Skip to main content

The Big Degu Cage Build - Part Six

Only 7 more days before my new furbabies move in and there isn't that much of the cage left to build… just time consuming things and a few shelves.

This afternoon we fixed the 13mm x 13mm pet enclosure mesh to the kiln-dried pine wooden frame that was attached yesterday to create a ventilated roof. We used 15mm netting staples.

I also managed to get the 2 internal levels cut ready to be attached after I've sealed the inside against degu pee. I've read mixed reviews about pee protection. Some people leave their MDF or plywood bare and rely on copious amounts of dust-free wood shavings to do the soaking. Others are a little more dubious (and so would I with MDF) and have used vinyl tiles on the bottom and the levels but left the sides bare. A few brave souls have painted and / or varnished everything.

The way I see it is like this. A degu can't chew through a flat surface so as long as you end up with the same flat surface after you've primed and sealed the inside it should be fine. To be extra safe you should use non-toxic paint or varnish with a low VOC. Plasti-kote is great for this but very expensive so I'm looking for an alternative. I've already started to paint the inside white with ordinary water-based emulsion which will be varnished. The white is too brighten the cage on the inside as it is a little dark in there. I will hopefully be adding some LED lights at a later date if possible.

Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get the doors started and more of the paint work done.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Big Degu Cage Build - Part Ten

It's almost 7PM and I'm not finished. At 5:30PM, while hanging the doors, I realized that there were no more screws of the correct size left and the shop would be shut before I got there. So I have only the top doors hung. Before bed I'm going to finish the inside by adding branches, bridges, ramps, ladders and other accessories. Then I'll fill it with wood shavings and hay ready for my new family members. Tomorrow I'll be outside waiting for Wilkinsons to open so I can get some more screws before I go to the pet store and my dad will kindly hang the remaining doors while I'm out. Hopefully they won't have sold out of degus before I get to the pet store.
4 comments
Read more

Degu Home Decor

The girls have settled down a little since I got them on Friday so while they were snoozing earlier this morning I took the opportunity to take some photos of their degu home decor. Bottom Section - Grass Hammock If you've read some of my Cage Build Posts you'll know that the cage is built in 2 parts, a bottom & top section, for easier moveability. The bottom floor of the bottom section is the digging pit. My aim is to make this as natural looking as possible. It is filled with around 15cm of wood shavings and some hay. I've used horse wood shavings as the shavings are large and allows the degus to burrow when mixed with the hay. Underground Hideout They have an underground area which is a hay tunnel sunk down in to the wood shavings. If you can't find one of the girls the first place to look is here because they love playing in it. You can also see a few willow branches. I got a bundle of 20 of these from B&Q for £6.99. They're about 50cm long a
2 comments
Read more

Degu Versus the Wooden Wheels

When I bought wooden exercise wheels for my 3 girls I knew I was taking a gamble. Degus love to chew wood but in the back of my mind I was hoping that they'd realize that wheel destruction meant no running. After all, they are rather intelligent little rodents. Close up of damage After 6 months of little to no interest in chewing the wheels I thought I was on to a winner and had the only non-destructive degus in the world. This afternoon, after a morning out walking I came home to wheel destruction. Degu damage to Wooden Exercise Wheels 4 hours earlier they weren't particularly bad. Just some light gnawing around the edges and on the stands. Now they resemble something that's been, quite literally, blown apart by a grenade. It's like they woke up this morning and thought, "Right, degus. We're going to start chewing these wheels and we're not going to stop until they're gone!" It's a good job I didn't pay full price for the
1 comment
Read more