s
Foraging Degu
Posts: 56
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Post by s on Jul 5, 2022 0:27:42 GMT
Hello everyone!
My almost-2yo boy Daewoo has recently lost a bit of weight. Last month he was 274g and this month 266g. It's not a huge jump, and he still eats and loves snacks/herbs! But he's been eating fewer pellets than usual lately.
I wonder if it's due to Summer weather (in winter he got up to 282g!)
Anyway, should I be worried about this change? Do other people's degus experience weight changes seasonally?
Thank you in advance for any advice!
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Post by savvy on Jul 5, 2022 0:51:50 GMT
Hello again, its been a while.
I shouldn't worry too much just yet, but if he continues to lose weight it may need further investigation. Degus can have the odd month where their weight fluctuates a little, its continual and/or dramatic drops that are the worry.
He may be eating less because of the warm weather, just monitor his weight and his eating habits.
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Post by deguconvert on Jul 5, 2022 2:39:34 GMT
I echo what Savvy said. Good to hear from you, S!
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s
Foraging Degu
Posts: 56
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Post by s on Jul 5, 2022 12:33:00 GMT
Thank you!
It's been a while because Daewoo has been really healthy and energetic so I haven't had any worries! 😆 (He could also be losing weight because he's running around more...)
I'll keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't loose too much weight!
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Post by skittish on Jul 5, 2022 17:05:30 GMT
Hello I also agree with savvy regarding some fluctuations in weights. I've noticed with my degus that they put on weight over the autumn/winter months and decrease a bit over the spring and summer months. As long as the weight loss stabilises and doesn't keep decreasing I don't worry. It was a concern for me the first time it happened, but now I know it's just a seasonal thing. I weigh my degus daily, however I don't concern myself too much with the ups and downs on a daily basis (if they're down a bit one day, they usually gain it back and more the next few days), but it allows me to chart a trend of their weights over time (I keep an excel sheet which converts my figures into a line graph format) and also allows me to compare weights from previous years and see whether their weight this year is within a similar range for previous years. It's how I first noticed the seasonal weight fluctuations! If the weight loss is sustained or unusual for that time of year, or there's a big drop then my records help highlight that so we know there may need to be further investigations (as savvy said) Where there's sustained weight loss look out for signs of discomfort in the mouth - these are drooling, pawing at the mouth, opening the mouth/moving the mouth in unusual ways when eating, if they are trying to eat and food is falling out of their mouth, as it's usually the first indications of issues in the mouth which are causing them to eat less and lose weight. There are other reasons for sustained weight loss but this has been the main reason in my own experience of having degus
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