Degu Fight, Damaged Nose.

[iamPrower]

Hi there, this is my first post on the forum so I'd like to give a quick hello. But I have a concerning problem, I own 4 degus of about 12-13 weeks old all males (2 Brown, 2 grey) and recently the two Brown degus, Kai and Miles have had a quick scuffle and now Miles has been left with the right part of his nose essentially cut open, it bled for a small time so I tended to it ASAP, and it appears it's hanging off a bit. I'm really not sure how to take it from here, he seems to be making a disgruntled squeak when in the cage, but not when with me and he doesn't even seem bothered by the wound, he's just casually rubbing it at points. I did place him back in the cage and watched the behaviour, he just snuggled up with the remaining 3 Degus however didn't stop squeaking... I've isolated him for now but really don't know where to take it from here, these are my first Degus so all help is greatly appreciated

[amie]

Is there any way we can have a picture to see the extent of the damage? By tended to it, do you mean that you washed it with saline solution? (a mild salt water mix). If the wound is very bad, I would suggest taking him to the vets as there are some things we just can't deal with ourselves. Also for a very deep wound, he may need antibiotics incase of any infection. I'm really not sure if you should have seperated him. It depends on how bad the bite is and if they've stopped fighting.

I always hate to ask this question, but what are the measurements of the cage they are in? When Degus aren't in a large enough cage, they can fight a lot more than they usually would. Although fights can happen no matter what the cage size.

I know I haven't been THAT helpful, but I'm sure other members will help you I hope your little one is ok.

[iamPrower]

60W 120L 80H

The damage isn't too severe, it's a cut which he isn't bothered about and he seems fine now, and yes I tended to it with a salt-water mix. The only thing Miles is really doing now is squeaking loudly with Niwa and Kyo. I'll see if I can get a picture.

Kai on the other hand, when I re-introduced about 30 minutes later has been trying to be very dominant to the other Degu, consistently try to bother or mount him, which Miles has disliked a lot so they just break out in a fight every other minute.. I kinda had no choice but to separate them as I didn't want one of them to end up seriously seriously injured ):

[iamPrower]

Just to have an update, Miles is completely fine now, I've been under heavy Goo surveillance since posting this thread and have put them all together and made sure that they don't get up to any antics, they're all now nicely snuggled up in the corner enjoying a good kip, thank god the worrying is over.. (:

[deguconvert]

Welcome to the forum, Prower! I am watching your thread, and am glad that Miles is doing better and all of them are snuggled back up together, but I'll be keeping an eye on things, because sometimes these types of conflict break out again and again.

Should this happen, I recommend that you clap loudly, and speak a firm, loud, NO at them. Do it every time they start to fight after Kai tries to take on Miles. You may need to consider taking them both into your hands, seperately and telling them NO firmly. If they don't listen to you, I would suggest taking them to the bathtub, and letting them interact there where you can very easily and quickly intervene. You will be informing and teaching them that you are the top degu, and they must listen to what you say, not what they think.

[iamPrower]

Thanks for the warm welcome Deguconvert (: Yeah I've been doing the firm talking and clapping to stop them from getting up to any antics, but they've been completely fine for the night.

The bathtub is a wonderful idea however, I shall definitely try that. Thanks for the advice!

[amie]

Awww, I'm glad Miles is doing better