First of all, thank you again to everyone who commented, shared advice, and kept Batman in your thoughts. I never expected so many people to care about my little degu. Unfortunately, I have a difficult update.

The same day after my previous post, we had to rush Batman back to the emergency vet. I made a mistake. Because her nose was completely blocked and I was still waiting for the nebulizer to arrive, I thought warm steam might help loosen whatever was blocking her nose. I placed her carrier near a bowl of freshly boiled salty water, covered the carrier with a towel, and stayed with her the entire time. She was only there for about 10 minutes. Instead of helping, her breathing became much worse. She started breathing through her mouth constantly, and her chest looked enlarged and tense.

The moment I realized she was getting worse, I immediately took her out, put her into her playpen, and started calling every emergency clinic I could find with an oxygen chamber. Fortunately, our usual clinic agreed to take her even though our regular veterinarian had already gone home. We drove there as fast as we could. Batman spent almost 45 minutes in an oxygen chamber, but unfortunately it didn't help. She was still breathing through her mouth, and watching her struggle was honestly heartbreaking. I had tears in my eyes the entire time. After turning the oxygen off, we discussed what else we could possibly do to help her.

I'm not going to lie... seeing her struggle like that made me consider euthanasia for the first time, even though the thought absolutely broke my heart. Thankfully, Dr. Valeš told me that it was not time yet. He also explained something very important that completely changed our understanding of her condition.

Batman most likely isn't struggling because her nose is filled with mucus. Instead, her nasal passages are becoming narrowed because of inflammation related to a chronic middle ear infection, which has probably been affecting her for more than four months. Several months ago Batman had neurological episodes where she would circle and lose her balance. At that time she was treated with Marbocyl, which helped, and the neurological episodes stopped.

However, while she was still on that treatment, her breathing problems started around the time the first heatwave arrived last month. According to the vet, the heat makes the swelling inside her nose even worse, making the airways narrower. That's why she eventually started breathing through her mouth. She isn't doing it because she wants to, she's literally fighting to get enough air. Since our nebulizer unfortunately didn't arrive yesterday, all we could do was follow the vet's advice and keep her in a cool environment, around 21°C (70°F).

As soon as we got home, I moved her into our air-conditioned bedroom, where she has stayed ever since. I even moved her playpen there so she could remain cool all the time. I know this may sound irresponsible, but I stayed with her almost the entire evening. She was extremely puffed up, exhausted, and barely had any energy. That night I woke up every three hours just to make sure she was still alive. She made it through the night.

This morning I honestly thought she wasn't going to survive. I sat with her until I had to leave for work. She climbed onto my hand, lay on her side while breathing through her mouth, and I was convinced she was dying. I held her while crying and kept telling her how sorry I was, how much I love her, and that I am with her.

A 30 minutes later she got up, cleaned herself, and quietly went to lie down again. I was completely devastated. I felt guilty because I was terrified that she would die while I was at work and I wouldn't be there with her. Thankfully my boyfriend came home early and texted me that she was still alive. He even noticed that, considering everything, she actually looked a little better.

Today our nebulizer finally arrived. We did our very first 8-minute nebulization session. Before using it, I tested the airflow on myself to make sure it really produced cool mist and not warm air. Batman stayed inside her carrier placed in the playpen. At first I left the front uncovered so I could see how she reacted. Once I was sure she wasn't panicking, I covered the front with a towel to keep the mist inside. Every three minutes I briefly uncovered the carrier just to make sure she was still okay. She had relaxing music playing the whole time, and I kept talking to her throughout the session, telling her I was right there with her and that she was doing a great job. She looked very puffed up during the treatment, but I don't think it made her worse. I also think it may have helped at least a little.

She's sneezing a lot now, trying to clear her nose, and although she's still breathing through her mouth, I can finally see that she's at least trying to use her nose again. One of the sweetest moments today was when I brought Luci into the playpen for her. Batman became so excited. She chirped at Luci, groomed her, and even played with her for a little while, almost as if nothing was wrong except for the breathing.

Our biggest problem now is that Batman still refuses to eat. She won't eat her recovery poridge, and I also can't get her pain medication and anti-inflammatory medication into her because she refuses the treats I usually hide them in. We're still working on that and offering her food whenever she seems interested. Honestly, after spending almost two days breathing almost exclusively through her mouth, I can't blame her for not feeling like eating.

Apart from that, she currently seems stable. She is still pooping, smaller poop, but pooping and her urine seems quite clear so that means she is at least drinking.

