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Choosing Bedding for Your Degu
You may put as much research into selecting the bedding for your Degu's cage, as you put into selecting the cage and the Degu. Bedding is very important, and not just any type of bedding will do for Degus. The first step is selecting bedding for your Degus cage is to realize how the bedding will be used.
Bedding will be used for burrowing, tunneling, eating, and sleeping. It may be used as a toilet as well. Bedding will be used for building nests. It is definitely used in wire cages that do not have solid bottoms, in an attempt to protect the Degus feet. When you combine all of these uses, you will see that bedding is indeed important.
Cedar wood, pine wood, and sawdust should all be avoided when you select bedding for your Degu cage. Cedar and pine have a tendency to cause respiratory problems. You should also note that many other woods are toxic to Degus. If you use wood shavings, choose Aspen, hazelnut wood, or hawthorn wood shavings.
Your bedding shouldn't be too dusty. The bedding should be absorbent, and it should be in big enough pieces that it doesn't fall through the bottom of a wire cage. Pellet type bedding should not be used, and cat litter should be avoided.
An ideal situation is to layer the bottom of the cage with sheets of newspaper. Following this, put in a layer of wood shavings, and top that off with a mixture of grass clippings and hay, ensuring that the grass clippings and hay do not come from lawns that have been chemically treated.
Strips of cloth, paper towels, newspaper, and small sticks should also be included in the bedding. Your Degus will enjoy searching these things out, and carrying them away to add to their nests. This gives your Degus something vital to do, as digging and finding treasures is as important to them as building their nests.
Some Degu owners have very complex setups. They may have one area of the cage covered with grass, one area covered with newspaper, another area covered with hay, yet another area with nothing but wood, and still another area with sand. This can become very time consuming – and expensive. If you want to provide numerous bedding materials, simply layer those items. Your Degus will dig to find what they want, and it's good for them.
Overall, the most important thing is not to use bedding materials that are toxic for your Degus. It is also important to realize that they will most likely chew, and possibly ingest, any bedding material that you use. Of course, you must also consider your budget, since bedding must be replaced with fresh bedding at least once a week.
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