rie73
Foraging Degu
Posts: 85
|
Post by rie73 on Dec 10, 2005 16:53:18 GMT
This morning my degus have been fighting a lot, chasing each other round the cage and generally not getting on (ie twittering/squeaking at each other). It was not until later in the day when I looked in their cage to find specks of blood on the wooden shelfs. I then decided to check both degus to see if they were ok (difficult task). I could not see where the blood was coming from or which one it was. (the bleeding most of stopped as I cleaned the blood off the shelfs and there has not been anymore). I am a bit concerned about this as they usually get on (with the occasionally fight) and this is the first time blood has been drawn.  |
|
|
|
Post by Sunshinemeg on Dec 10, 2005 19:11:58 GMT
my standard response to this question, is how old are they? between 9 months and a year, degus reach sexual maturity. It may well be that this has happened, and they are just establishing dominance. If this is the case it shouldnt last more than a couple of days, and they will then settle down. keep an eye on things, and see how it goes.,
|
|
rie73
Foraging Degu
Posts: 85
|
Post by rie73 on Dec 11, 2005 10:22:50 GMT
My degus are about 13 months old. They do have the occasional fight now and then but this is the first major one. I have now discovered that one of my degu has a cut on his foot and this most have been where the blood had come from (this most have happened when they were fighting). He seems OK but I will keep an eye on his foot. I am a little concerned that it may get infected. Any advice would be great. |
|
roz
Newborn Degu
Posts: 0 
|
Post by roz on Dec 11, 2005 15:48:34 GMT
I had some degus a while back that fought, and like you I was worried about wounds getting infected.
I used very diluted dettol on some cotton wool and bathed the wound (i.e. wiped it) twice a day. After a few days the wound healed with no problems.
The biggest problem when degus have a proper fight is that their bodies are small compared to the length of their teeth, so a bite wound can go very deep and cause severe internal damage whilst only leaving what appears to be a minor wound on the surface.
Like Meg says, keep an eye on them and see how it goes - hopefully they'll settle down again.
|
|
|
|
Post by deguqueen on Dec 11, 2005 22:46:38 GMT
You know whats really funny is that all of a sudden meg, me and you re having problems with blood in the cage. I wonder if it's the time of the year of it's completely unrelated.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sunshinemeg on Dec 12, 2005 10:57:24 GMT
I think mine is due to the fact that Gromit is very old. I think to be honest his kidneys are not working too well. There hasnt been any fighting in my group, but as I said, gromit is now a very old boy! We are keeping a close eye on him, and as long as he is eating and drinking and moving around, we dont want to bother him.
|
|
