Over Grooming

[andrea]

I have a Father & Son pair of Degus, and in the first couple months of them comming to me I found the son was loosing hair on his sholder blades, ends up his father was chewing it off during grooming.
I built them a bigger cage, adn this seemed to help, the sons fur grew back in.

But in the past 2 weeks Dad's back at it chewing off the sons hair again. Allot more then before also.
They do not fight (well the usuall squabble over food, but that's it).

To give you an Idea, thsi is what the area looked like the first time this happened -

It is 4x that size now, and only over a 2 week period, while it took that spot allot longer.

I've been told to try 'bitter apple' on the area, but i'm a bit hesitent.
Has anyone ever had this situation with their Degus?

Thanks.

[Deguman]

Hi Andrea,

This is absolutely fascinating. I have no experience to offer advice from, but wondered if another Degu might provide a distraction. Degus live in large Chilean colonies and as both of yours are male they may need more company.

If this is the case then the question is whether the new Degu's should be

• male (which would almost make matters worse!)
  
• 1 female (which they may fight over even more!)
  
• 2 females (which might diffuse the tensions!)
  

Another idea, presuming the male / male proximity is the problem, might be to swap one of them for a female with another Degu owner?

Just ideas. I hope it helps.

Let us know what happens.

Regards,
[glow=red,2,300]Deguman[/glow]

[andrea]

Thanks.

I'm not looking to breed, as we have SO many Degu's in rescue who are looking for homes.
I'm also not working at this moment, so as much as I would love to take on more critters who need a home, I just cannot afford it (Plus I have MANY allready). So any male & female pair would mean I would need to neuter the boys, which is another cost, and i'm not sure if I could find a Vet around here who could do it safely. Small animal Vet's are VERY hard to come by out this way.
Also I have 3 females, though they are not 'mine' but fosters, They are the mate and daughters/sisters to these boys.
And of course bringing in more Degus would mean I need a larger cage, which again comes to money (argh, i hate money).
It's definetly something to keep in mind, and maybe when the girls get adopted I could look into fostering 2 or 3 more boys and if things work out who knows..... ggeeezze now you have me really thinking. We have another Volunteer who had dozens of foster Degus many that have come in pregnent, and she only keeps females.... so maybe once the male pups are old enough (if there are any) we could do a trade... lol.... ok, i'm rambling now...

[pepper]

Help! I'm new to Degus,(August 24th) and need some info regarding parasites. I've read that mites and ring worm can be problems. True? Is scratching an indicator? RSVP, ASAP, Thanx, Ali

[dreamcatcher]

I don't know about parasites and mites but I know that my Degu's have scratched form day one.

Sorry I can't be any more help than that. Is there a reason your asking?
Are you afraid you goos might have something?

[Aimeelou]

This is exactly how two of mine looked a couple of months ago, i posted a thread earlier this month about it and i put it down to overgrooming, and as of now the fur has grown back and is back to normal!

So i would keep an eye on it and if it gets any worse see a vet, but if its like mine, it sould grow back.

[rie73]

During the summer (Yes, we had a summer this year in the UK!!!) I noticed that the fur on one of my degus' back had fallen out. It has grown back now - it may have been the heat!!!!!!

[pepper]

Ali again, (the newbie), I don't think Pepper is overgrooming but she seems to be itchy even after a dust bath. I have noticed that she seems to scratch when she's given attention, like she's sorta trying to appear nonchalant about the loving that's being heaped on her. But I am wondering how to tell if she is afflicted with parasites or even dry skin. Also, I have read that mites may be introduced into her environment by Timothy Grass. Any suggestions? Thanx, Ali

[jinx]

I dont know alot about degus, i just got two recently, however when I was researching them I read that you can get mites from the wood chips we use to line their cages. I change mine every week and my guess seem to be alright... I dont know if everyweek is alot or not enough but it seems to be working for me! Well thats all i know about mites.... good luck though! I hope it all works out!

[andrea]

Well Georges coat has grown all in again, So far I think adding a new toy every once and a while keeps Bruces interest and stops him from barbering his sons coat.
Both boys are doing well.