Rythmic squeaking

[ava]

Once a day for the past two days, when I've been in a different room, I've heard this rythmic squeaking coming from one of the degus (probably sounds weird, but I believe it was Pikachu both times). It probably lasts for 1-2 minutes. I went in yesterday and found them asleep on top of one another, but Pikachu was still squeaking. I heard them today and couldn't go to them for a while and when I went in there, whoever it was had stopped. However, for just a few seconds the other - I'm guessing Dmitri - had done it in a slightly different pitch... if that makes sense. I found them asleep cuddled up again this time.

They are both males and while it's possible it's because they have been... cleaning... I'm guessing it's not that because when I find them it looks as if they've been cuddling for a while. There's also no stimulus in the room whatsoever. The window does let in some traffic noise but it's been basically silent both times, I think. So I'm completely confused. Is one of them hurt or something? I can't see any injuries.

While I'm posting I'd also like to ask if degus usually scratch themselves a lot?

Thanks for any help.

[deguconvert]

No, excessive scratching is not common to degus. You might want to have a vet look at them and make sure there are no mites on them.

Sometimes degus will "talk" in their sleep, and it sounds like this is what you have heard. It doesn't seem that they have been squeeking in fear or pain, just making little noises for a brief time. Although it isn't something that is scientically proven, degus do seem to dream and like other animals, they sometimes show visible or audible signs of what they are dreaming.

I don't think it is something to worry much about.

[ava]

Hm... I'm not sure if the scratching is excessive or not, that's the thing. :/ They just seem to do it quite often.

And that makes sense, it did remind me a bit of when dogs yap in their sleep. Thanks

[ava]

My mother-in-law-to-be wanted us to get this for them:
groceries.asda.com/asda-estore/search/searchcontainer.jsp?trailSize=1&searchString=spot+on&domainName=Products&headerVersion=v1&_requestid=44523
(Second one)

I don't really know if it's safe for degus...


Edit -
I've decided it's probably not excessive. We've had them for a week and they scratch just as much as they have since we got them, and there has been no fur loss. If anything changes over the next week I think then we'll have to check with a vet. I found this - www.deguforum.de/faq_english.htm - and it says they do scratch quite often. So I'm going to assume it's fine, for now. Does this sound ok?

[fred]

Oct 9, 2011 9:59:45 GMT ava said:

I don't really know if it's safe for degus...

As long as it doesn't say explicitly that it is safe for other small mammals, I definitely would not use it for degus.

Can you try to quantify the scratching? How many times do they do it in an hour for example?


Edit - only just saw your edit – yes this sounds ok

[ava]

I'm not sure, but I will try and watch them for half an hour or so later and note it down.

[malteser60]

It is believed that degus can carry fleas on them as they're not suitable for a flea's life cycle. However they may be able to get mites, although it's not common.

Form my experience degus do tend to scratch quite a bit, more than a hamster for example. Just keep an eye on any fur loss that doees not look like it's from over grooming or fur pulling.

As for the spot on, I wouldn't use it. I'm not sure what you would use if they had mites, but I would probably leave that up to a vet to decide.

[fred]

Oct 9, 2011 16:05:03 GMT malteser60 said:

It is believed that degus can carry fleas on them as they're not suitable for a flea's life cycle.

I don't quite understand this.

If it is believed that they're not suitable for a flea's life cycle, do you have a source for this?

[fred]

That degus can't sustain a fleas' life cycle seems to come from Degutopia but I couldn't find anything to support this belief. In fact, fleas are known ectoparasites of degus in the wild ( www.springerlink.com/content/w775046302882nr4/ ). However, ectoparasites seem to be a minor issues with pet degus. In a study of 300 degus presented at the Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic, only two suffered from ectoprarasites and these were mites ( www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21265850 ).

[malteser60]

Sorry fred, stand corrected. Yes, you are right in that I was remembering what degutopia said. I really should learn, shouldn't I. Especially after the safe woods issue!

Also just realised I made a mistake in my post in that it should read they 'can't' have fleas. Just to clear up any confusion.