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Post by theo3rd on Apr 3, 2011 4:23:16 GMT
We've had two degus that were supposedly both females since September. They'd been acting strange lately and tonight we looked over and there were babies in there! We don't know what to do. We dont know which one is the male and which is the female, how to take care of the babies, etc. Do they eat differently and do we have to change how we take care of them? We're in a panic right now!
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Post by degus123 on Apr 3, 2011 11:30:34 GMT
Can not help with the baby related questions as I am not experienced with them. But to tell the difference in gender of the parents (and indeed the babies), you need to look at their underside. A male and female both have a cone, the difference is how far that cone is from their anus. A male has a gap of around a fingers width, a female almost has no gap.
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Post by Cherpi on Apr 3, 2011 12:35:11 GMT
Right, chances are because you've not seperated them the female will be pregnant again. What you need to do is keep an eye on them, because the female is maybe pregnant again you will need to feed her stuff that will keep her strength up as she'll be feeding the babies born today and the babies in the womb. if you've not seperated them already may as well just leave the dad in with them until you need to seperate the babies up. You should know which is the mum and which is the dad because the mum will be feeding the babies and the dad won't be. It would be wise to maybe take the wheel out. After the milking (Can't remember the proper name) period you'll need to put the male babies in another cage with the dad and leave the female babies in with the mum, this is to stop major pregnancies which may really affect the health of the babies, I'm not sure if this is true but it may also kill the babies. If you can't tell the difference between the mum and dad lift them up and take a look at their cones, if one's cone is further away from the anus that's the male. Good luck, I wish you all the best.
(Sorry if some of this information isn't true, I've never experienced suprise pregnancy)
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Post by degus123 on Apr 5, 2011 17:24:18 GMT
As Smux said complain to whoever you got them from. If it was the usual suspect of Pets at Home they are good at refunding etc as a result. They will also let you have stuff at a reduced price. I know people who have got a cage they have for £10 as a form of apology (as well as a full refund)
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