Losing hair on tail - Paw Talk

Elsie150 · #1 04-06-2007, 10:45 AM

My Degu is losing the hair from her tail or it is breaking off maybe or she is over preening. This is new.

Background info:
Age unknown. At least 3 years old. She belonged to my Grandparents and they had her in an aquaruim. She was purchased at a pet store and they had her about a year and we took her in when Grandpa was dying. We will have had her 2 years this July.

No cage mate.

Happy...runs around...loves scratches and her wheel. Teases and chatters to the dog.

New changes. When we got her the first thing we did was ditch the aquarium and got her a big cage (32" widex35" highx 18" deep) with multiple levels on it. She loved it once she figured out how to climb. In Jan we added a new puppy to the house. She talks to him and likes to get him all excited..she gets right up to the wire and starts chattering at him and he barks and she sits there. Sometimes she will jump off her log and scoot a little bit away and then come back as if she is saying nanapoopoo you can't get me. Though not on a daily basises. She was stacked on top of another cage the same size that held our last male rat. And he has since passed on. So we joined the cages together giving her a cage that is about 70" high. She doesn't seem to use her wheel quite as much ( we have it at the bottom so she doesn't move it off and hurt herself as she likes to rearrange her stuff. And her sleep spot is at the top.

Is this too much room for her?? Or is she just slowing down due to age? Or is she not liking the new puppy?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

Elsie150

Amethystbelle · #2 04-10-2007, 01:27 PM

Is is the hair on the tail itself or the hair on the tip of the tail (the brush)?

tarita2004 · #3 04-10-2007, 05:32 PM

this could be 'fur slip'

Care and Handling
• A degu is able to shed its tail as an escape mechanism. The degu will twist and spin and the skin of the tail will slip off exposing vertebrae and tendons. The wound does not bleed but it is quite a disturbing sight.

website where info was....
Millermeade Farm's Critter Connection -- Dormice

mebri123 · #4 04-10-2007, 05:43 PM

have a closer look at the tail so you can see if there is a wound or just missing hair.... what are you feeding your goo
they are prone to diabetes and if they have it the extremeties might lose circulation and dry up and die... I doubt this is the problem but I would take a good look at the tail and see if you can figure out if it is an injury first.

Elsie150 · #5 04-12-2007, 04:47 PM

Thank you so much for the replies. Sorry for getting back to you so late as I was out of town. This is not a wound. I can see bristles, some longer, some shorter and it is up and down the tail not just at the end. I feed rabbit pellets, sunflower seeds and timothy hay. Some apple and 1 or twice a week she gets 1 or 2 rat blocks. She LOVES these. Any ideas?

Thanks!
Elsie

mebri123 · #6 04-12-2007, 08:53 PM

if it is just a little bit at the tip it sounds like your goo is just normally that way... I have one that has a bald tip about 1/8th of on inch on the tip
she has been that way sice she was full grown

Elsie150 · #7 04-12-2007, 10:42 PM

No...this is definately new. Her tail looked completely fine until recently. Now some is short and bristley and some is normal. She seems to be eating and drinking the same amount. I don't notice the squeak of the wheel quite as often so she may be running less since giving her the larger cage for some reason or maybe I am just sleeping more soundly. Thanks.

Elsie

Amethystbelle · #8 04-13-2007, 06:06 AM

Degus can lose the fur on the tips of their tails, its usually something to do with poor breeding background, they can also lose them along the tail from it rubbing on something continually such as a wheel. I wouldn't worry too much, just keep an eye on her and see how she goes on. Regarding your degus diet i would be really careful giving her rabbit pellets as they aren't good for degus as they contain a drug that can harm them, you would be much better feeding guinea pig pellets or chinchilla as long as they don't contain any mollasses or excess sugars. You should also only give your degu sunflower seeds only one or twice a week max and the same goes for apple as they aren't all that good for degus.

Elsie150 · #9 04-14-2007, 09:49 AM

Thanks. Actually, I do give her the guinea pig pellets....I accidently typed rabbit as we just took in a 4 year old rabbit so he was on my mind. We don't give apple too often but I had read that was okay for them. Will check out your page and see what I can learn. I will quit worrying about the tail and keep my eye on her.

Thank you so much everyone!

Elsie

HaileyS · #10 04-18-2007, 08:50 PM

Just a comment, not sure it will help...but my chinchillas hate noise. When they hear the tv and it is on too loud, the bite their tails and butts. I know degus are close to chinchilla's but not identical, so I thought maybe the new big cage might be bringing in more noise than the closed aquarium?? I don't know. Just a thought!

Enjoy!

Elsie150 · #11 04-19-2007, 12:36 PM

Thanks Hailey. We took her out of the aquarium when we first got her. So she has been in a cage for 2 years now. And her new bigger cage is just an extention of her old one as the rats were in the identical one and we pieced it together to make it bigger. It is even in the exact same space. She is eating well and running around so will keep an eye on her.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Norton · #12 06-10-2007, 03:01 PM

Hey, sorry to bump up an old thread but I google searched for degu hair loss and found this thread

We moved our degus (Pedro the introvert and cheeky Costas) to a six foot tall aviary about a year ago... they started to lose hair on their tails soon afterwards. As they didn't look sore or anything, we left them to it. They are both the offspring of a neglected parent whose owner was going to feed her to a snake before she was rescued! As such, one of them (the extrovert!) has a cataract... but he seems happy enough and his brother looks after him well. It certainly doesn't stop him chewing on the highest of the cage bars at 3am

Anyway, I noticed yesterday that the hair on their tails seemed to be slowly growing back. I haven't changed their diet at all (chinchilla pellets and hay) and they have received regular sand baths throughout this period. As experienced rodent owners, we've never grabbed them by their tails and we've had them for three years, since they were old enough to be weaned. The hair loss was a bit of a mystery, but the regrowth is just as strange!

So all I would say, is unless it seems to be causing your degu any distress, I wouldn't rush her to the vets unnecessarily.

One day, your degu may grow back her lovely bushy tail

Elsie150 · #13 06-24-2007, 09:43 AM

Thanks for the additional info. Sassy's hair looks about the same. And she seems well. Interesting that it happened after the moved their Degu to a bigger cage as we did.