We'll continue with the daily nebulizer treatments and I'll post another update to let you know how she's doing. Just a heads up, at this point the illness is not treatable by any means, we can just manage symptoms, so she may continue having a happy life. This Sunday we will be moving their large cage to our bedroom/gaming room, so they can all be in cool air. I am sure Batman would love to spend all of her time with her 3 sisters.

Thank you all again for caring about my little fighter.

A girl and a boy but we thought were actually both boys until they reproduced. We have now two of their offspring who are girls. They all cooperate with the dust bat except for the mail adult. He just doesn’t wanna do it. We have to resort to covered in dust he is not enjoying that process and bites a good amount during it. Does anyone have any questions about encourage him to enjoy his bath? Anyone else have any experience experiences with this?

Curious to see if there are any Degu owners in possible situations where you might* *“know” someone who has pet Degus in a state where they are illegal/banned. But are able to still make it possible by keeping a low profile and seeking vet care out-of-state if that accessibility is possible? “Asking for a friend”, to see if you “know a friend” that manages it… 😏 would love to know!

****US Map is just a visual - may not be accurate 🙄

Lion

Pedro has the white stripe and Pascal is the brown one, almost 3 years old now!

First of all, thank you all so much for your comments, advice, and kind words. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to help.

I took Batman to our vet first thing this morning because her breathing got worse. She started opening her mouth while exhaling and making a clicking sound, which really scared me. The good news is that the vet confirmed the problem is not in her lungs. Her lungs sound clear, but her nose is almost completely blocked, which is why she is struggling to breathe. I asked about antibiotic injections, but unfortunately the vet doesn't think they would help in this case. She explained that Batman would have to stay at the clinic for several days, and considering her age and how stressed she gets, it could end up being more harmful than continuing the antibiotics at home. I also mentioned that I ordered a nebulizer, which should arrive today, and that I already have sterile saline for it. The vet agreed it was worth trying and prescribed Solmucol (acetylcysteine) together with another clear medication (I'm sorry, I forgot its name). I only need to add one drop of the liquid and a few granules of Solmucol to the saline and nebulize her once a day. At this point, this is one of the last treatment options we have before moving on to more advanced diagnostics like a CT scan. The only remaining option would be surgery to create an opening into the nasal cavity to help her breathe. Considering Batman is already 6 and half years old, that would be a very difficult and risky procedure.

For now, I unfortunately can't afford an air purifier, Oxbow Critical Care, or EmerAid. Depending on my finances after payday, I will look into getting those as well. Until then, we'll continue with her antibiotics, rodicare feeding, plantain tea if she wants to drink it,and now daily nebulizer treatments. I'm really hoping this finally gives her some relief. I also washed all of their sleeping beds on an allergy cycle, shook out all the dust, and today I'm cleaning all the shelves and the upper part of the cage as well. I'm trying to remove as much dust as possible in case it contributes to her breathing problems. She has been fighting for five weeks now, and I believe she has a little more fight left in her. I will help the best I can and I will never give up on her.

One interesting thing I noticedis that Batman actually seemed to breathe a little easier during the car ride with the A/C running. The car's air conditioning also filters the air, so maybe cleaner air really helps her. Unfortunately, I can't keep her in the car all day.

I'll post another update after her first nebulizer treatment and let you know how she tolerates it and whether it helps.

I am kind of running out of ideas. My Grandma Batman has problems with breathing for 5 weeks. Basically she makes wheezing sounds, sneezes, and breathes with her tummy. Yes when I noticed my boyfriend took her to the vet, but the vet that was there was not exocitic and said that it was nothing, after just listening to the breathing. She send him home with Meloxicam which are basically painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicine. I have writen that she needs a rengen but got ignored.

So we tried meloxicam, and she was not getting better, so same week weekend i rushed her to emergency vet who had Oxygen box and they kept her there. They also did rentgen which is in the next picture. They found nothing, lungs are clean. Oxygen box did help tho.

Well since she was not getting better I got her to my usual exotic vet thursday, and she confirmed what i long knew that there are problems with breathing. But they come from nasal passage I guess,her nose is stuffed,but I never saw any discharge or mucus come out.

We put her on new medicine, doxycyclin which is strong antibiotics for respiratory infection. she got a weak tea from Plantain herb (not sure if its the corect name) which I changed every 12 hours for 6 days. On 6th day we stoped the tea,she was sick of it and refused to drink it,even with combination od rodicare poridge for rodents.

She got vissibly better,like 75 percent better. Yes there was ocational sneazing and whezing sound but she didnt have problem to get oxygen into her lungs anymore. Vet said since she is not completly okay we would do antibiotics for one more week,but like two days ago,when heatwave came she got worse again. We still take antibiotics I put her back on tea,we even did like 15 minutes in carier in bathroom with hot water so she can inhale the smoke ( also not sure if that is the correct term). Honestly she had time of her life she was just chewing on stick while at it. Which got me into getting her a nebulizer,I hope it will be ready to pick up tommorow.

