Degu Chatter: Caring For a Degu With a Shed Tail

Caring For a Degu With a Shed Tail

My degu, Shyva, shed her tail on the 31 October 2013. Shedding of the tail is caused by the restraining of a degu by the tail. In my case, Shyva managed to make her way to the floor and someone stepped on her tail. We found her tail on the floor and we didn't know what had happened. When a degu sheds its tail it leaves behind the skin and the bone stays attached to the degu. Shyva did not squeak and kept running around on the floor, she left a trail of blood everywhere. Seeing a degu's shed tail can be quite shocking, but it really looks a lot worse than it is.

What to do if your degu's tail sheds:

The tail will start bleeding, this should stop in around 20 minutes but applying corn starch can help the blood clot. If the bleeding persists seek veterinary help. I put Shyva in a small carrier cage as I didn't want Oreo to accidentally hurt her. I continued to apply cornstarch regularly.
The tail should soon start to shrivel up and dry out. I left Shyva in her cage overnight and by morning the tail had begun to shrivel up.
Your degu should chew of the stump within 1-2 weeks. Shyva chewed her stump off within about a week.
Keep an eye on your degus tail to make sure no infection or swelling occurs, if anything looks out of the ordinary, seek veterinary advice. Don't offer your degu a sand bath for a while, wait until their tail has healed.

After Care

Your degu will now have to completely regain his/her sense of balance. You can help your degu by making sure all cage levels are easily accessible and that your degu cannot fall far at any position in the cage. When picking up your degu make sire that you are giving enough support and that your degu feels safe. If your degu's tail starts spinning around in circles it means that your degu feels out of balance.

A shed tail will not stop your degu living life to the full and after a while your degu will regain it's confidence and be jumping about like any other degu. I would say that Shyva has become an even better climber than Oreo, even with a shed tail.

Remember that tail shedding is a natural process which could save a degus life in the wild if it was grabbed by a predator.