u/TheEACouldNever

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To check on my Degus when I am not there or when I stream, and I think I need another camera for upper level.

I’ve been looking through old photos of my previous degus lately, and it made me realize just how much my care has changed over the years.

My first degu was Nocturne, or Nuno. My grandmother bought him for me in 2017 after I had been asking for degus for a long time. Unfortunately, she bought him alone. Nuno was probably the sweetest degu I have ever known when it came to people. He did not care whether he had known someone for years or was meeting them for the first time. He would immediately go to them, let them pet him, and happily accept attention from basically anyone. He was also the degu who taught me my first big lesson: degus should not live alone.

About a year later, my boyfriend and I decided to get him a companion. The pet shop sold us a female by mistake. Her name was Shyvana, although we called her Civi. I did not have the heart to take her back. The conditions she had been living in were already much worse than what I could provide at home, and Nuno was absolutely delighted to have another degu around. Four months later, unsurprisingly, we had our first litter. We found homes for most of the babies, but I kept Evelyn, Ivy.

For about the next year, Nuno and the girls lived separately and only spent supervised time together outside the cages. Then, around a year and a half later, Nuno and Civi somehow decided that one accidental family was not enough. In January 2020, Batman, Vol’jin, who I called Volik, and Cayde-6 ( Bobo), joined the family. The original plan was simple: three females together and three males together. Reality had other plans.

That same year I moved with them to another country and into a city, and we discovered that Nuno simply did not get along with his sons, Volik and Bobo. So once again, they had to be separated. Looking back, those cages were not good. They were not very large, and for a period of time I also had very limited opportunities to let them out because we lived in a house that was not ours and the owner was very anti-rodent. I did the best I understood how to do at the time, but there are many things I would change now.

Nuno received an incredible amount of love from people, but he did not live very long. Losing him was one of the things that pushed me to question more of what I was doing and learn more about degu care. Later, after Volik died, I had Bobo neutered, around 2023. I wish I had known about that option much earlier. If I had understood it sooner, I would probably have had all of my males neutered so they could live happily with the females instead of being separated.

In December 2022, I bought a huge new cage. I wanted so badly for Bobo to eventually be able to live there with his mother and sisters. I am very grateful that, after his neutering, I eventually got to see that happen.

As they grew old, different health problems started appearing. That forced me to learn even more. Their diets changed. Their cage changed. The way I monitored them changed. Their care became more and more adapted to each individual degu instead of following one generic idea of what degu care should look like.

None of them are alive anymore. That still hurts to write.

Sometimes I look at the care my current girls, Nixi, Luci and Lili, receive and wish desperately that my previous degus could have experienced all of it too. The large cage. Better diet. Better enrichment. Better understanding of their social needs. Temperature monitoring. Air conditioning during hot weather. Playpen time. More knowledge about illness and what changes in behaviour to look for.

My previous degus deserved all of that too. Still, I also know that the reason I am able to provide these things now is because of them. Every one of them taught me something.

Nuno taught me that a degu needs other degus, no matter how much human affection they receive.

Civi taught me how quickly one mistake can completely change your plans, but also how much you can learn by adapting. How bad are the mesh wheels, cuz my poor baby ended with artritis.

The boys taught me that simply putting males together because they are related does not guarantee they will get along.

Volik has thought me how important is weighting for them, because it might indicate health problems u just wont see.

Bobo taught me that there were options I had not even known existed, like neutering, and that learning about them could completely change an animal’s life.

Ivy´s age and health problems taught me more about diet, veterinary care, mobility, cage design and how important it is to adapt care to the individual animal in front of you.

And I know all of u alredy know the story of Batman <3

I made mistakes. Some of the things in these old photos are things I would never recommend today. Some of the cages were too small. Some accessories were not appropriate. Some wheels were not good enough.

I am not posting these photos because I think those things were okay.I am posting them because I think new owners sometimes see experienced keepers with huge cages, expensive wheels, playpens, carefully planned diets and years of knowledge and think they have already failed because they did not start there. What matters is what you do when you learn something new.

Of course, basic welfare and safety still matter from the beginning, and serious problems should not be ignored. “I am still learning” should never become an excuse not to fix something that is actively harming an animal.