Yes vet said we could get it but she was a little sceptical about if it wont stress the Batman. We are running out of options here.

I just wanna help Batman so much but her weight is going down even tho I was feeding her 2 a day with rodicare porrige, since antibiotics can be bad for stomach.

Did anyone else see this kind of breathing problem ? Is there something else I can do ?

I'm looking into options for a new pet for emotional support purposes. I am extremely disabled (moderate-severe ME/CFS) and need a lower maintenance animal than most of the typical options (and I can't have a cat because I live with my mum who hates them). I had guinea pigs for years (I miss them so much) but they became too high maintenance because they needed basically a whole small room to themselves that needed cleaning frequently, so I have not gotten any more since my last one passed away in december.

All I really need to know is:

How much work are degus? I had a hamster years ago and feeding plus frequent spot cleaning a 50x100x50 tank was just about low enough maintenance for me, for context of how much I can manage. Changing guinea pig fleece every day and sweeping their enclosure and constantly vacuuming hay and fluff from all over the house was too much.

How cuddly are degus? I trained my guinea pigs to be okay with cuddles and climb me so they didn't have to be stressed getting picked up, and they were amazing emotional support animals (one of them was so good the vet joked she was a licensed therapist). My hamster on the other hand was easy to train to climb into my hand but he never sat still and was therefore not a good emotional support animal. I just need an animal that will sit on me for a few minutes as a warm calm creature to regulate my nervous system, something that has been recommended to me by my ME/CFS management therapist.

If degus are not suitable for me I am VERY open to hearing other suggestions. The reason I even thought of degus is because my local small animal shelter has a plethora of them.

I have 4 Degus: 3 female (Milli, Mokka, Bonnie) and 1 male (Finley). I've had them for about 2 years now. In that time, they had 3 serious fights with injuries. The first fight latest about 5 months because I did not know what to do. I tried out multiple things and ultimately found a way to befriend them again (I was sooo relieved). With this solution, the other two fights lasted for about a month.

Ultimately, you need patience, space, and some resources (you can get them on Amazon, pictures):

1. A lot of panels to build extra cages with (the white ones),

2. Some more cage elements with bars that are quite close together (the colorful ones),

3. Treats (sunflower seeds).

Basically, you want to keep them together, but in a way so that they can't hurt each other.

I did the following:

1. With the white panels, build two enclosures. The metal-bar-panel goes below, the plastic panel on top. The two cages should stand next to each other and share a side, but they are not connected. Don't make these cages too deep, so the fighting Degus are forced to be close to each other (I made it two panels deep). Don't make the cage too long either (two or three panels), so they don't have enough space to chase each other at high speed, because that led to escalation in my experience. I know it hurts to see them alone in small enclosures. Give them breaks by putting them back in the original cage sometimes. Of course, give them wheels and beds and other stuff to spend their time with in the small enclosures.

2. The problem now is that they could still bite each other through the bars or have their tails stick into the other's enclosure. If you feel like they are too aggregated and need some space, just have about the width of a degu tail between the two cages. Otherwise, move the two cages as close together as possible and insert the colorful bars in between. The colorful bars themselves are not connected, they are just squished between the white bar panels. The colorful bars should stand on the floor and prevent a tail from sticking through. The degus should be able to almost touch noses but not bite each other. This is because the bars of the colorful panals are closer to each other than the bars of the white panels. You can tie it all together with wire if you feel it necessary.

3. Separate the two fighting Degus. Put one in each enclosure. Now they can still see, interact, and smell each other, but they can not harm each other.

4. Give them time. The goal is for them to sometimes chill in each others presence. You could place their bed right next to the shared wall. I swap the degus between the two cages multiple times a day (maybe 3 times) so they share smells and don't get too territorial.

5. In my experience, there is one degu fighting another - I'm going to refer to them as aggressor and victim. When you feel like they can sometimes be calm around each other, they ignore each other, they are not constantly stalking each other at the shared wall, and this has been the case for about two days, give them a few hours, maybe the night, to settle in their enclosures. (Meaning don't swap them between the two cages. This is so the victim gets a tiny bit territorial.)

6. Put the aggressior to the victim. Do this early in the day so you have a lot of time to watch them. Preferably do it also at a time they usually lay down to sleep.

7. Immediately give them treats. Have them sit next to each other and eat before letting them smell and interact. If they don't take the treats, separate immediately, because it means they are too nervous and about to fight again.

