Degus

Question
QUESTION: We have 2 female sisters.About 2 years old now, the oldest one seams to have trouble passing stools sometimes.She'll run around non stop .She'll eat but not drink anything for about 24 hours. The she'll start passing small droppings.They get back to normal size in a few days.However when this is happening to her she cry out in a high pitch scream/whistle her sister tries to comfort her but this only seams to upset here. WHAT CAN WE DO TO HER HER IF ANYTHING TO SOFTEN THE STOOL?

ANSWER: I'll be honest, I know nothing about degus; but that's a classic case of dehydration. She needs to be drinking more, and I'm not sure how to encourage that in Degus. With cats and often with rats you can add a bit more sodium to their diet which spikes their thirst. I'm not sure if that's feasible or safe for degu; you might want to call a vet who knows them a bit better and ask.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I don't think that's correct as she drinks lots of water and licks a salt stone.I think it has something to do with the things she chews on, ie, the plastic wheel in the cage, and the cage itself. I belive she has trouble passing this.

Answer
kay your previous question said that she would eat 'but not drink anything for about 24 hours.'


If you know she's eating something in the cage and you believe she's having trouble passing that --- can you switch cages? That seems the most obvious way to fix this problem. But, as I said, I don't know anything about degus.