My previous degus are the reason Nixi, Luci and Lili have the life they have today. I wish I could go back and give everything I know now to Nuno, Civi, Ivy, Batman, Volik and Bobo. I cannot. What I can do is make sure that what they taught me continues to matter. I miss all of them. And I am incredibly grateful that they were part of my life.

After Batman left us, I realized just how dangerous temperature can be for degus, and I wanted to do everything I could to make the environment safer for my three little girls. So today we moved their entire cage into the coolest room in the house. It was quite the operation because we had to move furniture around too, but they now have basically half of our L-shaped room to themselves.

There is an AC in the room, but it doesn't blow directly at the cage. I also covered the top of the cage with a towel as an extra precaution against drafts. The nice thing is that the AC can also be switched to heating mode during winter, because before the heating season starts, our house can sometimes get as cold as 5–10°C.

Another bonus is that they're now basically in our bedroom/gaming area, with my streaming room right next to them. This is the part of the house where my boyfriend and I spend most of our time anyway, so they'll still have us around a lot.

Their cage used to be in our upstairs living room, where visitors would sometimes walk in without warning. The girls are still young and can be quite skittish around unfamiliar people, so random strangers suddenly appearing near their cage caused them unnecessary stress. Now they're in a much more private part of the house, so they can get used to us and their new home without unexpected visitors startling them.

Their playpen is now right next to the cage too! Luci already happily goes there to explore, so I'm hoping Nixi and Lili will eventually gather enough courage to join her. They're still getting used to everything and developing their little personalities.

I ordered an air purifier for their part of the room to hopefully keep the air as clean and dust-free as possible. There's conveniently a power outlet underneath the table next to their cage, so I'll be able to place the purifier right beside them, where hopefully it can catch a lot of the dust from their hay and bedding before it spreads through the room. The model I ordered should also be relatively quiet, so hopefully it won't bother them. I also ordered a thermometer/hygrometer so I can properly monitor the temperature and humidity around their cage instead of just guessing.

And a little sneak peek at another project I've been working on:
I took one of their metal ladders and hand-wove strips of fabric from an old T-shirt through the bars so their little feet can't slip through or get hurt. Please pray they don't pee all over it.

I've only finished the smallest ladder so far because THIS TINY THING TOOK ME THREE HOURS TO WEAVE BY HAND. My hands were absolutely done afterwards. If they don't immediately destroy it, pee on it, or otherwise demonstrate their complete lack of appreciation for my labour, I'll do the bigger ladders too.

And of course, some bonus pictures of the little ladies getting used to their new setup. I still really miss Batman and I wish she could be here with them. But I hope I can take what I learned from her and use it to give Luci, Lili and Nixi the safest and happiest home I possibly can.

I never thought I would have to write this post. Today, I had to say goodbye to Batman.

Despite everything we tried over the past weeks, she eventually reached the point where she could no longer eat. She wanted to. She still showed some interest in food, but she simply couldn't swallow it anymore. Over the course of just two days she lost almost 20 grams, dropping to just under 180 grams.

I took her back to the vet one last time, hoping there was still something left to try. Unfortunately, there wasn't. The kindest thing I could do for her was to let her go peacefully. Even though I know it was the humane decision, my heart still keeps asking the same question: "What if I had given her one more day? What if she had started eating again? What if she could have stayed with me just a little longer?" I know I'll probably keep asking myself those questions for a long time.

Losing Batman has been incredibly difficult because she wasn't the first. Over the last five months I also lost two of her siblings. Her older sister Ivy, who was seven and a half years old, had to be euthanized after her cancer returned. Her brother Bobo passed away at only six years and four months old after losing too much blood from a wound on his foot caused by a lump.

Losing all three of them in such a short time has completely broken my heart. To many people they were "just rodents." To me they were family. There were times in my life when I struggled with severe depression, and the only reason I got out of bed was because they needed me. They gave me a reason to keep going. They still do.

