Degu weird injury?

[cookiedegus]

Hey,

i took sakura on her daily let out, and i noticed she has a bit of a idk, wood stuck to her? Can anyone recognise 
whats that? I put some dezinfection so thats why its wet.
ibb.co/KjNMVWB
ibb.co/HNYGWGL
ibb.co/zZdGLFG
it looks sorta like a deep wound that has been healed sorta?
i dont know when my vet is going to be avaiable but please , does anyone have any ideas

[moletteuk]

It's possibly a chunk of flesh that is drying out. I would keep a very close eye on it for infection - redness, heat, lumps and watch for lethargy in Sakura.

I would suggest giving some thought to what has happened because this is potentially a fighting injury or possibly there is something unsafe in the cage.

[cookiedegus]

Oh okay, she's full of energy, always running on the wheel and fast as ever, the girls did chase each other with sounds for two days tho, but only sakura seems to be damaged.

[moletteuk]

I would recommend that you take this deep wound as a serious warning that they aren't coping well in the small cage.

[bouncy]

I agree, that's definitely a piece of drying flesh.

Don't be tempted to pull it off. When it is ready, it will fall off. If you pull, you will probably tear a new wound.

This kind of injury is often caused by trying to push through a space that is too narrow, so you need to check your cage.

[deguconvert]

OH HONEY . . . this is not good. If that is a bite injury, it was intended to cause harm and possibly to reduce numbers in the cage. That would mean that aggressions are rising and all the degus in it may cause harm to her or each other. This is a serious thing . . . when degus are in confined space, they will fight to kill so as to protect the food resources and territory. We cannot explain to them that there will always be enough food. They are acting on instinct, and we must modify our own thinking and their habitat accordingly.

If it is an injury from her cage, you need to minutely examine your cage and make improvements and changes for the health and safety of all the degus that live in it. A much larger cage would be very good for them all.

[cookiedegus]

Will they even fight if a daughter is attacking the mom?

[bouncy]

If there's not enough space, yes!

[deguconvert]

Two very powerful motives for fighting are lack of space and dominance challenges. You very likely have both of these motives in full play.

[savvy]

Imagine you and your entire family living your whole lives in just one room, you all have to sleep in there, move around in there, eat in there and toilet in there. Now this room is only a big enough for your beds, a treadmill and maybe a sofa, but very little else, you have to move around the room by climbing over the furniture. Ample food and water is provided but there is no escape from other family members.

Now ask yourself this, how long would it be before you start to really get on each others nerves? Because this is how your degus are living; they need more space.

I know I'm being blunt, but this is the reality of their situation, and its not going to improve until you increase the size of their home.

[cookiedegus]

My girls live in a very spacious home, height is 100cm, length is 90cm and width is 40cm, they have plenty of room for sleeping in the fourth floor, they all love to be with each other and literally hate when i take one out to play so i always take two and the other two play later, plus they have a 30cm exercise wheel, plenty of fluffy paper litter, and two homes to hide in which they don't seem to hide in, plus there's two ceramic igloos for them to cool down, and a different space to eat, which is mixed with branches and other stuff. I don't think it's a space thing, since my 2mamas and 2 kids of them seem to be all happy..

[savvy]

You've stated in a previous thread deguworld.proboards.com/thread/23540/idk-keep-fighting?page=1&scrollTo=212689 that your cage has no levels, just branches to hammocks. Is this still the case or have you modified the cage? If not, then the CARA of the cage means that have no space to get up to full running speed. Degus are ground squirrels, they can climb, but they are not good at it, they need a relatively flat space to run.

[deguconvert]

Savvy asks a very valid question. The most important space in your cage for your degus is the surface area they can walk and run on, not the volume of the inside of the cage. An elevator is tall and thin and taking the measurements of elevator shaft will give you a large volume of space . . . but the only area that you can inhabit is the floor of the elevator in which you stand. It is similar in a tall cage with one floor. Ledges don't really count for much, unless you can teach your degus to run on the spot.

[cookiedegus]

Jun 29, 2022 13:03:04 GMT savvy said:

You've stated in a previous thread deguworld.proboards.com/thread/23540/idk-keep-fighting?page=1&scrollTo=212689 that your cage has no levels, just branches to hammocks. Is this still the case or have you modified the cage? If not, then the CARA of the cage means that have no space to get up to full running speed. Degus are ground squirrels, they can climb, but they are not good at it, they need a relatively flat space to run.

Yes, but i was describing my males cage, not females, sorry for the misunderstanding! But rather I have modified the boys cage too, i put two hammocks, two side livels and they're enjoyin life rn, ty for the recommendations still !

[savvy]

How many full or half levels do the girls have? Also can you work out who is being aggressive towards who and roughly how many days apart are the bouts of aggression?

[savvy]

Jun 29, 2022 21:39:24 GMT savvy said:

How many full or half levels do the girls have? Also can you work out who is being aggressive towards who and roughly how many days apart are the bouts of aggression?

My thinking is, if the cage space is OK, the chasing could be hormonal if its only for a couple of days, and about 21 days apart for each degu.  A female degu cycle is about 21 days and it can get a bit aggressive.  Factor in adolescence and you have a recipe for a trying couple of days.

How is the wound looking now?

[cookiedegus]

Jun 29, 2022 22:55:39 GMT savvy said:

Jun 29, 2022 21:39:24 GMT savvy said:

How many full or half levels do the girls have? Also can you work out who is being aggressive towards who and roughly how many days apart are the bouts of aggression?

My thinking is, if the cage space is OK, the chasing could be hormonal if its only for a couple of days, and about 21 days apart for each degu.  A female degu cycle is about 21 days and it can get a bit aggressive.  Factor in adolescence and you have a recipe for a trying couple of days.

How is the wound looking now?

Ugh, i keep forgetting to check up here:[ anyways, Sakura now is doing very well, the wound has healed fully, and for the cage space, i am going to buy a new cage, a wooden one, which is not higher than this cage(100cm). But indeed longer (instead of 90 ill try 110) so i hope it will be enough:)

[bouncy]

Make sure exposed edges are protected! You don't want them chewing their way out!