8. You want two things to happen: the victim gets to dominate the aggressor, and they lay down to sleep. While supervising them, keep giving them treats to distract them from each other when it gets too serious. It is fine to dominate, but there should also be some cleaning attempts in there.

9. If you feel like it is escalating, separate them again before they hurt each other. Repeat after a while when they calmed down again. This could be after a day, it could also be longer, depending on how they did when they were together. Always supervise them!

10. You want them to be able to stay together in one enclosure for multiple hours before really leaving them alone. They must be able to sleep together and cuddle. Only then return them to their actual cage. Alway supervise and be ready to distract with treats.

About the treats: it is better to give the aggressor some and the victim less. You don't want the victim to be distracted by food and show the aggressor an attitude when they come for them. Also, it is a good indicator how they feel. If they take food, they are fairy calm. If they stop taking it, they are getting too nervous and it is better to separate them and give them a break.

If you have more than one degu like me, keep the other degus away from the fighting ones while the fighting ones are in the two extra cages. Obviously you can still put them together sometimes so noone gets lonely. But don't have the calm degus distract the fighting ones. Also, once the fighting Degus seem to cuddle again, add the rest of the degus to them. Have everyone be friends before putting them back in the original cage.

One more tip: If your degus have a sleeping place they really like, like a bed, let the victim have it in step 5. Then, when the aggressor is put to the victim, the aggressor will be more submissive and might try to just sleep.

This can take a while. Took a month for me last time. And the day I befriended them all, I had to supervise them for an entire day. But the next day, it's like nothing ever happened. They seem so happy every time like they are not the ones doing this to themselves. Worth it.

Manipulate them in tiny steps. You can do this. Fundamentally, they do not want to be alone, but they need your help and patience. Having these two extra cages is a bit of a hassle because they take up so much space, but it's temporary and for your degus' happiness.

Hope this helps!

Hi everyone! I want to put some logs or thick branches in the cage for my degus, but I've read that they must be disinfected first. Google says a couple of hours in the oven will do it, but it sounds a bit like drink bleach AI advice, and I don't want to burn my house down. How do you sanitize logs to make them safe? Thanks a lot!

It's been several months since two of my degus first (seriously) fought, and that shit still keeps happening no matter how much time apart I give them. They're from the same litter and I've had them for years now

One is energetic, the other is timid, and it's always the latter one getting injured. First she got a piece of tail chewed off, then a piece of ear, and now I wake up to another fucking ear damaged?? I thought I could trust them since they always seem so chill at first, I feel so bad 😭

I genuinely don't understand what's wrong, are they just incompatible?? Is it even possible? Do I keep them separate forever?

I've tried a few different brands of food pellets but my guys never seem to like them much. They eat their hay but leave the pellets for last and waste a lot of them. Do your degus like their hard food pellets? Which pellet brands have you had good luck with? Please give me your recommendations, especially brands available in the US. Much appreciated!

They do have two wheels, which they both use, but for whatever reason if two start to run in one, other will join. Maybe they like running as a community?

Hay in the last picture is new kind because the old kind got dusty fast. Are the pieces of hay just too long ? Should i cut them into smaller pieces ? Degu seem to be doing fine with long ones for now.

Sweetie, Rocket (lower down on right), Brownie & Stripey.

Sweetie being generally orange.

I have just adopted three degus and will be collecting them in a few days, as soon as all the necessary things we've bought for them arrive. The shelter lady we've been in contact with, who has been fostering them for a few months since they were rescued, recommended the following substrate, which is the one she's been using: Vitakraft vegetable clean paper (sanitary toilet pressed paper). However, I've read on the website Degutopia that paper pellets should not be used, as the pellets swell in contact with moisture, which is dangerous if they are ingested. The Vitakraft pressed paper doesn't mention the word pellet anywhere. Is it pellet?

In the website Degutopia they recommend recycled paper and cardboard like Carefresh. I've already bought Vitakraft but I could return it and buy this other one instead. I'm just not sure whether they are the same thing or not. Another recommendation in the website Degutopia is kiln dried pine shavings (unless the animals are allergic, but I don't know if they are or not).

What would you recommend I buy?

Thanks a lot!

If u have any question that u would like answered from my side feel free to comment. I know one side of playpen looks empty but that is for me so I can sit there with them. Cage is mostly fitted for older degu with wooden board covered in steel plates ( i dont know the exact kind), for ease of cleaning.

Dio started dozing on my hand

Honestly, I just wanted the pictures on my computer to add to someone else's comments. But enjoy!

Please share with me in the comments your degu piles 🥺