Is it normal for degus to moult

[kn12]

Hi everyone

I have a 7 year old called daffodil and her sister recently just passed away so she’s a lone degu at the moment

I’ve noticed that her back was a bit wet and she had fur coming out in small clumps but I think this was due to daisys wet mouth

She still has some like matted spots on her back and I stroke her and fur just falls off
She doesn’t have any bald patches and I’m thinking she might just be changing her coat to a winter one

Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be?
She’s a grey degu and her back is changing colour to like a whitish grey
Is she just getting old?

[moletteuk]

They do moult, you can often see the moult line travel up their nose and then right down their back over a couple of weeks as it happens. And older degu's fur can go a bit greyer as the age.

Also, as they get older and a bit stiffer it can be harder for them to reach to groom their own back, plus with Daffodil currently on her own there will be places she can't reach. Depending on how tolerant she is, I would get a toothbrush and have a go at brushing the matted spots on her back. You could also encourage her to use the sand bath which should help.

[kn12]

Ok thank you! I hadn’t thought of a toothbrush!
Hopefully she likes it!