Is this normal? a bit worried

[mandymon]

i'm still new at this degu thing and have only had mine for 2 weeks now however i'm a bit worried.
Lord bouncington suddenly just stopped moving a few hours ago and froze up totally on the spot, nothing sudden had happened and no big noises.
My other degu ninja was rolling him over and lying on him for a while then just got up and continued on with his normal activity but lord bouncington just rolled back over and is still lying in the middle of the cage now being totally ignored by ninja.
When i went over he didnt bolt away like usual and let me pet him (which has never happened before). he didnt even move to come get a treat.
He got up and moved around when i tried picking him up though since he isnt a fan of it then just lay back down in the middle of the cage by himself again. He isnt asleep and is squeaking quite a lot.
It may be normal but its something he has never done before, as from the name you can tell he is usually a very active little degu and always sleeps and plays with ninja and have never seen them lying apart.

Does anyone have any advice or input on this

[Ady]

Hi,
that doesn't sound ok. Maybe it's nothing but if won't get better over night i would take him to vet in morning. Someone here will give u proper advice soon for sure. Only thing I can think of is (if u don't have snugglesafe) giving him pet bottle with hot/warm water covered in cloth/sock... maybe he will like it, if hes not well its good to keep him warm.

[mandymon]

thanks
ive put one of those mini microwaveable wheat bags in for now although he just keeps moving it in to their wee nest area, where he drags everything, then going back the the middle of the cage

[Ady]

Does he look sick? Does he move ok when he moves? Maybe it's not health related but maybe something in the cage bothering him so he keeps squeaking. Haven't u changed something in the cage/room today?

[mandymon]

he seems to be moving fine when he does move although when he was jumping down from their wee nest after moving the wheat bag he kinda lost balance and fell on landing and he is lying kinda funny, kinda sprawled instead of curled up like they do.
The room is the exact same as always and the cage hasnt been disturbed today atall ecept when i put more food in their bowl and changed the water.

[Ady]

Isn't your room overheated? He could be drowsy then. Maybe he's lying on the some spot as it cools there.

[mandymon]

the room is the same temperature it usually is, the thermostat says its about 20 at the moment so pretty much room temperature

[fred]

How is he doing this morning? I hope he is very much improved; if not you should take him to the vets today. Ady gave you excellent general advice last night and I don't think that anyone could have added to it because what you described didn't sound similar to anything we have come across here. Please keep us updated.

[mandymon]

he does seem a lot better thanks.
He is moving around a bit more nd when he sleeps is sleeping in his wee nest like normal but still wont eat anything that isnt hay so im thinking he may have a wee upset stomach?

[malteser60]

I'm wondering whether he's had mini strokes or something like that. Unfortunately degus are quite inbred so it's highly likely that some issues like that occur. Keep a close eye on him, keep an eye out on his eating habits, breathing, poops, etc. At least he's eating hay which is good as he is getting some nutrients in him. And if anything changes for the worse take him straight to the vet.

[fred]

It's great to hear that he is doing a lot better; it must have been quite a scare for you yesterday. Keep a close eye on his eating. While hay is of course an important part of their diet, it is not very rich in nutrients. If he sticks with just hay by tomorrow, I would try to entice him to some energy-rich treats like oats or sunflower seeds (just until he is safely back to his normal self).

[mandymon]

Thanks guys
He went on his wheel for a few minutes earlier and ate some oats, so i think he is on the mend
Still no idea really what was going on other than a possibly tummy ache or a bit hurt from a bad flip out of his wheel. Hoping it isnt anything serious like a stroke.

If it happens again i will take him to a vet, trying to find one nearby (since i dont have a car) that will deal with degus at the moment.

[jayner27]

Mandymom i had something similar with my degu dad stevie... they were out of the cage at the time and he just fell on to his side and lay still, i picked him up, like your lord b was something he never has agreed to before,just sat smoothing him until he starting moving slightly i put him back in the cage and the seven of them huddled together keeping him warm..nudging him every now, he moved around every now and then but was dragging his back legs , i rang the vets who were vey busy and said just moniter him overnight.. by the morning still little improvement the vets rang me and asked to see him as there was little improvement, i scooped him up no arguements from him and put him in his carrier and off i went.. (fearing the worst)..my heart was going ten to the dozen as i put the carrier on the vets table the vet opened the carrier and he came bounding out and was running around everywhere the vet couldnt catch him.. he looked so well and was back to himself.. i felt a bit of a fool lol.. the vet could find nothing at all .. he came home and has remained the healthy goo he always has been? we have no idea what it was or why?.. i hope lord b has showed more improvement if not a visit to the vets to be on the safe side.. my vet didnt charge me bless him but we are regular visitors with all the animals we have!! take care, jayne x

[mhb]

Did he fall a largish distance?
Well, you might not be able to answer that but one of our girls, Serrano did similar recently.
We came home from work and she was lying very still all tucked up under herself frequently letting out squeaks that we hadn't heard any of them make before.
She would occasionally move about - go on the wheel but only walk.
When her sisters tried forming a Goo pile on her because she was still she squeaked when they lay on her stomach.
We were quite upset but at 7pm on a Tuesday night there wasn't much we could do.
Checked her out in the morning and she was quiet and not overly keen on food, but when I got home again at 7pm she was fine until she climbed to the top of our Thickets cage and turned herself upside down (which she occasionally likes to do) and lost her footing.
Fortunately she managed to save herself from falling the complete 60cm but she swung into the side wall of the cage bashing her ribs and let out the same squeaking noise and was very subdued and a little ginger for a period of time.
I think I read on here they shouldn't fall more than 38cm... maybe yours did this and temporarily bruised themselves which is what I have put Serrano's behaviour down to.
Either way with her taking to playing Spidergoo recently I desperately need to find funds to build them a wooden home with less falling potential!