Inspecting a Degu's Body

[degualot]

Hi,

A few days ago, Taco hurt his mouth when he landed at a certain angle onto the bathroom floor. He immediately started to make strange faces while looking up into the air. His paw was constantly rubbing his mouth area. To me this was an indication something was wrong. I checked his mouth the best way I could and he had a small cut inside which I'm guessing was a result of his teeth hitting his cheek when he fell. Next day he was back to normal and his cut seems alot better.

Subsequently I realised what If I wanted to properly inspect his teeth for myself, or what If I wanted to check under his chin, or around his abdomen for other injuries. If so, I would not have a clue on how to hold him in a grip that would allow me to have access to anywhere on his body..

Put it this way, I never grab my Degus, ever, I only know how to hold them on a flat hand or cupped. I sometimes carry them on my shoulder, but I have never forcefully held them in such a position. I realise that being able to hold them still for a few minutes would come in handy for medical reasons and for checks now and then. Does anyone have a guide on how to correctly handle a degu whist being able to check their Teeth, and other things. I've heard of the dominance hold but i'm not sure if this applys. Plus I imagne there would be a threat of a bite from this, o would the hold stop possible bites from an agitated Degu...

anyone got any thoughts on this matter?

[fred]

What was previously called the dominance hold, but should be called the safe hold, is something you can use. This is a video of Amie inspecting Stefan's teeth.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX2GvAq47sY

[degualot]

thanks fred!! checking it out now

[marracraighead]

What an absolutely awesome video ty for the post

[degualot]

just tried it, I was semi successful, It's a strange feeling, I did it to one of My Degus to practice on. don't worry I gave him plenty of hugs and kisses, plus a treat for being a good sport.

Ok it felt strange to have to pressure them into staying still, he also managed to get his head free by squirming very agressively to get away from my grip... It's not something I like doing but I want to be confident in doing it just incase something happens in the future...

[blossombrooks]

You did better than me! Ive watched amies vid like 5 times and still can't get to grips with daisy. She's a wriggle-butt!! Bad news is we're at the vets 2moro. Doh! How did you actually get a hold of him? Did you scoop him up or pick him up from above? :-)

[degualot]

well I just held him in my hand like I normally do and then flipped him on his back gently and just held on for dear life. He really reacted badly as I thought he would. He got me back a few minutes later by giving me a few nips, little beast!!!... suppose he thought I deserved it...

I wouldn't say it went very well... maybe I just can't do it to my Goos

[Kins]

I think this is something that some goos will just never be comfortable with unfortunately. While others are fine with it.

When my Stanley had a slightly prolapsed 'man part' I had to try and hold him on his back to dab some lubricant on to him. He was mightily unimpressed with this a squiggled a fair bit. He did calm after a few moments but was still not comfortable.

Sometimes it's just a case of needs must unfortunately.

[smithomatic]

I agree with Kins. Since I rescued my goos I have had to do alot of safe holding. One of my goos had alot of wounds I had to tend to since I rescued him. All my goos get routine check ups as we have had a few problems with them so far. 1 of the Goos coudnt care either way, one encourages me to hold him upside down cus he gets a treat after and the last goo cannot stand it, he squirms and wriggles as hard as he can.

It deffo depends on the goo!

[malteser60]

How's the safe-holding practice going degualot?

One thing I did to get mine used to it is to start with the degu in your hand, put your other hand over the top and flip. So now the hand that was at the bottom is now on top holding down on you degu's tummy. Keep them there for a couple seconds then flip back with treats, love, etc. Then start increasing the time. After what will seem like forever hopefully your degus will get used to it and you will be able to do other things like check their teeth, as in amie's video.

Or, as simthomatic says, some degus just plain don't like it!

[degualot]

I haven't tried it since, I will try it again next week when I get some time to practice. I wonder how the vets can do it so easily, I guess they don't feel guilty like the owner does. haha

[malteser60]

The key is confidence and a firm hand, and vets are used to dealing with lots of animals whereby a firm hand makes the job easier than worrying whether the animal is unhappy with being handled. Also that way it reduces any struggle which may cause an unecessary injury to the animal. It's also better for the animal as you are giving them a clear signal of your intent.

Oh, also meant to say, when you try my method above make sure the degu's head is towards your fingers when they are on your hand, makes the flipping easier.

Also meant to say that my method is good for getting the degus used to being flipped over, on their back and handled. However it's limiting in examining the degu. This is when amie's method is brilliant.