limping degu :(

[starley1234]

pepper my degu is limping. she doesn't squeak when i touch it. i've check all over her leg and she doesn't have any cuts. my girls never fight they often groom each other and ever kiss! I'm worried for her. i looked on a website. i think degutopia and it said that broken bones heal naturally. should i take her to the vet just in case??? please help because I'm really worried !!

p.s she doesn't put her leg down when she runs (just hops) i took her wheel at incase thats why she as hurt it. i noticed it 2 days ago.

[deguconvert]

Degus do seem to hurt their legs every once in a while, whether from a badly judged jump or something else, who knows, but they do heal up and keep on going. This has happened to at least two of our three boys, and within days to a week, they were doing just fine again. If you could detect a break, a vet would probably be a good idea, or if she was reacting to you touching it. Since she is calm and seems fine, except for not using it just yet, I think she probably is OK. Let your heart have peace, and keep and eye on her over the next few days. I expect that even by tomorrow you will see her starting to use it a bit. I would also put the wheel back in, as she will feel more at home with it in.

[smux]

Another thing you can try is to hold her so she's on her back and put your hand sideways against her paws and don't push too hard but push against her paws...you will get her pushing back and she should react by raising her bad leg. If she makes a noise, it is more likely broken or at least sprained...if she just reacts, it's as DC says

Before you do this though, do be sure to take a look all over her PAW for any possible foreign bodies, it may be you're looking at the wrong place and perhaps she stood on a bit of hay wrong (it can happen) or something that shouldn't be around was around and she stood on it. If she goes out of the cage, this danger is heightened as we can bring in tiny pieces of glass (for instance) in on our shoes and they don't do us any damage but might hurt a degu.
The best way to do this is to just gently place your finger against her paw and don't push...if no response (same if a response, really) then double check by looking directly at the paw

[lorrainekuk]

Hi guys,
worried about one of my boys - ghe was on a suicidal mission and dropped down from the top of his cage and now has a bad back leg. He wont put it down although is managing to get around and not showing any distress other than being quiet and sulky. I don't know if I should take him to the vet as I am worried the vet will freak him out This happened last night and I spent a very sleepless night dreaming about my poor goo, the kids are so upset - any advice would be great - Vet or not?

[lorrainekuk]

Interested to know what the vet can/will do? will he just have a feel? The goos are only interested in being held when sleepy and it worries me what effect the vet will have on poor Torres if he doesn't want catching......... booooo hoooooo

[nickymills30]

have you tried what smux has suggested? hope he feels better soon xx

[lorrainekuk]

Have managed to hold him this morning but as soon as we tried to storke or touch him he tried to move away and I didn't want him leaping out my hands!!! dont like my chances of getting him on his back - wriggling little sods they are :-(

[Kins]

When I first got Dave and Jim, Jim decided he was going to jump from the top of the cage on to the floor during playtime. It must have hurt as he squeaked when he did it. he was limping for a little while after but it wasn't broken or anything and it was fine after a few days. I think he actually learnt from that though, he's a bit (not much though) more cautious now...

Hopefully yours will be fine after a few days, just keep an eye!

[lorrainekuk]

Have him booked in the vets at 11:30 - think for my peace of mind - feel awful and would just keep worrying if I don't get a 'professioanl' opinion - although will be interested to see how the vet handles him etc - will keep you posted - thanks for the answers x

[lorrainekuk]

Well Torres has been left with the vet - going to have to knock him out and have a look at the leg - no chance of catching him and looking him over :-( lets hope the news is good......

[Kins]

Aww bless him. I hope he behaves for the vet, I know how mischievous they can be...

Make sure you let us know how he gets on!

[lorrainekuk]

Well the vet phoned and he has a fractured thigh, not alot the want to do for him as ops and splints aren't always the best solution. I have just had to halve the 1st floor of his cage so he cant get too far and leave his brother in the other cage so he doesn't pick on him ( Pip is looking very sad all by himself - we just had a quick snuggle). Not sure how long he will have to rest for will be picking him up later with some pain killers ( for cats!!) Do you think they will be ok when they go back in together? Should I let the other one visit every day??? Oh my poor goos - how attached have I become???

[Kins]

Oh ouch, poor little lad! Doesn't sound too serious at least!

I personally would try and keep them together as much as possible really. If they are apart too long they can then 'reject' each other when you put them back together. If Pip does start to pick on him then you may need to seperate them but it sounds like he wants his mate back anyway. Maybe you could keep them together and just get Pip out for playtime so he gets a bit more exercise...

I'm sure some other people will be able to give some more advice though, glad he's ok though!

[deguconvert]

Awww! The poor little guy! It's good you have had it looked at . . . even though it can't be put in a splint or anything, you know that he needs to be kept quiet. I would certainly give him and his cage mate access to each other. The grooming and cuddling will help his recovery as must as the rest will. If you see the other trying to hump him, maybe discourage that, as the extra weight on top of him might be problematic, as would any fighting that goes beyond friendly boxing.

Don't feel strange for being attached to your degus . . . we all feel that way and fuss over our furbabies on a regular basis! You're with very like minded people here.

[lorrainekuk]

Thanks guys - feeling very stressed and emotional about it all to be honest - feel so bad this has happened - I know accidents happen etc but still.
I feel the same about keeping them apart, they really do snuggle and love up to each other and not having that will be sad. He is going to go stir crazy in the space we have had to give him as it is! What we have managed to rig up is a mesh so they can talk and contact each other - I said to hubby maybe we should let pip in to visit - especially when they are sleepy? I have just managed to give him some painkiller so hopefully that will make him more comfy too.
Really appreciate your feedback - makes me feel a lot better xx

[lorrainekuk]

poor Torres

[lorrainekuk]

while his brother plays on!!

[smux]

Lorraine, there is something you are going to need to learn called the "dominance hold", it's basically a way to hold your degu to let them know you are the boss and it will stop them from wriggling around as they know you are being serious rather than playing around with them.

Basically you hold the degu with your left hand and the thumb under their front legs with the rest of your fingers over them. At this point, *I* can lift the degu up without support from the other hand, but you might want to use your right hand if you don't feel fully confident doing this and it is VERY important you are confident as that's how degus get hurt. Once you have the degu in the air a little, you need to twist your hand back so they are on their back resting on your hand and your thumb is stopping them from escaping. If you wish, use the other hand to support their body or strengthen your hold so they can't escape.

Something important to remember with this hold is degus don't like being held, and if you hold a degu like this for a long time they'll want a dust bath afterwards because of whatever is on our hands getting on their fur. Over time you'll get more confident in this hold and will be able to use it when next at the vets (for instance) so they can get a proper look at the guy, or for when you might need to administer first aid to a cut yourself.

I guess you don't HAVE to learn it, but it is a good idea to have a uniform way to let your degu know that you are the boss and when you say something they have to do it at least sometimes. I generally let my degus do as they want as long as they're not hurting each other, but if they do then this is where the hold becomes handy.

[amie]

That hold is something that I need to learn as my babies are quite naughty and need to be checked over sometimes.

I just can't quite get my head around what you're saying though, Smux. Maybe I'm slow, lol <<<< the strongest posibilty

Do you have any videos of this being done/you doing this with yours?

[smux]

www.degutopia.co.uk/dominancearticle.pdf might explain the reasons and how to do it better than I did. As for a video, I might get one made sometime when I can be bothered :-)