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Post by ntg on Sept 5, 2012 15:32:33 GMT
One of our 7 month olds is looking rather rotund shall we say, weighed him and he's 235g. I've read it's in the normal range for fully sized goos but he seems to be struggling (can't jump up onto the top shelf as easily, not running particularly well). It's happened in the space of a couple of weeks and we've done nothing different, the only thing I can think of is that he may be hoarding/bullying the others for food.
What I was wanting to know is what is the best way to put a goo in a group on a diet? Lower the amount of food for all? Make him eat apart from the others and remove any remaining food from the cage (however, they seem to eat sporadically throughout the day)?
I only want what's best for him and I can tell that he is being affected by it. :/
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 16:08:05 GMT
Hmm, he could of put the weight on but it seems like quite a fast change. Could you maybe relate it to a health issue? It could be a possibility.  |
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Post by ntg on Sept 5, 2012 16:12:41 GMT
None that I can think of, the volume of water they drink hasn't changed significantly, he's more often eating than exercising... Pretty sure it's just him being a fatty.
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 5, 2012 18:12:06 GMT
235g is still at the lighter end of the scale, so I wouldn't worry about it or diet him at all. I suppose every degu is different though, so maybe you could show us a picture? Have you had a good look at his use of each limb, just to check everything is working correctly? Have you weighed him previously? The other thing that springs to mind is with the autumnal chill in the air he could be fluffing up his fur and appearing much bigger than he really is - my goos have been noticeably more fluffed up the last few days.
For reference dieting depends on the feeding habits, if you have one degu to one bowl and they each have a place they have their bowl, and eat most of their food in one sitting, you can put less food or lower calorie food in the bowl for the degu you are trying to diet. Obviously it's not really that simple as they will swap bowls and finish each others dinner off and so on, but this works for me. The other thing is to hand feed a portion of their food and give the bigger goo something lower calorie for every higher calorie item the others get, swap any fatty treats for veg or leaves etc.
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Post by ntg on Sept 5, 2012 18:23:23 GMT
His movement seems fine when he's playfighting/running round at free-range time. We try not to bother him too much with our hands as he's blind and spooks easily because of it, so it's all by observation.
I'll see if I can get a picture, I just don't like the fact that he looks like he's struggling. If we did have to I think the best option may be feeding them all out their cage and getting rid of any left straight away or he does just seem to eat a lot more than the others.
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Post by ntg on Sept 5, 2012 18:54:32 GMT
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 5, 2012 19:44:58 GMT
Hmm I guess he looks on the biggish side compared to the others, but they all look fine to me, I wouldn't expect to see limited movement at that size. How big is the jump he is struggling with? How much do the others weigh?
If he is hoovering up all the leftovers, then it sounds sensible to me to try to limit that, if you think it is causing him problems. Some degus will naturally seek to put weight on during the autumn, so you might want to bear that in mind. If he continues to have issues with jumping it might be worth seeing what the vet has to say. How old is he? You are most likely to spot movement issues when he is moving about casually, not particularly having fun or in a hurry.
Maybe somebody else will have some further ideas for you.
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Post by ntg on Sept 5, 2012 20:00:12 GMT
He's 7 months old, it's a 20cm high jump, he just has to scramble up with his back legs from time to time but obviously I'd rather manage it than wait til he gets too heavy.
The oldest (stubbed tail) is 250g but has no bother getting round, the other two 7 monthers are 210g and 220g.
It seems to be the wheel he struggles on the most, we may need to put the angle of it up more as he is bigger than the others lengthwise and it could also be causing him issues. I think we'll just keep an eye on him and try decreasing their hard feed to reduce leftovers and see what happens. Thanks!
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 6, 2012 15:14:53 GMT
Just because it can be a possibility, are you sure that he is a male? The sudden development of roundness is also a trait of pregnancy, usually showing around the end of the second month and coming into the third month. Have you seen any "how to sex your degu" pictures/advice?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2012 15:57:17 GMT
Hmm, I was thinking he may be female too. If he is then you might be getting babies! If not then he is rather round and if it was in a short period of time I would definitely get a vet to check him out, be on the safe side. He does look quite cute as a pudgy goo |
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Post by ntg on Sept 6, 2012 16:04:32 GMT
Yeah, I've been shown the bits on all of them enough to tell they're all male. I'll triple check if you think it's wise but I'm confident in what I've seen.
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Post by ntg on Sept 6, 2012 17:12:48 GMT
I just sent my OH to take a look and he says he's 99% sure Smeg is still a he.
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 6, 2012 17:29:14 GMT
I have a chubby goo and she jumps 20cm with no problem, if that means anything. This is a bit of a long shot, but could it be a vision issue? Is the wheel a dog bowl wheel with a sloping running surface? If they are mounted vertically, particularly on a mesh wall which can flex a bit, then the angle of the running surface can get quite awkward. I've also seen the Rolly plastic wheels seem to have a sloping running surface. If you feel the wheel is a problem, perhaps it could be causing some sort of strain in Smeg? Here's a link to how I made a dog bowl wheel but mounted it on wood to make the running surface more horizontal if you thinkg that might help deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cagearchive&action=display&thread=14447 |
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Post by ntg on Sept 6, 2012 17:42:25 GMT
He's got cataracts in both eyes so it might just be a misjudgement on his part. Also, the wheel is new (one of the metal silent spinners in the for sale section) so maybe he's just getting used to the new mechanism, as far as I know they've never used a flying saucer wheel before this.
I'm thinking of seeing if the rescue we got them from will agree to us changing the feed as they're on Gertie Guineapig at the moment. Even with taking their food down a little they leave the majority and only seem to eat the yellow, green and red biscuit-like bits (i think they might be extruded locust beans?) which doesn't seem the best for them as it means leaving a lot of grain in for him to eat at the best of times.
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 6, 2012 20:07:37 GMT
Not to beat a dead horse, but when you say you are sure he is male, are you judging by the ureathral cone, or by the distance between the ureathral cone and the anus? For your sake, I just want to be sure.
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Post by ntg on Sept 6, 2012 20:30:47 GMT
Distance, don't worry, I sent him the link to show the difference because I know I've done the most research.
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 7, 2012 3:40:19 GMT
LOL! Whew!! Thank you for the extra assurances. Then I would have to say that he sounds like he could be putting on some weight for the coming cooler months, or he's just working up to his adult weight.
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Post by ntg on Sept 7, 2012 9:07:42 GMT
Haha your welcome, he wasn't happy when I told him he had to go look at degu genitals xD
I'll keep an eye on him, I get the feeling he's still got some growing to do so he might just generally be a big goo. But if his weight continues to go up I'll have to try something...
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 7, 2012 13:28:12 GMT
Not all degus take to the saucer wheels. I have a large wooden one, and only one out of 3 degus likes it, and Floss the big goo really doesn't like it and looks awkward on it. Maybe you have a similar situation going on, plus I still think the diameter of those metal saucer wheels is too small for comfort.
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Post by ntg on Sept 7, 2012 14:12:30 GMT
I saw him running on it today and he was going fine, I was thinking of repairing my wonderwheel by bending sheet metal round to create a new running surface, which would be more ideal.
The current cage we have probably wouldn't fit two wheels so, for now there's not much else we can do :/
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