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Post by emz on Jun 21, 2010 17:15:01 GMT
As long as there is no flaky or damaged skin then it is exactly as deguconvert said - nothing to stress over. My Felix has a tiny patch on his back right now that is growing back and recently had one on his nose that is now back to normal (over chewing cage bars lol.)
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Post by deguconvert on Jun 22, 2010 0:52:53 GMT
Ahh . . . thank you for putting that in, Emz! I had completely over looked that aspect. Yes, flakey, reddened, or weeping skin needs to see a Vet.
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Post by ladylurkalot on May 8, 2011 10:03:23 GMT
We are new to Degus, got our first goos in February. I read all the posts about what and what not to feed them. Ron's favourite food is biscuits and Harry's favourite is grass. Otherwise they both eat the same. Harry likes sleeping and Ron is nearly always chewing the cage. I noticed today when I cleaned them that Ron's teeth are going pale almost white instead of orange. Harry's teeth are dark orange. I'm puzzled because they both eat the same food so could it be the cage chewing that is making his teeth pale.
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Post by deguconvert on May 8, 2011 18:21:09 GMT
Ron is very likely scraping his orange off, is all. The orange color comes as a result of a reaction between their salia and the chlorophyl in the foods they eat. So it isn't something "permenant" and can be scraped off . . . and since your know that Ron is chew, chew, chewing on his cage bars, it is clear that he is just removing it as he works away.
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Post by ladylurkalot on May 9, 2011 6:55:45 GMT
Thank you deguconvert, I'll stop worrying now. I can't puzzle out why Ron is so hooked on chewing the cage wire. They have lots of wood to chew and toys to play with but he seems to be fixated on the wire. I'm lucky enough to have a hazelnut tree in the garden so I have a constant supply of fresh wood for them. I also steam clean the wood before I give it to them to get rid of any bugs living on the wood. I don't want to risk them eating the bugs. I haven't been able to give them any of the hazelnuts yet cuz the local squirrels get to them before I do You are much more of an expert on degus than I am, so can you tell me why they use their sand pot as a food and bedding store. I have only ever seen them use it as a bath once since we've had them. They don't sleep in it as they have a bed which they sleep in, the sand is just a storage unit. ;D
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Post by deguconvert on May 9, 2011 14:31:18 GMT
LOL! If only I could!!! THAT is a part of the degu mind that is difficult to get into. Just like, why is it that they can put a piece of food down on a bare spot, in full view of anything with eyes, then with careful pats with their little forepaws, turn about and be fully convinced that it is "HIDDEN?" Oh yeah, NO ONE will find it now! LOL! I think that we could probably just conclude that it is simply because they do not have the processes of logic the we humans pride ourselves in. Probably makes perfect sense to a whole host of degus though.
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Post by Bexi87 on May 9, 2011 18:52:24 GMT
Just like, why is it that they can put a piece of food down on a bare spot, in full view of anything with eyes, then with careful pats with their little forepaws, turn about and be fully convinced that it is "HIDDEN?" Oh yeah, NO ONE will find it now! LOL! That is without doubt my favourite thing about degus, mine do this all the time then go mad if one of the others finds the treasure ;D
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Post by devotedtodegus on Nov 14, 2011 20:53:14 GMT
I own four male degu brothers who are now three years old. They have always been in fine help. They are fed on pets at home degu pellets and have plenty of wood and chewing objects in their cage to keep their teeth down. Three weeks ago (a week before I went on holiday for a fortnight) one of my degus started giving a little sneeze every now and again. It has just turned really cold and I didnt think much of it. He was active, eating and tearing around like a loony as per normal. When I returned from holiday at the beginning of this week (my grandad looked after them) I noticed his condition had gone down hill. My grandad told me he had been taking forever to eat. If he gave them each a treat the poorly degu was still nibbling and trying to lick the first whilst the others had four or five already! I got him home and quickly realised he wasn't well. His eyes are half shut, perhaps his face is a little swollen? He appears unable to eat and is audibly "weeazing" his breathing detoriates once he has eaten and when he is stressed. realising how snuffly he was and that breathing was a struggle I wisked him down the vets on firday night who said his lungs where very conjested and started him on antibiotics. As for the eating the prime suspect is his teeth. She checked his front teeth as I had which appear fine. She attempted to view the back teeth with an ear thing but the he was getting distressed and this was effecting him breathing. In light of this she left me to give him antibiotics twice a day saying he should show improvement in two/ three days. He is now booked to go back tomorrow evening. His breathing is if anything only fractionally better and he is still not eating and perhaps is attempting to eat even less now! The vets plan of action was once the chest infection had improved to anestatise him and check his teeth. I'm worried that if anything he is going down hill. He started his antibotics frieday evening so based on two doses a day he will have effectivly had four days worth by tommorrow morning and it hasn't touched it yet Not looked good. Any ideas/ experience/ advice?? x x
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Post by polythenegirl on Dec 6, 2011 23:01:01 GMT
I've come home to night to what looks like a poorly Degu. He seems to just want to sleep and his face seems swollen. He appears to be breathing fine but didn't want any food when I tried to give him some. When he gets up to try and walk he seems really really unsteady on his feet.
