Degu Tail Chewing?

[tavok]

I have a Degu who is almost 7 years old and it looks as if he has been chewing on the tip of his tail. It was very minor at first and he never seemed to be bothered by it, but tonight I noticed that it looks very raw and I can actually see what appears to be bone or cartilage now. This has me very concerned and he now seems to be in pain since he is constantly moving his tail back and forth very quickly.

My Degu has been blind for the past couple of years most likely due to diabetes and I read that tail chewing/biting can be attributed to that as well since they may not be able to feel it or it is causing a lot of pain.

Is there anything I can do, I am very concerned about it getting infected.

I have attached a picture I just took of it. If anyone can provide any advice, I would very much appreciate it.

Thank you.

Attachments:

[emz]

If he is actually a lone degu and he can reach and chew his tail it may be an idea to have him taken to the vets to have a stitch put into it. Like smux said though if there's a cage mate separate them and clean the tail with a mild salt solution to ensure it doesn't get infected.

[tavok]

He is the only one in the cage now and I have never actually witnessed him chewing his tail. If this seems to be causing him pain, how might he react to a salt water solution?

[tavok]

Ok, I will go and start that now, thanks for the help

I recorded a video just now of him which shows the tip more clearly than in the picture and him shaking his tail. Does this just look worse than it actually is?

[malteser60]

Hmm, I wonder what is causing him to chew his tail in the first place though. Do as smux and emz say with the saline solution, that will keep the tail clean (as it's a mild astringent) and cause the cells to contract and shrivel up (from the osmotic action due to salt). However, need to think why he's chewing in the first place. I wonder if he caught the tail on something, and irritated it, hence the need to chew it?

Probably best thing to do is saline water, keep it clean, and monitor it. If it even starts looking a bit infected or 'wrong' just go to the vet. Hopefully keeping it clean will heal the tail and stop the chewing.

Just as an aside, have you thought of getting him a cagemate? I don't know what the background story is so I'm not lecturing here, just wanted to see if you thought of this.

[tavok]

After holding him in a towel to clean his tail, I saw him bring the tip to his mouth and give it a small nibble.
While holding him up close I can now definitely see that there is a couple millimeters of exposed tail bone (I was worried about picking him up at first as it might cause him more pain and bite me). The salene solution didn't seem to bother him much, he would just move it out of the way when I would drop the water on it.

When we first got him, he did have a cagemate, but after a a couple of months we noticed that the other one was becoming weaker and we weren't sure why. It wasn't until later when I was monitoring them more closely, that I noticed my current Degu was chasing the other one away from the food bowl. I tried at first to give them separate bowls for a while, but that didn't help. By then the other was too weak and when I put them in different cages, he would not eat or drink at all. He unfortunately died shortly after =(

We did just get a new kitten just over a month ago, and I have seen him lurking around the cage, could he have somehow bitten or caught the tail with his claws? Just a thought.

[tavok]

The little bit of exposed tail is now gone... I have him in my lap now and it was there when I made the last post, I guess he bit it off?

Is using a plastic syringe and just dropping the water on the tail ok? I have sterilized it.

[malteser60]

Ah, that makes sense. I have read, from other posts, that when a tail gets degloved the degu will chew off the stumpy bit. So that is probably why your degu was chewing the end of the tail - to get rid of the stump. And would probably explain the shaking the tail about, if I had the end of my tail irritating me cause there's a stump that I don't want, then I will shake my tail a bit.

Could also be the kitten could have caused the degloving (or futher degloving if your degus tail had already lost the fluffy end bit of its tail). Bless kittens, they are so curious.

Using a plastic syringe is good. So is using cotton wool.

Also, It's been reported by other forum members that had this issue before, as long as the stump remains clean until healed, your degu will have no problems whatsoever.

[tavok]

Ok, that is good to know, I will pick up some cotton balls tomorrow. Thanks a lot =)

[Ady]

What do u thing about getting him some painkillers? (my vet charge me 10£ for metacam + consultation fee). Degus can hide pain quite well. Does he sit most of the day in that stiffen position he is in video? Painkillers would make him feel better while he's healing. What others think about that?

[tavok]

He is usually in that position when he is on the wood block, but I put a folded towel in the cage today and he looks more relaxed on that. I hadn't concidered pain killers, but I will see how he is doing in a couple days and see if he needs to see a vet.

[nuttz]

**He is usually in that position when he is on the wood block, but I put a folded towel in the cage today and he looks more relaxed on that. **

have you tried covering the mesh on the bottom of the cage? degus are prone to getting a condition called bumblefoot, maybe this is the reason why he seems more comfortable relaxing on the towel you put in.
lots of people use cardboard to cover mesh flooring, the only problem with this is that it needs to be replaced quite often due to the degu chewing it, its a good idea to try it and it would help prevent him getting sore feet.

in regards to his little tail, i would continue to bathe in the saline solution as you be advised to do, the most important thing is to keep it clean, hopefully it should start healing, if however you see no improvement, maybe it might be best taking him to the vet for a check up.
once healed im sure he will have no problems with it, i have a degu called stumpy who has a tiny stump of a tail, it doesnt seem to bother him in the least
good luck!

[tavok]

He didn't make it through the night
He was still on the towel I put down for him...


Rest in Peace little buddy, I will miss you.

Thank you all for your kind help though, I do greatly apprecite it.

[Ady]

I'm really sorry about that. xoxo

[poandcc]

Aww poor boy! RIP little one!

[tavok]

Thank you