Bald spots.

[seedubb]

There's been some strange noises coming from the cage today, both our male degus have been seeming to chase the other about and both sounding slightly distressed, but I'm only guessing it's a distress call due to the botherings from one and another that we've witnessed.

After removing the smaller degu, Toots, the noises stopped and we noticed a worryingly large bald spot under his chin. We've never noticed this before, and probably would have as it's easily seen when feeding treats and when he drinks from his bottle.

There's also a much smaller bald strip underneath the one pictured, and both seem to have a little nick or cut at one end.

There's not been any fights that seem anything more than playful, we have had them for around 3 weeks and were bought together.

Is this likely to be a health issue or due to fighting? Both strips are surprisingly smooth, almost shaven.

[smux]

I'd be more inclined to say it was from fighting than anything genetic or health related. The one under his chin looks red and you also mention they have nicks or cuts too. The hair will grow back, so that isn't a worry, but for now I would watch them to make sure it doesn't continue. The first thing you should do to ensure they heal is to clean the cuts with a warm saline (weak salt) solution applied with a cotton bud. This can be tricky, especially if they're difficult to handle and you're new to degus, and it isn't vital that you do it as they would have worse in the wild and still recover from it.

If the fighting (or evidence of) continues, it might be a good idea to keep a closer eye on them somehow (web camera recording when you're out...is that a possibility?) and see if you can work out the source of the fighting. In some it's territorial (happens more if the cage is too small, but will happen no matter what size the cage is if one wants to be territorial), in some it's greed over treats, toys, food, and that sort of thing. Sometimes it's just that they don't get along. In most cases this will stop naturally or with some intervention.

Just to be 100% sure (you can't trust pet shops or breeders), double check their genders using one of the many guides both on this forum and the internet. If one is a female, this will increase the occurrence of fighting during mating season (which I believe we're in now) although it isn't normal for a male and female to fight unless the female doesn't want to mate, so it's a long-shot (but I'm covering all the bases so we get a good idea of what it isn't and that'll leave less that it can be :-)). I have my own method for sexing degus that corrects false positives (where a male has bits which look like a female's...I know because my little Glen, who is in with Gizmo, was sexed as a female by me and all of this forum but he's definitely a male :-)) but if they're both males you have nothing to worry about as their bits will be clearly male rather than possibly male...hence why I haven't mentioned it. That, and it's not really a method to be used by people who are new to degus, it requires a confident approach to handling and trust from the degu :-)

[seedubb]

Toots tends to sit in the food bowl when it is re-filled and send some sharp noises at Horgs if he dare come close, but that's really the only sign of territorial behaviour we've seen. Adding another bowl seems to sort that out though.

We've had them separated for an hour or so now, and about to put them back in together as they've both become more calm. Hopefully they'll have forgotten whatever had been said between them earlier!

[seedubb]

Well, both back in together and the squeaking and chasing ensues! They have both spiked their fur up and when at opposite ends of the cage they seem fine.

Toots seems to want to chase Horgs around, and what looks like attempting to groom him, which just leads to angry beeping from Horgs and a chase and scuffle. So maybe it is Toots wanting to mate and bother him, and annoyance leading to scraps?

We've seen nothing like this since we first got them, let's hope it passes. We'll try and relieve any possible boredom for now but daren't leave them alone later on tonight.

[smux]

At the very least you can split the cage up so they can both live in their own section of the cage. Also you could go to where you got them and see if they have any advice. They should open up easy enough if you let them know you have no plans to return them (of course, that is only worth saying if you are sure of it :-)).

If you're comfortable with it (or have an area that's definitely secure...most people use hallways) you could let them both out for some supervised freedom. You just have to deguproof everything from places they can hide behind to any holes in the floor or walls (you'd be surprised at how many there are hidden away where we don't normally see them :-)) and this freedom will calm them down a bit and help them enjoy each other's company even when they're back together in their cage.

[Bexi87]

I just have to say, I LOVE their names Hope they start behaving soon too

[deguconvert]

What ages are they . . . do you know? Sometimes conflict is directly connected to their age. Degus between about 6-12 months (especially males) are in their sexually maturing stage and this often causes a great deal of unrest between cage mates.

[seedubb]

We were told they were about 8 weeks when we got them, so they should be around 12 weeks now.

We let them out for an hour in the hall, which we do each night, and fighting continued on and off until they both seemed to get bored/tired. There were some nasty sounds but we broke it up as soon as each scrap went further than playful.

We nervously popped them back in the cage and all was fine! An hour later they were grooming and cuddling up. Never been happier with them! There's been no signs of fights in the days since so now we just have to keep an eye on the bald spots I guess!

[fishstikk]

I've just noticed a small bald spot on one of mine (Gus). I'm pretty sure it wasn't there yesterday because I had them out. I've not heard any fighting or squeaking that's out of the ordinary. Is there a way of telling if it is just fighting or if there's something wrong with him?