Rippling of abdomens? Please help!

[melissage]

Hi all,
I have a group of 6 female degus together who have been together for nearly four years. They are rescues and the ones in question are anywhere from 8-10 years old.

A few months ago one of the sisters (around 8 years old) started having a rippling in her abdomen which at the time I thought was a pregnancy and that we had a stray male in there. She suddenly lost a lot of weight and unfortunately passed away.
Now there are 2 of the older degus (1 is about 8 years and the other is probably more like 10) who have this rippling. It looks EXACTLY like a baby moving around but none of them have put on weight and we're pretty sure they're all female. They both seem quite lethargic (although are fine if you pick them up), have lost no weight but keep huddling like they did when the other degu had this problem.
I have an appointment with the vet on Friday as she is on holiday so there was no one else I could take her to that would actually accept the degu.

Has anyone had this before? Any idea what on earth it is?
I am frightened I might lose them both but I suppose it is to be expected at such an old age

Thanks.

[moletteuk]

I can remember first seeing the rippling stomach thing when my girls were young and double, triple, quadruple checking they were all female because it looks so much like babies moving. I have seen it sporadically all their lives and there hasn't been any problem associated with it, I don't know if it might be indigestion or a bit of gas or even just the muscles moving food through their digestive system. Anyway, it isn't necessarily a problem and may just have been a coincidence at the time your other degu was poorly. It could also be that they are huddling because the temperatures have just dropped over the last couple of weeks, my degus have been real drama queens about the drop in temp this week.

I don't remember any threads where the rippling has been mentioned before, let's see if other people have seen it.

[deguconvert]

I have never seen this. I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you. It sounds like muscle spasms of some time, but what and why I have no clue. It sounds painful! I hope your vet is able to recognize it.

[moletteuk]

When I have seen it happening the degu has been completely relaxed and shown no sign of discomfort.

[saggy]

If you're in the UK, I can also confirm that mine also have been lathargic and huddling in the last week due to the drop in the temperature. Molette puts it perfectly when saying they are being drama queens - you'd think I had put them out in the middle of the arctic ocean the way they are acting lol! There not normally so bad but I think it just took them by surprise and maybe haven't prepared themselves on time with some winter fat yet lol!

[Bexi87]

My girls have been in bed pretty much constantly this week, like Saggy I think it's the weather.

Is there anything they could be chewing that they shouldn't be?