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mam2H&H
Baby Degu
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 2:19 pm Post subject: why does my 1 degu insist on chewing tha bars? |
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| why oh why does my one degu (the nutty one) insist of spending ages in one particular place in his cage chewing the bars non stop?? I origionally thought it was because their original cage was too small and he was bored but I have made the cage bigger and theres lots of things to play with and chew plus he's been out of the cage and had a fuss AND I have just given him a piece of cuttlefish to gnaw on BUT he's still doing it - is this habit or normal behaviour? |
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amethystbelle
Degu Rock Owner
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Location: Nottinghamshire, UK
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:27 pm Post subject: |
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Its a habit he has got in to over a period of time from the sounds of it mainly probably through boredom in the past and its hard to break the pattern if not stopped immedietely. Its attention seeking, as long as hes not hurting himself i wouldn't worry 
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mam2H&H
Baby Degu
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:48 am Post subject: |
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| kool thats ok then, no hes not hurting himself so I wont worry |
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MaņasMom
Adult Degu
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:28 am Post subject: |
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I broke my Degu of this habit. It can be bad if they get too vigorous in their chewing - they can break a tooth while doing it. Once that happens it can be a struggle to get it straightened out again.
How I broke the habit:
I took little apple branches, and attached them with zip ties to the specific areas of bars she was chewing on. This resulted in her switching areas, and chewing on different bars somewhere else. So I strapped an apple branch over there. I also put a couple of zip ties on other bars for her to spin and move around.
I also had to spend about 2 or 3 days solid correcting her manually. When she would chew on the bars, I told her no, and gave her something approved to chew on. After 2 or 3 days of that, and also working with the apple branches she totally stopped and hasn't chewed a bar since.
I think it does start off out of boredom, but then just becomes a habit. So even when their cage improves, and they get more toys, the habit just sticks.
If you need to break the habit, I hope this helps!
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mam2H&H
Baby Degu
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:28 am Post subject: |
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| hmmm he doesnt appear to be doing it too vigorusly but I certainly dont want him breaking any teeth - the vet will have a nightmare with him trying to sort that out lol!! thanks for the advice - I will try that and see what happens - can I ask what zip ties are though please? |
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amethystbelle
Degu Rock Owner
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Location: Nottinghamshire, UK
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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They are like cable ties we get over here :-)
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mam2H&H
Baby Degu
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| kool thank you thought they might be but thought i'd better check |
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