Post by matty on Jan 30, 2011 1:50:23 GMT
I guess I should start from the beginning. Three months ago I got 2 Degus (male and female, Napoleon and Josephine), which quickly had babies around a month of being in my care. Josephine had a litter of 7 babies and everything seemed to be going good. Napoleon was helping out a lot and the babies seemed happy. Recently, about a month after they were born, Napoleon started being overly aggressive towards the babies and so I separated him from the babies and put the two babies who had cuts all over them in the "hospital" cage. 7 days ago I put the babies back in the cage and once again they seemed ok. However, tonight I found a degu screeching and half his tail was devoid of hair and covered in blood. I looked all over the cage to find the source of the damage, but there was no apparent reason for it, be it cage, another degu, a wandering cat or anything else. I am unsure how to help the degu recover and ensure he will be ok. He is not bleeding too badly. I have taken him out of the cage and I put him in the "hospital" cage. I wonder if I am making it worse by removing him or if I am doing the right thing. I am also unsure if he is one of the degus that was injured before.
I have a critternation double cage (Napoleon is on the bottom and Josephine, with the babies on top). I was also wondering if someone could give me some guidance on what to do with the whole brood moving forward. I have considered selling the babies and keeping Napoleon and Josephine. I have also thought about separating the males and females and keeping them in separate areas of the cage. Would the critternation cage be big enough for 4 males/ 5 females in each half. Is there a best way to keep the degus together and ensure a more peaceful environment? I have had degus before, but never in this large of quantity and thus my struggles.
I have a critternation double cage (Napoleon is on the bottom and Josephine, with the babies on top). I was also wondering if someone could give me some guidance on what to do with the whole brood moving forward. I have considered selling the babies and keeping Napoleon and Josephine. I have also thought about separating the males and females and keeping them in separate areas of the cage. Would the critternation cage be big enough for 4 males/ 5 females in each half. Is there a best way to keep the degus together and ensure a more peaceful environment? I have had degus before, but never in this large of quantity and thus my struggles.