Batman was born on January 21st, 2020. She came from the second litter of my rescue pair, Nuno and Civi, who originally came from a pet shop. She grew up with her older sister Ivy and her brothers Volik and Bobo. Originally, I wanted to name her Netopírek, which means "little bat" in my language, because when she was born she looked almost completely black. But at the time I didn't think it sounded cool enough. So she became Batman. To me, though, she was always just my baby.

Batman was always a free spirit. She loved living in a group and almost never spent time alone, which is probably why I have so few photos of just her. Although she looked like a normal agouti degu, she inherited a huge white patch on her chest from her father, just like both of her brothers. She had the biggest feet I've ever seen on a degu, the softest coat, and the most beautiful tail tuft, which amazingly stayed perfect even in old age. She even had a tiny little white dot under one of her nostrils that most people never noticed.

She absolutely loved running. She always claimed the wheel first. If there was something she could chew, destroy or rearrange, Batman would find it. After her mother passed away, Batman became the group's little alarm system. Whenever she heard someone walking up the stairs, she was always the first to warn everyone. When Ivy passed away, Batman quietly took over another role. She became Bobo's caretaker. By then Bobo already had health problems, and she was always by his side, grooming him, checking on him, and keeping him company. It genuinely felt like she was trying to keep him alive.

After Bobo passed away, I couldn't bear the thought of Batman living alone. That's when I brought home three little girls from a responsible breeder that I still keep in touch with. Batman only had them for a little over a month. But she loved them from the very first moment. She looked after them, tolerated all of their attempts to overthrow her as queen of the cage, and was unbelievably gentle with them. I've honestly never experienced introductions that went so smoothly. She taught them that hands are safe. She taught them that humans can be trusted. Because of Batman, all three girls became much braver around me. One of the happiest things I got to witness during her last weeks was seeing those three little girls absolutely adore her. They slept together every day. They followed her everywhere. They piled on top of her until they looked like one giant furry shrimp cocktail. It wasn't always comfortable for Batman. Sometimes she probably wished they would leave her alone for five minutes. But she never hurt them. Not once.

She was simply the best degu. Actually... all of my degus have always been the best degus. Towards the end of her life something changed. Even though Batman had always been independent, she suddenly became much more attached to both me and my boyfriend. She started climbing onto us even without treats. Sometimes she would sit on my shoulder. Sometimes on my knee. Sometimes right on top of my head, watching the world from what I jokingly called her safe pyramid. Those moments are now some of my most precious memories.

After Batman passed away, I stayed with her for a long time.I held her.I petted her. I hugged her little body because I simply wasn't ready to let her go. Even though I was with her when she fell asleep at the vet and was able to tell her how much I loved her, it still didn't feel like enough.

I wanted the girls to understand that Batman hadn't simply disappeared. So I carefully separated them by giving them treats in the upper part of the cage while I gently placed Batman's body in the lower part.Then I let them come down when they were ready. Lili was the first. She carefully sniffed Batman several times and kept coming back to her. Luci did the same.Nixi surprised me the most.She was the one who spent the most time sleeping next to Batman every single day. Instead of approaching her, she stood in the distance looking frightened, watching Batman and her sisters. Only after I had taken Batman away did she finally come down to sniff the place where she had been lying. I chose to do it this way because I didn't want the girls to associate me with Batman's death, and I also didn't want them to find her inside a carrier and become afraid of it every time they needed to visit the vet.

Batman is now buried in our garden together with Nuno, Civi, Ivy, Volik and Bobo. I hope they're all together again.

Thank you to every single person who followed Batman's story, offered advice, shared experiences or simply kept her in your thoughts. I read every single comment. I just don't have the emotional strength to reply to them right now.

Batman, I hope I gave you the best life I possibly could. I hope you knew how deeply you were loved. And I hope that wherever you are now, you're running in the biggest wheel you can find, with Ivy, Bobo, Volik, Nuno and Civi by your side. Thank you for six and a half unforgettable years.

I will love you forever.

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.

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 ?

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.

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.

Please share with me in the comments your degu piles 🥺

Augouti is 6 and half year old grandma batman. Recently I got her three pups, now about 10 weeks old. White cream is Luci. White agouti is Lili and Sand color is Nixi. Batman loves them very much.