' hammocks...we'll see how that goes...
LOL, thanks. I imagine they do like the cage, also, I just wish they'd keep it a little cleaner. Oh well, hopefully the fleece will do the trick. If not, I might try getting some carpet remnants...
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