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Post by bellaloki on Aug 19, 2014 14:02:48 GMT
Hello! I am new to the site and also a new(ish) degu owner. About 6-7 months ago my daughter and I adopted two degus, a male and a female. Not knowing much on the little guys at first I did copious amounts of reading and found out from the info and by observing the little critters what amazing little pets they are!
Recently my female (Isabella) became pregnant and gave birth to 6 seemingly healthy pups. Everything I read said to keep both parents in the same cage as they both make excellent parents. A few of the pups were venturing out of their nests after only a few days. We made sure to give them lots of privacy and did not touch the pups at all. About a week after giving birth I went to check and there was no pups to be found... I assume they ate them? Now I have noticed a bald patch on both of my degus. Isabella has one on her face and Loki, my male, has one on his back in between the shoulder blades.
I've changed the cage, provided clean timothy hay, water and fresh veg and herbs and flowers as well as grains and oats on a daily/weekly basis.
my questions are, why would they eat their babies? And would this cause the hair loss, and is there anything I can do to make them happier as to stop the balding? I've recently bought a new cage, and looks like the hair is growing back, so I assume the alopecia was stress related?
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Post by yasmin on Aug 20, 2014 2:59:35 GMT
How awful for you and your degus.  I believe that degus only eat their pups if they are dead. (My only experience with this is when my degu Azure miscarried a litter of four naked, pink premature pups. I had no idea she was pregnant – I thought I had adopted four females not three females and one male! Imagine the shock I got when I came home to find four half-eaten pups scattered around the cage. ) However unlikely, it is possible that all of Isabella's babies passed away. The degus we have here in North America are very inbred and there are a lot of hereditary conditions that are passed down. Though both the father and mother make excellent parents, the father should be removed right after the birth because the female is fertile then and it is very dangerous for her to get pregnant again so soon. Also because breeding of degus is discouraged – there are too many genetic health issues that are likely to be passed onto the pups and also there are far too many abandoned degus who need a home. Regarding the hair loss: The alopecia that your goos experienced was likely stress-related. My goo Lilac suffered a bald spot on her back right after giving birth to her litter. The fur grew back normally after and she has been fine since. The Diet and Nutrition section of this forum as well as the Housing section provide a great resource of ideas on how to enrich your degus' lives.  Hope this helps. |
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Post by natnat899 on Aug 20, 2014 10:34:26 GMT
What size are the gaps inbetween the bars on your cage? If they just completely vanished it is possible that degu pups squeezed through the gap.
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Post by bellaloki on Aug 22, 2014 2:48:53 GMT
I did think about that, but I have not come across any remains. I've searched high and low... I'm not sure how to add a pic, but I could show you their home
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 28, 2014 18:45:37 GMT
Hi there, and welcome to the forum!
Just wondering what you are seeing now? Have you found any signs of escaped pups?
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Post by rmazeds on Aug 29, 2014 21:50:50 GMT
this made me sad, poor pups either way Hope mum and dad are ok. I'd agree with the alopecia being stress related. x |
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Post by bellaloki on Aug 31, 2014 1:04:25 GMT
Well I never did find any pups, and I'm fairly certain my female is pregnant again. I've read that this can be harmful to her becoming pregnant right aftwr giving birth. What are the help risks associated with this? Also how long should I separate her mate for after the birth? Also seeing as they've always lived together, won't this cause more stress? After the pups are born, should I try to keep my existing male, Loki with the new male pup and the female with my Bella? I just don't want an over population of degus... what would be the best situation as far as separating them?
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Post by yasmin on Aug 31, 2014 23:43:03 GMT
Gestation is 3 months so you can probably figure out about when the earliest it was that Bella got pregnant and remove Loki within 12 weeks of that date (the earlier the less riskier it is). Set up a second cage for him and hopefully Bella will be okay and give birth to both boys and girls. At 6-8 weeks, determine which ones are male/female (perhaps have a vet help with this) and put the boys in with Loki and leave the girls with Bella. Yes, you will have two cages now to take care of but at least you've done all you can to keep the family members together. Another option is to have Loki neutered. I have no experience with this and, as with all surgery, there are risks because a male degu's genitalia is internal. Have you found a vet that has degu experience? I would only consider this if you have a vet that has performed this survey successfully on a degu. As far as Bella's health is concerned, I don't know what the exact health risks are but I would think it has something to do with her body being depleted of nutrients/energy. I would think that making sure she has optimal nutrition and environmental conditions is all you can do to minimize the risks for her. Hope this helps. |
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 5, 2014 0:22:44 GMT
I too was going to mention neutering. If you were able to find a good vet and could afford the cost of the procedure, now would be a good time to have him neutered. If she is already pregnant again, and if you could get him done right quick, I don't think there would be any need to separate him from her once she delivered. He could stay in and help with the rearing, and the only thing to worry about after that is whether or not you will keep any pups, only females to live with Dad and Mum, or keep boys and girls.
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 5, 2014 0:25:54 GMT
Oooops, just to make sure this isn't misunderstood . . . "or keep boys (in a separate cage from the girls) and girls (also in a separate cage from the boys). LOL!
Must also mention that the size of your cages must increase exponentially with each additional degu in the cage. The sizes can be quite intimidating depending on the space you for yourself and them to live in, not to mention other human and/or furry family members.
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Post by bellaloki on Sept 5, 2014 16:21:51 GMT
Thanks for the input! I live in a rural area in Canada and I'm not sure if our vets are in the knowledge of neutering small critters lol. I'll definitely ask about it tho. I bough a cage that is about 5 feet tall and different levels with ramps etc... it was a ferret cage I believe. The have a wheel and toys and wood blocks, hopefully that will be big enough?
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Post by yasmin on Sept 5, 2014 19:20:24 GMT
Sounds like the cages I use. Is it a Midwest cage? The Midwest CRITTER Nation cage has an appropriate bar width – none of the babies that my girls had squeezed through it (though I still put up safety walls of cardboard around it just in case). However, the Midwest FERRET Nation and other Ferret cages might have too wide bar spacing. You may have to get sheets of plexi or cardboard to put around the bottom edge of the level that the babies are on, and close off other levels, to prevent them from falling out.
Another nice thing about the Midwest cages is that you can separate it off into two cages by lifting midway ramp and hooking it on the hook provided. That way you can keep papa on top and mama and babies on the bottom if needed.
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