The Big Degu Cage Build

The Big Degu Cage Build - Part Two

Made a start on the cage yesterday. Attempts at using a jigsaw to cut my 18mm MDF failed so my brother ended up resorting to a handsaw. The cuts were straight enough but the edge ended up off at an angle rather than flat.

We got the base, back, and sides cut for the bottom section and then tried planing and sanding to bring the edges flat. Didn't work out so great. It doesn't matter so much with the edges which will be facing outwards but the ones that butt up on the inside need to be as flat and straight as possible.

This morning it was down to Argos for a circular saw to see if I could get a better cut. A bit of practice on some scraps of chipboard and things were looking good… then the heavens opened. Hailstones, thunder, lightning, and massive raindrops put a stop to plans for the rest of the day.

Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow. Then all I need is to figure out how to cut across a 4 foot MDF sheet with the circular saw?

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The Degus Have Moved In

This morning 3 little degus became the newest members of my family and they're the 3 cutest girls ever! I was up until midnight filling and dressing their cage ready for them to move in and they are loving it. 2 of them still think that there are only 2 floors and not 4, and all 3 have spent most of the day running in their wheel. Just before I settled down to write this they were all in a 'goo pile' on top of their cabin. It's a little dark in the room for a decent photo and I don't want to use the flash so I'll have to wait until there's a little more light to get a photo of them huddled together. They are all still a little flighty and scared of the camera but I managed to get a few decent photos of them. Don't have any names yet as I'm waiting to see what kind of personalities they have. My brother wants to call them Penny, Amy, and Bernadette… The Big Degu Theory! UPDATE — Here's a little video my brother recorded. :)

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