Degu Illnesses, Symptoms and Treatments

These are the most common diseases that a degu may develop. They can all be avoided so be sure to read the treatments.

BUMBLEFOOT- It causes soreness in degu's feet.
Symptoms : The degu may have difficulty walking and might show pain while on his feet.
Treatments : Avoid having wire surfaces in their cage. Having to walk on those types of surfaces can cause this painfull disease. If wire surfaces are unavoidable, you can tape bristal board, or poster board on the wheel etc so it is easier on their feet. Although it doesn't look that nice, it is better for them in the long run.

DIABETES - Degus cannot metabolize sugar; therefore, if they eat too much of it they can become diatebic.
Symptoms : They will drink more water than normal, and won't live very long.
Treatments : Don't feed your degu any food that contains sugar. That includes fruit, and raisons.

GENETIC DISEASES- All of the degus in the US and Canada come from the approxamate ten animals that where exported from Chile in the 1950s. Because of this, there has been A LOT of imbreeding, and all of the domestic degus around now are descended from those origanal ten.
Symptoms : Cataracts are a common ailment caused genetically.
Treatments : If you breed degus, make sure that they are from different litters, and as far away as possible in terms of relation. If the imbreeding rate is too high, the chances of little degus with big problems is, unfortunately, very great.

LIVER DISEASES- If degus are fed too much fat, they will contract liver problems.
Symptoms : ?
Treatments : Don't feed your degus too much food that is fatty, such as sunflower seeds, peanuts and nuts. If possible keep these types of treats to a bare minimum! Or if you wish- don't feed it too them at all (but they will be sorely missed if you have given it to them before. Rocky and Bulwinkle with fight for them. Hard.)

MOUTH DISEASES- Degus are extremely prone to these types of infections.
Symptoms : Their teeth will loose their yellow/orange coloring and will turn white. When they turn white, the degu will die soon.
Treatments : Give your degus fresh hyperchlorinated water at least every-other day. I heard that vitamen C also helps, even though it hasn't been proved- of course it certainly wouldn't hurt them :o)

PARASITES - Degus can get parasites, such as mites and fleas from other pets and animals.
Symptoms : They tend to scratch themselves, or even bite themselves. Ear mites can be spotted from sore ears, and loss of fur around the ears.
Treatments : Use treatments that your local vet recomends, and then follow the instructions.

WOUNDS - Degus may get wounded when they are fighting etc.
Symptoms : Duh.
Treatments : They will heal up normally in four or five days. But if it is a really bad scratch, such as very deep, large or if it takes longer than a week for it to heal, take the degu to a vet.

| CONTACT ME|