lucy
Warbling Degu
Posts: 29 
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Post by lucy on Jul 3, 2017 19:28:10 GMT
Hi everyone, me seeking help again as you proved to be total experts here, Thank you! Yesterday we found a little bald patch on Pear's nose. We could see a little dried blood. Today she has fresh blood there so I wonder if it could be anything else than a dispute over food (since they have SAB seeds, they started fighting a little over who is going to eat first, but we've never seen anything serious).  Except that, Pear seems okay, eating, running as usual. Also about two weeks ago, we noticed that she is giving special attention to her intimate parts and found she is sort of sticky down there. Took her to vets, vet took samples and told us it's just urine (also Pear peed on her). We got a shampoo that is supposed to clean her parts and also would clean fungus if there was any (but from the samples there shouldn't). We are supposed to clean her once a week, wet the parts, put the shampoo, clean it of. We did that yesterday (after the patch apeared, so it is not result of that) and it was horror. I am scratched from neck to hands. And Pear gor really wet belly, so I spent evening drying her. And she peed on me... I don't know if that could be related. Probably not but I am getting anxious, so I tought I'll mention that as well. Sorry for long post. And thank you for any thoughts! |
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Post by savvy on Jul 3, 2017 20:00:42 GMT
That does look the typical area for a bite or scratch. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get hot to the touch which would indicate an infection. Although it could also be from an injury she's picked up around the cage somewhere. They run so fast its easy to bump into things when jumping etc.
The peeing on is a dominance thing, so they could be trying to figure out whose the top goo. It will settle, but you have to let them sort it out, but be aware of them going into FBOD fighting when you would need to separate them immediately!
Degus do hate getting wet and the smell of the shampoo would be alien to her so I'm not surprised that she lashed out. Probably best to clean the area with a cotton bud dipped in cooled salt water rather than shampoo. That way you won't have to get the area too wet.
Don't be scared of asking too many questions, there are no silly ones and we'll help all we can.
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Post by ntg on Jul 3, 2017 20:09:08 GMT
It might help to calm the squabbling if you have a bowl for each degu and keep them at least 20-30cm apart/separated by a solid barrier at the very least.
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Post by winic1 on Jul 3, 2017 20:22:12 GMT
I prepare three little seed bowls outside the cage, then slap them inside as fast as possible one two three each on a different level, so that the guys each go for a separate one. If two goos go for the same bowl, serious fighting occurs. We also keep a water squirt bottle nearby, so if two are insisting on fighting over one bowl, I can squirt to separate them, then start tapping like crazy next to the unoccupied bowl to draw one of them to it and leave the other alone.
Putting one bowl of seeds down in front of two or more degus is like putting one small bowl heaped with chocolate in front of a dozen hungry teenagers. Bloodshed is bound to happen.
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lucy
Warbling Degu
Posts: 29
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Post by lucy on Jul 3, 2017 20:36:13 GMT
Thank you everyone, they definitely are in the figuring out who's the boss phase (but quite peaceful one), I just didn't know that they can get themselves this kind of dirty because of peeing a lot. I suppose licking her parts it result of her wee-sticked fur. Which is what the vet propposed as the most likely scenario, I just didn't believe it  salted water sounds much better, it was real stress for both of us to wash out the shampoo. I'll keep an eye on her scratch, thank you. And will get more bowls! I wanted to do that but then we read somwhere, that it's stepping in the group hierarchy (the alpha eats first, which is not our case anyway, because who gets to the bowl first eats first...). I feel so much better  I know I tend to get unhealthy kind of anxious about them (or our dog, my family and just about anyone ) and except degloved tail we never had any injury at all. |
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Post by bouncy on Jul 3, 2017 22:33:04 GMT
Similar to Savycat, I'd be reluctant to use anything more than water to clean up a goo, but you'll most likely find they'll sort themselves out. An encounter with Spidey left Squidgy covered in blood, and he wasn't impressed by my cleaning efforts. Two hours later, he cleaned himself up from top to tail. As for the nose, I'd just make sure it stays clean. If you're worried about infection, use a cotton bud dipped in salt water |
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Post by moletteuk on Jul 4, 2017 9:30:21 GMT
I'm a bit concerned about the wet undercarriage. I suppose if she is weeing on her friend while she is mounting her then she could get in a bit of mess and that could possibly explain it, but urine tends to cause skin burn rather than leaving a sticky mess, as far as I know. I'm concerned that she might be sore if she is fussing and that it could be a vaginal discharge that could be something like an infection. Or maybe there could be a urine infection. Or some mineral sludge in the urine. Is there any chance of seeing another vet? Have you been able to have a good look yourself? The urethra is the hole nearest the front, the anus is the one at the back and the vagina is a little slot between the two that is normally sealed shut and difficult to see.
