Emergency & First Aid for Degus

If the degu gets sick, prudent but quick action is required to avoid serious damage to the animal. Read here how to act correctly in an emergency.

At the first sign of a serious illness, you should immediately consult a veterinarian, since the degus’ small body size means that you need to act quickly. Do not try to treat your degus with home remedies or even self-medication, as this will waste a lot of time that may ultimately be lost for healing.

Also, treatment can only be carried out meaningfully if an intensive examination and a technically correct diagnosis have taken place beforehand. And only an experienced veterinarian can do this. You should look for this early so that you can fall back on it in an emergency. Therefore, before purchasing the animals, ask for a veterinarian who is familiar with the treatment of degus.

First measures

If a degu falls ill, quick action is required. You should separate the sick animal from the other conspecifics as quickly as possible to prevent infection. You need a separate sick cage for this. For reasons of hygiene, it is advisable to use unprinted kitchen paper, which can be changed quickly.

The most important thing is the sufficient heat supply for the sick degu. However, you must not overdo it with the heat to avoid heatstroke. Heating mats or radiant heaters from terrorists are well suited as heat sources.

• However, only hang the heater over one side of the sick cage so that the sick animal can choose the temperature range in which it wants to stay. At the warmest point, the temperature should be such that you feel comfortable when you place your hand on the bottom of the cage below the heat source.
• If you want to use heating mats, they must never be placed under the entire cage, so that the sick degu can also choose the optimal warmth area here. In order to compensate for the higher loss of liquid due to the increased ambient temperature, it is important to offer sufficient fresh drinking water.

Handling medication

Under no circumstances should you succumb to the temptation to treat your degus yourself with medication. Although some over-the-counter medicines are available for animals, these are usually ineffective or do not help against the pathogens that are the cause of the disease. It is important for the veterinarian to make the diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate medication.

Emergency cards

The emergency card set for owners of small animals, birds, fish, and terrarium animals contains small stop signs that you can put on cardboard, cover with foil and attach to the apartment door. If something happens to you or a fire breaks out in your home, helpers will know right away that there are animals in your home to rescue. Also included is an emergency card to keep in your purse or wallet. All you have to do is cut them out, fold them at the breakpoint, glue them together and fill them in. If you have an accident or collapse unconscious, the card will certainly be found and your animal will not be left uncared for.