Ouch I got bit pretty badly

[jbaglady]

I have two rather nervy young female degus. I got them before I realized how untame they were. I have been hand feeding them oatmeal and they love it. So much so that they have started becoming aggressive to each other over my hand. So, I started giving them each some in each hand to eliminate the competition. On different levels of the cage too. Well, last night I was feeding them in this manner and all of a sudden the one bit the h#@* out of my thumb. Bled a lot too. Wow ! I wasn't expecting that . Now I am scared to hand feed them. How will I ever get them tame ? They are really jumpy and wild. They are probably about 5-6 months old. I have never been able to get them out of their cage to let them run around in the bathroom or hallway. What should I do at this point or do I maybe just have some really wild little girls Also they are sisters.

[jayner27]

hi there, i have had my degus for eight months 6 females and one male, i like you would feed mine by hand and they will climb and be held when i let them out although do not stay still for long!... i was saying good night to them last week and.. please dont laugh to hard! ..i rub noses with stevie and he loves it.. he just launched out and bit my nose! lol .. did it ever hurt bled like mad.. i am no expert on degus but there are many on here that will advise you where to go from here..i have not changed the way i handle them and it hasnt really scared me of him .. i just wont be rubbing noses with him again in a rush lol best of luck and i also look foward to the experts replies on your question.. and please no comments or laughing too hard at my nose situation guys

[aya0aya]

Maybe it was an accident since your finger smells like food? I don't think they would bite without a reason. I got bitten too, but never without a reason (dominance thing).

Well my Pepi is kind of scared too, so I open the cage door and let her to choose to go out or not and when to go back in. And I sit down on the floor with treats and let her to chose when she's ready to came closer. It works fine and she's a bit braver now when she knows I won't do anything she don't want. But hey, all goos are jumpy

[deguconvert]

I'm not sure what to tell you about the bite . . . there do seem to be the rather rare bite now and then that doesn't have any discernable stimulus, it just happens. In any of my cases, which are few, it was usually the result of a sudden case of nerves brought on by one of the dogs suddenly popping up and barking, or the degu was nervous already and I didn't pick up on it when I put in my hand. I have taken the thought that to back off and not approach was to reinforce the undesireable behavior, and for myself leaned in even harder to the hand training. It payed off for me too, but I did get a few bites before the end. If you are able to continue with the hand training, and feeding, I think you are better off to keep going and pressing in, than if you just abandon it for a while and then start up again.

[jbaglady]

The more I think about it I really think that it was a reaction to me moving my hand and my Goo being "food aggresive". Especailly if she thought the other goo might be coming up stairs to steal her oats. I have been ging them treats thru the bars since then and trying to figure ot which one it was. I am pretty sure it was the more dominate one. Being young, do they go thru stages as they grow up ? Have you all noticed that they mellow somewhat after a certain age? Just wondering if maybe they go thru an adolescent age ?

[deguconvert]

They DEFINITELY go through an adolescent stage!! They really enter into it between 5-6 months of age and it can last until they are anywhere between 12-18 months of age. Some degus have a nasty, nasty adolescent age, and they don't get along with the others well at all, being very must estranged in some cases. Others seem to have only minor bumps along the way. Really, they are so much like humans, LOL! Some of us had a terrible transition through adolescence, while others seemed to breeze through as though it were nothing at all. The problem is, grounding a degu, removing all eletronics from their possession, refusing rights to the car, or heaping on more chores around the house, for unacceptable displays, outbursts and other adolescent grievences, will get you absolutely nowhere. LOL! Sometimes they don't help with the human species either, but there ya go . . . adolescence is hard on all creation!! Usually around the age of two or so you will begin to see them getting more mellow, but there are members who tell of their 8-9 year old degus still being as feisty and full of pepper as they were as pups!

[malteser60]

The only thing I can think of jbaglady is that there were in an oat frenzy and if you inadvertently pulled your hand away or maybe she thought her cagemate was going to come and steal the oats she could have bitten you, not to bite but to try and take the oats away to a hiding place. Mine do that to me sometimes. They don't bite but they will get a very good grip on my fingers with their mouths and tug inside. But then again I have trained them not to bite, so I'm sure if they were not trained then they would probably bite again.

I know it's hard but try and keep up with the training. They will get the idea eventually. And keep on talking to them through the cage bars. Everytime you go into the room talk to them, poke your finger through. I found that was the best way to get mine to be comfortable with me and soon after the running onto my shoulders and being comfortable with me followed.

As for your finger, give it a very very good clean and disinfect. Degu bits can get infected.

[jbaglady]

Thanks for all the advice. I am going to continue working with them but I am really quite scared to feed oats in my hand again as they really get serious about it. Maybe just put my hand in and let them smell and try to get them to come to me some. What do you think I should do next if I am too scared to let them eat oats ? maybe their pellets ? not quite so frantic about ?

[Kins]

I would say perhaps avoid the oats in your hand for a while. They do seem to cause somewhat of a frenzy amongst goos.

You could use puffed rice and feed them one bit at a time from your fingers to get them used to your hand a bit...or sunflower seeds, fed sparingly though.

[winic1]

We feed our goos their oats in a tiny spoon each--really tiny, these came with a little jelly-crock kit, the spoon part itself is about the size of a fingernail. The trick is getting both spoons loaded and into the cage without spilling simultaneously so each goo gets their own before they start fighting each other for the goodies. Started this because my daughter is very nervous about her fingers and any of our animals. (Of course, her fingers are smaller than even slender baby carrots, so she has good reason.)

Something like this might be a way to start, again. Or put the oats in a bottle cap in your palm, so they come to your hand, but the food is not directly on your skin?

[davx]

Hi,

Hand feeding sometimes is tricky, because some degus tend to bite. I had several individuals tended to bite and I respected that, was careful giving them their food, and in fact there are food stuff more likely that the degus bite. And meal is a such food item. Some degus are very careful, others are greedy and don't care about us.
But besides feeding my experience was that degus hardly bite, if so they feel in danger and see no way to escape.

[smithomatic]

One of my Degus gets very bitey whenever I do hand feeding with him. He begins to wrestle my finger and plunge his teeth in deep. I have been bitten very badly many times by this little one! I think he just gets really excited and playfull and doesnt realise when he is taking it too far.. Stick with it though, I think they grow out of it.

Wearing gloves might help you. If you are nervous you degu CAN tell. If you were gloves you may be more confident and they will realise this, it may help to put them at rest too. Worked for me!

Good luck!

[smithomatic]

I should also say, using gloves and then eventually removing the gloves has allowed me to hand feed all my degus safely. They are completly tame and trained, no bites for about 6months now. just keep trying you will get there!

GL