This training follows the same principles as hand training. In fact, it acts as a follow-on from this as you can ask your degu to come to you and then ask them to get onto your hand.
To begin command training, it's worth trying this exercise out first- tap your finger lightly and repeatedly on the floor of the room your degu is in. Most degus will automatically approach this sound/vibration and come to your hand. The behavioural reason for this is not currently known.
Once your degu had approached your tapping finger, stop tapping and give them a reward (a treat). Repeat this tapping and rewarding a few times.
Now that your degu is starting to associate approaching tapping with reward, it's time to introduce the command. Your vocal command should be a short, distinctive word or phrase. You could simply use 'come on', but if you have more than one degu it may be more useful to use their name. This would later enable you to call each degu individually- each degu is capable of learning their own name as long as they don't sound too similar! It's important that once you have chosen your command, you stick to it and do not change its tone throughout training so as not to confuse your degus.
Next you can continue tapping your finger on the floor, but this time couple it with your vocal command, repeating it clearly until your degu has approached. On approach, reward your degu as before. You will need to repeat this exercise several times until your degu has learned the association between vocal command and reward, rather than just tapping.
Now it's time to remove the tapping. Using the vocal command only, call your degu to you. Be patient- this is the hardest part for your degu! If your degu does not approach they probably have not yet learnt the association, so repeat tapping and voice commands. If your degu does approach, reward them as before.
Practice calling your degu to you on a regular basis- this will reinforce your degu's learning and will ensure they don't forget it.
Cage training follows a similar principle. The best and quickest way to train your degus to get into their cage on command is during feeding/mealtimes. Ideally your degus should be fed at set times once or twice per day, as per the advice on the diet section.
Initially, you should let your degus out of their cage before feeding (it's harder to stop them getting out when you open it!). When you are ready for your degus to return home, feed your degus as usual, but as you put their feed in their cage, accompany it with a unique vocal command. This command should be different from others you have used, so that your degus can distinguish it and understand what you are asking them to do later on. We use the command 'breakfast' or 'brekkers' as this is clearly distinguishable, even though it might not be breakfast time!
Your degus will not associate the command with being fed straight away, so put them into the cage to eat straight after using the command.
Repeat this every time you feed your degus. This is possibly the quickest command your degus will learn, as feeding time is greatly anticipated!
Eventually you can give this command before feeding your degus- they will all scamper into the cage ready to eat (whether it's feeding time or not). If it's not actually their feeding time, remember to reward your degus' actions anyway. If you continue to use the command without reward, your degus' learning will be gradually extinguished until they no longer get into the cage on command.