Gnawing/teeth issue

[jfrc]

Hi Guys, recently re-homed two boys of about 3.5 years and just after a bit of help please!

One of my boys has an issue with his teeth, I've already been to the vet to have them trimmed. However since then he has put on some weight but I've yet to catch him actually gnaw at anything. Where as the other one is constantly destroying everything him comes across.

Is there anything I can do to promote gnawing or is it a no hoper with regular trips to get his teeth done? Also, he seems to be refusing to eat hay, tried Timothy hay, normal 'medium' hay and now trying out some Burgess Herbage to try an encourage him, but I've yet to see him eat any.

Any help would be great.

Jeremy

[Ady]

Hello Jeremy,
some goos chews all the time and some aren't that interested. I would try to give him some nut in hard shell. It's really good for triming their teeth, also you can check if his teeth were clipped properly and he is able to gnaw properly. If they won't try to get inside the nut, you can break the shell tiny bit to get them more tempted. With the hay, you can try mix it wth some dried herbs or buy the hay tunnel to get them interested in hay.
Well done for rehoming them, goos are lots of fun!

edit: also you can give them pasta (just one piece and not often as high in carbs), and diffetent types of branches to chew on, usually hazelnut, apple, willow is degus favourite, there is a safe wood list on forum you can have a look at

[deguconvert]

Welcome to the forum, Jeremy! It is as Ady has said. It can be a great difficulty with degus that for some reason don't have the normal gnawing urge. Pasta can be helpful to get this started, but I would recommend that if you try this, you get pasta that is of denser shape than say spaghetti is. They can chew through a skinny bit of spaghetti is no time, and you really want to get him to work on it a bit more than that. Have you tried any branches from apple, plum, cherry, birch, hazelnut, or weeping willow trees? These are some of the trees that are excellent choices for taking branches/twigs from for them to gnaw on. If you have access to any of these, there is no need to strip the leaves as these are safe for them to eat and most degus are greedy to eat them.

[Ady]

Now come to think about it, pasta is actually not such a good choice. Different branches is much better. You can also buy some chinchilla chew block or give coconut shelf (empty one).

[jfrc]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

I've finally witnessed him munching down on some hay which is a relief! Regarding branches, I take it that all species of apple is ok? I know there's a list on here and on degutopia but just to triple check....is silver birch ok? Oh and with the branches, is it preferred for them to be green or are fallen branches just as safe to give?

Sorry for all the questions, just rather get everything right than giving these boys more trouble than they've already had.

Chip has had a terrible start with me, teeth trimming, tube feeding on the first two nights while I waited for my vet appointment and now tonight I've just trimmed his nails! He's still coming to say hi but he rather stay on the other side of the room.

Once again thank you.

[deguconvert]

Green off of a healthy tree will ensure that there will be little in the way of contaminants to worry about. Although, you do want to be sure that the tree is not being sprayed by any chemicals. If you do pick up any that are fallen, you want to look them over carefully, brush them down vigorously with a metal type brush to remove any mosses or fungi, and make sure there is no rot. If the bark is going black . . . I would avoid it and look for something else. All apple varieties are great, and silver birch is safe!

If you are concerned about the state of his nails, there are somethings that you can do to help keep them wearing down. You can put a small strip of fine sandpaper down on a ramp or surface that they use, but keep an eye on it as you don't want it cause irritation to the skin on the foot. It is something you may have to put in for only short periods of time rather than a fulltime cage accessory. Something you CAN have fulltime is large, cleaned rocks. Not stones that you might put in a dry bed, but large rocks that are more decorative. Arrange these VERY carefully in the cage as you want to be absolutely sure there is no way that they will shift on the degus, causing any injury or death. Degus love to run over them, perch on them, dig around them etc. The rough surface of the stones will help to keep the nails worn down, and less painful on our skin.

[moletteuk]

If you were wondering about the differences in our safe tree list and degutopia's, we have been able to add lots of safe species to the list from information from lots of years of experience of german degu keepers. Fresh branches or freshly fallen branches are good, I wouldn't use anything that has been fallen for a long time and decaying.
You can also make chew toys form kiln dried pine or other safe wood, you can make houses or join pieces in interesting shapes with good corners, and they won't be able to resist chewing all the corners and edges!

Herb & leaf products are great for encouraging back teeth chewing, you can buy mixes or make or pick your own.

Rough tiles and terracotta items of all shapes and sizes are also good for nail trimming.

[jfrc]

Hello everyone!

Thanks for all the info, sorry I haven't been able to thank you sooner.

They're both doing fine now, Chip has finally showed interest in chewing on stuff, even though he stops as soon as I catch him at it!

Just working on training now, had no idea how responsive they could be. I was thinking that it was too late in their life to teach them new ideas but both now come when called and return to their cage when I want them too. So smiley faces all round here ;D

Once again thanks for the replies, no doubt I'll be back updating/picking your wonderful brains.

All the best

Jeremy