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lucy
Warbling Degu
Posts: 29
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Post by lucy on Jul 4, 2017 10:55:35 GMT
I'm a bit concerned about the wet undercarriage. I suppose if she is weeing on her friend while she is mounting her then she could get in a bit of mess and that could possibly explain it, but urine tends to cause skin burn rather than leaving a sticky mess, as far as I know. I'm concerned that she might be sore if she is fussing and that it could be a vaginal discharge that could be something like an infection. Or maybe there could be a urine infection. Or some mineral sludge in the urine. Is there any chance of seeing another vet? Have you been able to have a good look yourself? The urethra is the hole nearest the front, the anus is the one at the back and the vagina is a little slot between the two that is normally sealed shut and difficult to see. Thanks for carring, moletteuk. I might have used a wrong word. She is not exactly sticky. More like wet. From what we saw when we cleaned her, partialy from urine (the water was dirty), partialy from licking herself I guess? The vet took samples of the wet hair from various bits and took it under microscope, saying she can't see anything there. So I believe that would rule ou the urine infection? We'be been told, she could prescribe antibiotics, but it seems unnecessary now, as the microscope didn't show anything. And that we should try cleaning her once a week for a month and if it doesn't get better, we'll put her under and do an xray and other checks to rule out some internal infection or injury. Also we took picture, alert: goo's bottom parts follow:  |
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Post by bouncy on Jul 4, 2017 16:06:08 GMT
She was very cooperative lifting her leg out of the way! There doesn't appear to be any swelling or soreness there, and I know that the vet said there was no infection..... Is there a particular place where she sits where wee doesn't get drawn away, like me metal shelf, or that is generally moist, like under the water bottle? |
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lucy
Warbling Degu
Posts: 29
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Post by lucy on Jul 4, 2017 17:54:03 GMT
She was very cooperative lifting her leg out of the way! There doesn't appear to be any swelling or soreness there, and I know that the vet said there was no infection..... Is there a particular place where she sits where wee doesn't get drawn away, like me metal shelf, or that is generally moist, like under the water bottle? Everything in the cage is either wood, melamine covered with bedding or fabric. But. Pear is very picky about where the bedding belongs, so we always end up having few spots in the cage with no bedding. One specific corner is always pretty dirty from urine, so that might be the only place. Water bottles, we have them. Girls never learned how to use it 😂 so we are just changing the water all the time and hoping 😀 |
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Post by moletteuk on Jul 5, 2017 11:10:42 GMT
I can't see anything obviously of concern on the photo. I think it's quite tricky to know how concerned to be about this.
Could she be peeing and squatting over old urine and getting messy with that? And then it's confusing her why her own bum smells of different wee? (my girls love to sniff at old wees)
I think it's worth watching her closely to see if you can figure anything out about what is bothering her and exactly when she is fussing at herself.
I think I would probably be inclined to try a weeks course of antibiotics before an anaesthetic to get an xray.
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salted water sounds much better, it was real stress for both of us to wash out the shampoo.
I know I tend to get unhealthy kind of anxious about them (or our dog, my family and just about anyone 
