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Help! :(

2942 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  16degus, 
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Hi everyone,

One of my younger degu's (approximately 10-11 weeks old) has sudden developed a very large swollen stomach.

She isn't lethargic or acting any differently, she still greets us when we open the cage, she seems fine. But her stomach is massive!

I put a calcium hanging seed treat in the cage last night (one that they all love and share) and it was all finished off this morning - but I'm worried that this wasn't it.

We have a wooden house we put in there and they have always had, and when we got up this morning a substantial amount of this house was chewed away. But they do love chewing all their toys, so I didn't think anything of it.

I'm worried now she may have been eating the wood?

She is still eating her normal food, drinking fine, and even though as the day has gone on her stomach seems worse, she seems perky and fine.

I've read on another forum that with swollen degu's we should separate her until it goes down, but I was wondering if anyone could give me any more advice?

I'm so worried!
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We also use hay as bedding, but they seem to very rarely eat it?
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It is highly improbable that she's eaten wood.
How many degus do you have? Are they all female?
Have you fed her broccoli or alot of another vegetable that might have given her gas? (I don't know why you would need to separate her from the others because of bloating.)
What is the calcium hanging seed treat exactly?
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We have 4, we've been told they are all female.
Nope, we occasionally give some carrot but havent for a while.
It's a calcium treat for chinchillas and degu's, I bought it in pets at home and was assured it was fine for degu's. They all love it.
I felt her stomach before and it's firm too. She still seems fine, nibbling my fingers gently and greeting me.

Maybe she's just been a bit greedier today than usual?
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i have 10 week old boy degus and they are growing at different rates , one of them is very fat and the other small, it could be that she is just growing at a different speed to the rest, moniter them and if the others are all stil smaller than her then watch them feed, it could be that she is eating more than the rest, also mine dont eath the hay bedding either, we changed it to shredded paper (that we bought specially for pets) and put hay cookies in and but a hay feeder ball that you hang from the side or top of the cage, it has a bell on it so they know when its fresh hay, this really helps their diet. :)

hope i helped and keep us informed :)
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My 8-9 week male old degu is the same way except I don't have any wood in their cage it be what Degumad88 sad too and I think because maybe she is eating more like mine is I believe just make sure you keep an eye on her too though.
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hey emoangelhai, i took all of the wood out of my degus cage for a day or two and he was in a great deal of discomfort, please put wood in their cage as they love to chew it, and its fun get a nest box or a burrow box or even a chew toy or a stick i'd hate for your degus to be uncomfortable as their teeth never stop growing and it could grow so long that the teeth actually grow through the skull or stop them from feeding :(
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Hello Puddingz:

Just wondering how your degu is doing. Has the bloating subsided?
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