Common health problems to look out for in degus:

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- Dental problems, degus are quite prone to overgrown/misaligned teeth and tooth root problems. Any watery eyes could indicate tooth roots elongating into the eye area, dental xrays will be needed. Also feel along the bottom jaw line of the degu to check for bumps which could be tooth roots elongating into the bottom jaw. Spurring of the molars is quite common too, make sure to feed tons of high quality hay to attempt to prevent it but if molar spurs do occur they'll need burring by a degu-savvy vet

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- Strokes, symptoms include head tilt and wobbliness. Some degus recover well from strokes but can end up likely to have another one. If you notice any head tilt, wobbliness, unusual posture make sure to get them to a degu-savvy vet asap

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- Tail injuries, we've met many degus who have short stumpy tails from injuries at some point in their lives. Make sure their enclosure is free from anything that they could trap their tail in, wheels should be solid based and enclosed fully on one side

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- Diabetes, one of the symptoms of this is cataracts. Make sure to feed your degus a species appropriate diet to prevent diabetes. Avoid all pet shop treats and also no raisins, or fruit of any kin

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