Degu Jeans/Denim Play Tube (Great for Rodents, Ferrets, Rats etc.)

Recycle and old pair of jeans and make a play tube to simulate a burrow for your critters.  I have two degus and they love their jeans tube.  I used to live with someone who had four ferrets and I know they would also have loved this tube.  For ferrets you may need to make the tube bigger than I show and I'd recommend for ferrets lining the hardware mesh or chicken wire with a crinkley plastic bag - any ferret owner knows they they love the noise it makes when they crinkle a bag!

You will need:
- Hardware mesh / chicken wire
- Metal wire
- Clean old pair of jeans
- Strong needle and thread
- Paper clips, binder clips or mini spring clips

What is a Degu?
If you want to learn more about degus check out my website degucage.com

Step 1: Cut your Jeans

Cut off the legs of your old jeans.  One leg will be the inside lining and the other will be the outer lining.

Degus are prone to a condition called 'bumble foot' so it's important that there's limited exposed mesh to irritate their feet.

Comments

[trailleadr]

Hey a fellow Degu owner!  :)

I love the tube idea, I'm definitely going to try that out today.  Usually I just give my degu paper towel and toilet paper tubes, and she tears them up to build up her nest.  It's funny as soon as the tube goes in she's tearing them.  Like it's her job.   But I bet she'll love a fabric tube to play/hide in. 

Thanks for sharing this 'ible.

[terriann]

Hope she likes it!  I've had mine in their cage for over a week and they *shockingly* haven't chewed it up at all and my two go wild for TP rolls as well.  I'm curious to see how long they will let the denim tube survive :)

[valhallas_end]

Huh.  I wonder if my brother's pet rat would like something like this...we've been trying to figure a good burrow for him.
I wonder if any stores where I live carry degus?  I've never heard of them before this instructable - very cool little critters.

[terriann]

I bet your brother's rats would love it.  When I put the tube into the cage the first thing they did besides pee, aka spray, on it was drag some bedding in to make it more burrow like!