Dry, flakey skin on back

[s]

Hello! I'm posting for advice about what to do if a degu has dry skin! I discovered a fair bit of flakey skin on my fluffy son's back this morning (though other areas seem fine). He doesn't seem to be scratching excessively but it can't feel nice.

I live in Japan and the air is REALLY dry here in Winter. (I also have dry skin at the moment!) I'm wondering if there's a certain vitamin that I can buy to help keep degu skin healthy.

I once heard that there's an oil you can use in their food, but I could only find one version of the oil online which said it wasn't for human consumption (which I assume means not for degu consumption either).

Any help would be appreciated!

[bouncy]

How is the fur above the skin?

If it was something like a flakey ear, I would say rub a little olive oil in for a while to clear it up. If you could describe where exactly, and the condition of any fur (or even pictures), that would be a great help

[teemu]

How often does he have sand baths? I've heard that if degus sand bathe too much, it can dry the skin. Especially if the air is dry at the moment, it might be a good idea to limit his sand bathing to once every few days, if he isn't already bathing less frequently.

[s]

The dry skin is on his back/bum area. it starts at his lower back and gets worse towards the tail. The fur where the dry skin is is much less soft than the fur in other areas! He has really silky hair in other areas but his bum is a bit rough.

He does use the sand bath quite often (several times a day).

I'd feel bad limiting his baths if he feels like he needs them though... Maybe we can do just once a day... 😭

[bouncy]

It may be there is something underlying. Could be something fungal, or there may be mites.

Try, if you can, giving your goo a brush over the affected area, but over something clean and white like paper. See if you can see any tiny mites dropping out.

If there's nothing obvious, you can try olive oil for a couple of days to see if there's improvement, but I suspect you may need a trip to the vet.

Once the skin complaint is treated, you should find the fur will start to grow normally.

[teemu]

Has hair been falling out from that area? Are there bald spots, or does the fur seem/feel thinner around there? If he allows you to touch him on the area (degus generally do not enjoy people touching their rump, I've found), see if the hair falls off when you tug gently on it or otherwise handle it. If there are fallen off hairs, you might also want to inspect some of them under a good light, to see if there are eggs or other signs of parasites attached to them. In addition, doing the dandruff test as Bouncy suggests is a good idea.

It might be a bit hard to discern whether what falls out is a parasite or a fleck of skin, but just try to see whether there's movement if nothing else.

[moletteuk]

I would get him vet checked.

Some oil seeds are good for skin and fur, things like linseed/flax, milk thistle and hemp. I would recommend an oil seed mix that contains some high calcium seeds and some that are good for the skin. I'm guessing this is what you were thinking of when looking for oil.

I would recommend sweet almond oil for rubbing into the skin, but apply a little water too.

You could try a humidifier.

[s]

Thanks for the feedback!

The fur on his bum isn't thin or balding at all - in fact it's quite thick and matted. The hair does come out quite easily if I pull on it gently.

I inspected some hairs and can see no sign of mites or eggs as of yet. Will keep looking.

Some of you have suggested oil - I'm not sure how to apply oil without my fluffy son getting really oily and dirty. The dry skin covers quite a wide area. Any advice on this?

The oil I heard of was evening primrose oil for oral consumption rather than application on the skin!

[deguconvert]

If he is your only degu . . . perhaps it is a grooming issue, and perhaps he may not be able to adequately reach the area that is affected himself.

[teemu]

Thick and matted fur is making me think of the fact that it's also the shedding season, when degus moult and change their fur coat. One of my girls has a patch of unmoulted fur around the same area at the moment, and it can look rather thick and matted. But it doesn't generally feel coarse. But maybe it's still related in some way

[bouncy]

Just gently rub the area with the oil, then gently brush the fur. You should be able to gently unmatt it. Don't worry if it looks like clumps coming out, especially if it's matted. Sort the skin, and the fur will come back.

Remember, if you don't see improvement after a few days, she must go to the vet!

[s]

Hello!

I'm just coming back to say that Daewoo's skin is much better now and I'm almost certain his dry skin/rough hair was caused by too much bathing. When I started restricting his sandbaths to one per day there was a big improvement. He's so soft now!

I've also been brushing his back and bum with a soft toothbrush to get rid of old hair and dead bits of skin.

Thanks for the support!

[deguconvert]

WOO HOO!! This is great news!! Thank you for giving us an update, S!