I'm takign him to the vets tomorrow but any ideas?
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Post by stitch62689 on Apr 26, 2012 21:18:41 GMT
Hi there.
I have two male degus but one of them has hair loss around his ear and blood. I am able to clean the blood but in a few days, there will be a bit more blood there. He's had hair loss around this ear for at least the last 6 weeks.
There is usually someone around and we've not seen them fighting and I try to change the layout of the cage at least once a week. Is this something I should be concerned about or, hopefully, think the other male is just over grooming him?
Thanks.
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 27, 2012 1:39:27 GMT
It's possible it is related to excessive grooming, but there could be other more serious things that could be causing it as well. I strongly encourage and urge you to take him to see your Vet ASAP in case there is infection that needs to be dealt with.
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Post by Martina on Sept 4, 2018 20:01:31 GMT
Hello guys, I want to ask if anyone have some experiences with parasites. I already took my boys to the vet, because I saw they started to lose hair on their paws and were scratching too much. So we found little red and white parasites and eggs on their body. I have no idea where it came from, but I think it is from the hay I recently bought in pet store. The vet gave me som tablets I need to put in the water and then spray my degus fur. I am little worried about it because I know they don’t like water. So, if you have any ideas or advices for me, I will be very thankfull.
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 4, 2018 22:48:43 GMT
Do you know what the parasites are? Are they like any of these? goo.gl/images/pUKAymgoo.gl/images/yWsbmiWhat is the name of the tablet that the vet wants you to use? There are chemicals that will kill the mites but will also kill the host, so I'm just wondering if you can tell us the latin/medical name and then we can compare it to what some of us will know and go from there?
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Post by Martina on Sept 5, 2018 8:26:59 GMT
Hello, the second picture is most related to what I’ve seen. The worst is that these little mites also parasite on me. I really don’t know the name of meds but we have check up on next monday so I can ask the doc if you want to know. She said this is something that happens quite a lot to degus and they should be deworming like dogs or cats.
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Post by ntg on Sept 5, 2018 8:52:10 GMT
Never heard of a vet recommending degus be dewormed before! Mites that cause huge issues aren't actually all that common on degus as far as I'm aware.
As for the treatment, I'd presume it wasn't good for the degu to ingest whatever it is if it's designed to kill mites and I'm not sure how effective spraying will be as you'll have to soak the poor love anyway to be sure that it's gone down to the skin. Might be best to somehow bathe them instead of spray and then dry them off as at least that wont be extending the treatment like continously spraying would? However, if you find out what it is before you start treatment then we'll see if we can find anyone who's used the same stuff and see what they did.
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 5, 2018 11:10:37 GMT
The only treatment I know of is ivermectin, which comes in concentrated drops and you put the appropriate number or drops on the back of the neck, which just creates a small damp patch that they can't reach, and you do this 3 times at 7 to 10 day intervals. To really get rid of them every nook and cranny of the cage will need to be cleaned, preferably steam cleaned to get in all the tiny cracks and spaces, probably will need doing a couple of times.
Ivermectin comes with different brand names and different concentrations, the name and concentration recommended for degu size animals in the UK is Xeno 450, if that helps.
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 5, 2018 15:13:32 GMT
The idea of mixing a powder into water and then spraying it on the degu enough to saturate the fur . . . I feel really uncomfortable not knowing what it is, and wondering if the chemicals may be very harmful to the degu itself.
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Post by Martina on Sept 7, 2018 13:54:05 GMT
Hey guys, thank you for your opinion. I need to find out what meds we have... The mite which is struggling us is known as cheyletiella. Yesterday I bathed my two little babies in water (my heart is broken that I did this to them), but my vet told me it’s necessary. I immediately covered them with towel to decrease possibility of any other illness. I just hope it will work.
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 7, 2018 14:06:06 GMT
How are they doing today, Martina? I assume the chemical to kill the mites was in the water? Have you seen a reduction in the number of mites? How are you doing?
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Post by amc on Sept 17, 2018 11:07:00 GMT
Hello guys, I want to ask if anyone have some experiences with parasites. I already took my boys to the vet, because I saw they started to lose hair on their paws and were scratching too much. So we found little red and white parasites and eggs on their body. I have no idea where it came from, but I think it is from the hay I recently bought in pet store. The vet gave me som tablets I need to put in the water and then spray my degus fur. I am little worried about it because I know they don’t like water. So, if you have any ideas or advices for me, I will be very thankfull. My birds had the red and black mites which then went to the degus. I ordered this online www.vetuk.co.uk/rabbit-supplies-rabbit-treatments-and-supplements-c-649_418/xeno-50-ivermectin-spot-on-9-pipettes-p-1501Worked a treat. I also used mite spray around the house. If you put a white towel or sheet over the cage over night the mites should be attracted to it. Then In the morning boil was it to death. X
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