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Post by fb1928 on Dec 3, 2015 23:05:44 GMT
My degu is a female nearly 4 years old, I got her nearly a year ago she does have a degloved tail so therefore has a stump (Like this when I got her). The stump looked absolutely fine and fully healed. About 4 months ago after unexpectedly giving birth to a little to pups she started to nibble and the very end of the stump making it bleed a bit... I washed her tail in salt water regularly and kept an eye on it, it healed fine no infection at all and she was no longer biting it. Last week I noticed she had taken a chunk out of her tail and today I have seen blood on her hammock, she has taken about half a cm off her tail... why is she eating her tail? How can I prevent her doing this? Has anyone experienced this before? Please help I'm really worried about her, and what makes it worse is theres no degu friendly vets near me :/
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Post by bouncy on Dec 3, 2015 23:54:08 GMT
Blimey! I've never come across that before, either with degus or other rodents.
One thing that springs to mind from people I know with limb loss (yes, I realise it's an outside chance) is that the nerves sometimes cause an irritation/tingling that drives you nuts (so I've been told). Best person to consult would be a vet, particularly as it's self harming and there's no aggressive goo to remove.
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 4, 2015 3:26:49 GMT
Sometimes a tail begins to die back, up along the tailbone. I think perhaps you you should have a vet look at it, maybe even take a tissue sample just to see if there is any kind of bacterial infection. It is possible that she will need to have a part of it removed surgically.
Is your girl still living with her pups? Have you identified the males and females? What age are the pups now? Is the father of these pups separated from them?
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Post by uglibug on Dec 4, 2015 7:54:09 GMT
If the tail has degloved badly it could have left a piece of bone causing irritation and it may need a bone or two removed by a vet. Also, what is you set up like? Degus readily get bored and I wonder if this could be a boredom issue. I have had a gerbil that used to chew his own tail out of habit (he came from a poor quality of life and was basically bored to tears) but I haven't come across a goo doing it yet although I assume it is possible.
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 4, 2015 11:38:20 GMT
Are you certain none of her cagemates are nibbling on it, and she is just tidying up afterwards - this happens sometimes.
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Post by fb1928 on Dec 5, 2015 20:55:35 GMT
Thank you all for you comments and help. I have never heard of experienced anything like this before owning degus or even when I have owned other small animals, that's why thought would post on here incase someone has experienced a similar thing. I do remember that when her babies were born when they were a few weeks old they started nibbling on her tail but didn't really think much of it as they never made bite marks or drew blood and she wasn't bothered by it just thought it was an interest to them as it was a stump or a way of attempting grooming or something...do you think this could cause her to bite it?? Have they irritated it or something?
I am going to try and ring around vets on Monday, as even though it doesn't seem yo be bothering her I'm worried it will become infected, there has to be a vet near me that has knowledge on Degus.
As far as I am aware it is her biting her tail as I have caught her doing it a few times and never seen the other girls biting her tail... The only time I have seen them nibble her tail is when they were a few weeks old but they only did this for a few weeks while she was still feeding and never made it bleed like she did when she bites it. That might explain why she started biting it but she hasn't done it for about 3 months so don't know why she has started biting her tail again.
She lives in a large cage with plenty of toys and enrichment along with her girls, so don't think it is due to boredom or loneliness.
She did come from a bad background and was abandoned by her previous owner, not sure if she was cared for right as when we first got her she wouldn't eat and hid and shook when she saw anyone come near the cage.
There was one boy from litter who lives with the Dad and the girls remained with their Mum, she also had two other boys but these were given as a pair to family member who wanted Degus. The girls and boys were separated when they were 6 weeks old. The pups are now 4 months old.
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 5, 2015 22:26:04 GMT
Thank you for all the additional information. It sounds like you have things very well in hand!
Let us know what you learn? Thanks!
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Post by bouncy on Dec 6, 2015 1:40:41 GMT
Fb1928, whereabouts are you? There's a useful thread here of recommended vets that treat goos.
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Post by s_degu_2015 on Dec 6, 2015 21:15:49 GMT
I live in Bracknell, Berkshire. I did have a look at a page on here which had recommended vets but unfortunately none are in my area.
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Post by bouncy on Dec 6, 2015 23:22:58 GMT
It's probably a half hour jaunt, but St. Kitts in Hartley Whitney (on the A30) looks after goos, and do evening and weekend appointments too  |
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Post by fb1928 on Dec 7, 2015 23:39:58 GMT
Ok, thank you. I will look into it, as i dont drive so would have to rely on public transport. |
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