Degus love to dig, nest and hide in tunnels.
A popular misconception is that they need trees to climb where as they are largely a ground dwelling creature.
Our girls love rooting around in the wood shavings and kicking it all over the place.
People who have built large custom enclosures for them (like smithomatic) often include deeper areas as digging pits and this is an ambition of mine as they need constant and varied entertainment.
smithomatic used reclaimed terracotta roof ridge tiles to create little eras they can dig, nest, hide and generally root around in and this weekend we ended up near a reclamation yard and on a whim popped in.
After scouring the site we found a suitable sized tile and claimed it for our girls.
We have also been buying them wicker/rope three way tunnels from Pets At Home for the upper level. The problem is that they enjoy the tunnel but can't resist shredding the cardboard inside.
Once this has gone there is a mess of rope all over the cage hindering them moving around and us from performing spot cleans.
At this point Bex pointed out a load of terracotta pipe work including some three way drainage connection and suggested it would be a good permanent solution.
Acquiring both for £10 cash was a bargain as the Pets At Home tunnels are nearly £6 a time and the last one lasted less than a week.
we took them home and soaked them in boiling water before scrubbing them with Pet Safe Disinfectant and then boiling them again.
We placed the roof tile downstairs with the wood shavings and the 3 way pipe upstairs. It was a great hit with the girls as they can climb on it, nest in it, spirit things away from their sisters etc.
Plus for us it has the advantages of being nearly indestructible, money saving and it will help keep their claws down, saving our arms!
Pimento and Serrano enjoying the 3 Way Pipe
Jalapeño exploring the roof tile tunnel.
Check out smithomatic's own Degu blog Degu Chronicles
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