Move the degus first, bedding and all
A degu deep-clean starts by transferring the whole group to a secure holding cage with a handful of their own used bedding, a hide, and water. Degus are social, scent-driven animals, and moving them together with familiar-smelling material keeps the group calm and, importantly, keeps them smelling like themselves, which protects group harmony when they return. Never split degus into separate holding spaces during cleaning unless they already live apart. With the main enclosure empty, you can see what months of digging and hoarding have actually done to it, which is usually more than the tidy surface suggested.
Empty everything, including the secrets
Tip out all the substrate from a degu enclosure and dig through it as you go, because degus hoard. Stashes of fresh food, seed, and vegetable pieces get buried in corners and under shelves, where they quietly rot and grow mould that the degus then excavate later. Discard hoarded food without exception, however thrifty it feels, and check inside hollow logs, houses, and tubes for the same reason. Remove wheels, shelves, and gnawing wood for separate scrubbing, and inspect plastic items closely: a degu-chewed base or tunnel with deep grooves that trap grime cannot be cleaned properly and should be replaced with metal, ceramic, or solid wood alternatives.
Scrubbing surfaces that degus will chew
Wash the base, bars, and solid shelves of a degu enclosure with hot water and a little plain washing-up liquid, using diluted white vinegar on urine scale, then rinse every surface thoroughly. Anything left on a surface will be ingested eventually, because degus test the world with their teeth, so scented sprays, phenol disinfectants, and antibacterial residues have no place here. Scrub the wheel's running surface where urine dries in a film, wash bowls and bottles, and clean the spout of the bottle with a small brush. A degu cage is mostly metal and wood precisely because those materials survive both the chewing and the cleaning.
Dry, refill deep, and return the group together
Let every part of the degu enclosure dry fully before rebuilding, since fresh substrate poured onto a damp base mouldering from underneath defeats the whole exercise. Refill substrate deeply enough for real digging and tunnelling, scatter some clean hay through it, and put back a small handful of the saved used bedding in the sleeping area so the enclosure smells like home rather than a showroom. Return the degus together and expect an hour of excited re-excavation, scent-marking, and dust or sand bathing as they reclaim the space. Fresh food goes in only after they are back, so no new hoard starts life buried in damp corners.
Frequency and the checks that ride along
Most degu enclosures need a full deep-clean every two to three weeks, with the toilet corner and hoard-prone spots checked weekly, since degus tend to use one latrine area. Use cage day to weigh each degu in your hands, glance at teeth and coats, and note appetite changes; a degu losing condition, drooling, or leaving food it would normally hoard should see a veterinarian, as dental problems are common in this species. KinsLe Care Teams lets a degu household assign the deep-clean as a recurring shared duty and timestamp its completion, so the rota between partners stays fair and visible.