Tail looks a bit odd

[venusinflares]

Hello there,

We're new degu owners, we have had our two boys, Benson and Hedges since Sunday. They are 8 weeks old.

Yesterday, I noticed that Benson's tail is much shorter than Hedges' and it appears to be bald on the end, whereas Hedges' tail has a brushy end.

I know that you should never, ever pick a degu up by its tail and we absolutely have not done this. I can't understand how Benson appears to have lost some of his tail. They haven't been fighting in their cage, playing yes, but not fighting.

Hedges is also noticeably larger than Benson, but they both seem to be eating. Hedges is a bit bolder, he was eating from my husband's hand and ended up sat on his hand yesterday, but Benson wouldn't entertain it.

Does anyone know if the brushy bit missing from Benson's tail will grow back? Sorry if this seems a stupid question but we are new to this.

Thanks.

[venusinflares]

Hi Smux, thanks for your reply.

I did mean the hair, I already knew that if they'd lost the tail it wouldn't grow back. We're learning all the time though when it comes to this adorable little pair.

They did come from a pet shop (P@H), but the assistant who was looking after them had kept degus himself and seemed to be well informed. I really can't recall if the tail was already like that or not, but I won't worry about it, having trawled the boards this morning it seems quite common.

Thanks again

[degus123]

And regarding the size difference, again nothing to worry about, unless one is under weight, or indeed overweight. As with any pair of animals you will always get one who eats more than the other.

[venusinflares]

There hasn't been any blood and the bald bit looks completely clean, like it's been like that for a while, so I'd have to assume it happened before they came home with us.

He doesn't seem to have been in any pain or discomfort either, it was just something I noticed, probably because they're now letting us get closer to them and are not just sitting in corners whenever we're around

[venusinflares]

Thanks for the advice smux.

They do have a wheel but haven't been near it yet, they were happily running in the wheel in P@H so they know what it is and how to use it, they just don't seem to be sure of their new surroundings yet!

[moletteuk]

You might like to get two food bowls so that they both have the opportunity to eat the same amount, they get a bit sulky over sharing one bowl after a while anyway.

[Bexi87]

My girls had a wheel in PaH and happily used it, got them home and they didn't touch a wheel for at least a month before I got them wooden wonderland one from Zooplus. Not sure if mine only used the wheel when they were in store out of boredom

[sarahh]

I have 2 of my girls with 1/2 and the other with just the top end of the brush missing. There is 2 degus in our pets at home at the moment with their brush missing they are terrified of people. Having bits of their tails missing doesn't affect them.