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Post by cobisnet on Jan 4, 2011 7:05:17 GMT
Hello everybody, My name is Eduardo and I am writing from Spain. (Sorry for my bad English) I am here because a friend of mine had a degu litter two weeks ago. She has had two litters more from the same couple but this time it has been different. She had two surprises. Please look at them:   I breed skinny pigs since 2006 and these babies seem to have the same gene. They have a little hair in their faces but the rest of the body is naked. They are 2 weeks old now and they keep the same aspect. I have been looking in goggle about other "skinny degus" but I didn't find anything... they seem to be the firsts ever  Do you know about any other cases of hairless degu? Many thanks in advanced for your help. :-) Edu www.cobisnet.es |
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Post by nickymills30 on Jan 4, 2011 7:40:00 GMT
i don't know whether to be happy or sad, if that makes sense?
I have a friend, who keeps skinny pigs, and hairless rats, and before i meet them, wasn't to sure about them, but have got to be honest and say, how lovely they are.
I read your post on degutopia, and was hoping it was wrong, these poor little guys will be bred know, to produce more skinny goo's, to make money, i really hope i;m wrong.
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Post by cobisnet on Jan 4, 2011 8:24:17 GMT
Sorry, I just don't understand why skinny pigs and rats can be lovely and the idea of a skinny degu is a sad thing... :-(
Skinny pigs, hairless rats and mice or sphinx cats would not exist if one day someone wouldn't have decided to breed these mutations.
I am not sure if their hair is going to grow up or if they are going to stay like they are now. I am just looking for some info. If we think about the first two litters... it has no sense that now they have had 2 hairless girls in the thirth one... It is so rare, isn't it? That's because I am asking for some advice. We just don't know if it is a mutation or if it can be a health problem (they look healthy though)
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Post by nickymills30 on Jan 4, 2011 9:02:49 GMT
i cant offer any advice, about them being hairless, and i;m not saying they won't be lovely because, they are goo;s so they will be lol, i just feel sorry for all hairless animals, in the wild, there would be a few, as you have said, they have been born to hairy goo's, but once someone knows of hairless animals, they want to do it again.
As you have said they look healthy, so fingers crossed they are all fine xxx
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Post by cobisnet on Jan 4, 2011 9:12:01 GMT
Thank you :-)
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Post by nickymills30 on Jan 4, 2011 9:15:47 GMT
no problem, just glad you realise i wasn't having a go at you xxx
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Post by smux on Jan 4, 2011 10:08:37 GMT
My guess is that this is a normal feature and they're just taking their time to grow hair. Degus are born with hair and these two are no exception, just it's very short hair. They grow hair over time and by the time they're 6 weeks old they'll probably be normal degus with their hair like any other degu.
I can't remember offhand when my degu babies were growing hair but they weren't hairy for the first week or so at least and they had to be kept warm to regulate their body temperature (one of the main functions of their hair) until this happened. If these two really are hairless for life, it IS a sad thing because they are going to have to be looked after a lot more carefully to ensure they don't get colds or die of heat loss.
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 4, 2011 17:22:52 GMT
Quite some time back there was a member on here whose goos gave birth to partially haired pups. Shortly after birth, a number of them lost all their hair and remained hairless for up to four weeks, when the hair began to regrow. By the time they were eight weeks of age, they were fully furred again. She (forum member) did have to be very careful to keep them warm as they chilled very easily, and she was also very careful to ensure that their nutrition was as complete and superior as she could make it. Now . . . the mother of these pups came to the forum member already pregnant and there was concern over the conditions the mother was exposed to prior to being rehomed with the forum member. If I remember correctly, she (mother degu) came from a home with lots of other degus and I don't think it was known who fathered the pups . . . likely a sibling or even her own father.
Just out of curiousity, how frequent have her litters been? I'm wondering, if they have been born close together, over a short span of time, perhaps the mother's body is getting over taxed and stressed, and therefore was unable to pass on nutrition etc to the pups as completely as she would in a fully rested state?
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Post by nickymills30 on Jan 4, 2011 17:52:34 GMT
this is being discussed on degutopuia as well, and its been mentioned that the female may have given birth early and this could be why, they have no hair x
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Post by melrohner on Jan 7, 2011 20:40:47 GMT
OP, the problem with hairless animals, why they would make someone sad, is that they are not normally as healthy as haired ones. They are genetically weaker, and need more care. My hairless hamster has a high metabolism and needs high protein to stay healthy. Some species of hairless animals are not able to nurse their young. I personally really like hairless animals, but I know it is really not good for them to be hairless in most cases.
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Post by Cherpi on Jan 7, 2011 21:53:35 GMT
Can I just say they are so cute.
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