Degu's tail bitten by other degu - how to treat?

[mattandhis3degus]

Hi,

At the end of August I adopted a 4-year-old degu which I called Charlie. I already had a 2-year-old named Humphrey. It took six weeks of keeping them separate in two halves of the same cage but eventually they seemed to be calming down and so I took out the dividing piece of wood in the cage so that they could live together. The special day was Wednesday 19th October. Apart from the occasional brief fight they seemed to be getting on very well and really enjoying each other's company, although sometimes when they were both out of the cage Humphrey would chase Charlie.

A bit over two weeks ago I adopted an 8-week-old which I have called Sammy. At that point I divided the cage again so that Humphrey and Charlie were in the top half together, with Sammy in the bottom half by himself. That way, when I let the other two out, they could go up to the cage and talk to Sammy through the cage doors. However on Sunday I heard a noise when both Humphrey and Charlie were in the cage together and it became obvious that Humphrey had been chasing Charlie, so I took Charlie out and kept him out of the cage for the rest of the day. I then introduced Charlie to Sammy, who seemed to be really keen on each other. However, over the last 24 hours - it feels much longer - they have started harassing each other a bit.

Anyway, just now I had them in the bottom half of the cage together, where they started shoving their butts in each other's faces. At the same time I had Humphrey outside and he jumped up on to the travel case which I put there so that the degus can get more to eye level. As Charlie and Sammy were arguing, Sammy's tail partly came under the cage door and Humphrey bit it, causing a small cut and some blood loss. He doesn't seem too bothered about it but what should I do?

[moletteuk]

Mainly keep an eye on it for a couple of days. You could bathe it in some cooled boiled water with salt added, or give it a good spray with dry antiseptic or any other antiseptic measures you prefer, or none and just keep it dry. Remove the sand and keep the cage extra clean. Watch out for redness, swelling and heat as signs of infection and watch for it bothering Sammy. There is a risk the tail beyond the bite could be affected if the bite was deep and the blood supply or nerves compromised.

If you would like some help and support with the introduction, just make a similar post in the intro area and then the right people will see it. Basically it sounds OK to me long term but right now I think you need to back right up and make arrangements for them all to be separate temporarily. It's OK to let them fight it out (to a degree) when they are an old bonded group and starting fighting, but when they are new to each other it's best to go slowly and softly and try to avoid stress and fighting and give them plenty of space.

[deguconvert]

Hello Matt! I'm afraid you may be in for a bit of difficulty, with all three boys that is, as I think Sammy's tail will heal OK for you. Matt, can I ask, is your cage sufficiently large enough, using our cage size recommendations, for three degus? Do you think that having divided your cage into two again, you may have caused Humphrey and Charlie to feel deprived of their normal space and to have become testy with each other, as well as disturbed by the new fellow down below? Do you have a smaller cage that could be used for the young one to sit beside the larger cage, rather than dividing the larger cage?

[mattandhis3degus]

Hi, sorry for the slow reply. Yes, it's possible that Humphrey and Charlie didn't have enough space, plus perhaps there was noise from Sammy pretending he was spiderman climbing up the bars which further disturbed them. What I've been doing for several days and will continue to do is constantly switch the three of them between the two halves of the main cage and a hamster cage (which I have used to transport my chinchillas when in a car), as well as let them out of their cage for as much as possible, especially if they've just been in the hamster cage. If I need more help I will make a similar post in the fighting/intros section.

As for Sammy, he seems to be doing well.

[ntg]

Okay, I wouldn't switch cages as it can be construed as an invasion of their territory and actually increase aggression.

Introductions can take months, and sometimes they never work out, so it's important that you get a third cage suitable for a degu rather than using a hamster cage. You should be able to pick up a second hand cage fairly cheaply from gumtree or preloved, which can then possibly be used as an extension to the original cage once they're all together.

[Emziedee]

Oh reading this again seems a bit foreboding! Humphrey really had his eye (and teeth) on Sammy's tail!