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Post by smux on Aug 20, 2010 6:16:12 GMT
At about 6am or so I was awoken by noise from the cage, which was the gang fighting, and I noticed a little brown bundle in the bottom of the cage with no-one there looking after it.
It was one single baby...soooooo cute!
Mum's now on her own (soon to be in another cage, I just moved the others out as it'd be quicker and safer for mum and baby) and doting over the baby.
No idea if there's any more, so I am treating her with kid gloves to the extreme until I know for sure. She trusts me implicitly and the worst I get when I am near her is a warning bite.
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Post by smux on Aug 20, 2010 11:21:38 GMT
Update: Almost 6 hours later (it was sometime after 6 she gave birth) she's had another two babies. I think she delayed the birth because of all the hassle with the other boys in the cage, but as soon as she was on her own in her cage with no noise she decided the time was right and dropped the bundles. Pictures WILL be forthcoming by tonight, I want to give her a chance to have some sleep and some me-time with the babies before I bug them (although I do have some pics of the first one.
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Post by Kins on Aug 20, 2010 11:32:58 GMT
Aww, well done Theresa and congratulations! 3 little bundles of joy, adorable.
Can't wait to see the pictures! ;D
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Post by smux on Aug 20, 2010 11:48:44 GMT
This is probably the best pic I've got of the first guy, although I'll get the others up later :-)
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Post by smux on Aug 20, 2010 11:49:43 GMT
Another good pic
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Post by Kins on Aug 20, 2010 12:00:52 GMT
Oh my...TOTALLY adorable! I'm always amazed at how developed they are even when they are first born! I almost wish one of mine was a female, but I think 4 of the little terrors is plenty to keep me busy!
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Post by smux on Aug 20, 2010 12:07:29 GMT
Well, it's 12 little terrors now, although I'm not sure if I'll keep these or not...I am going to see how attached to them she is closer to the time.
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Post by emz on Aug 20, 2010 14:36:29 GMT
Congratulations. ;D Though I think people usually leave the little mites for about 4 days before touching them. I think if Theresa is really quite a nowty goo that might be for the best. Though if she is more a loner she'll probably be more attached to you so maybe in this case it won't be an issue? Well, whatever you do, keep us updated.
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Post by smux on Aug 20, 2010 16:47:24 GMT
I didn't want to touch them at all, for the obvious reasons, but she was leaving them on their own so I did my daddy duty and helped her (in most cases, with clean hands...in the case of the first one, I had no choice as I didn't want to leave them).
The other three terrors have been exactly that, they're all fighting each other non-stop so I've got the cage separated into 3 with one on each floor...each has his own water bottle and food (I'll get to where I got the bottle in a min) and each is whining and moaning almost constantly. Theresa's in her cage (the one I got free from here) with CD cases covering all the edges, cardboard on the base with wood shavings on top...plus a little foraging area for when they get hungry for real food. They have their own small bottle and Theresa has a big girl's bottle.
As I have run out of the mix (only degu nuggets left) I went to P@H and bought up the bottles, Gerty Guinea Pig mix (recommended by degutopia) and a selection of treats that have gone down well before...and STILL no d**n willow chew sticks in stock! While I was there, they had a nice big open-plan area with 6 cute little degus in...it was actually well laid out (although I don't like the fact that it looks like they're using paper pellets for the substrate) with lots of toys...although no wheel, but I would say they had enough space to not need it. Sadly they were very jumpy, and ran whenever people came to them, but I stuck around and they came over to the plexiglass (sadly no mesh, so I couldn't interact :-)) and said hello.
I haven't bugged Theresa or the babes since the last post. The flatmate's had her out of the cage often but that's because she wanted out, and she's been given lots of treats to keep her strength up.
I have a pic of the first one suckling mum, I didn't upload it earlier because it's 1.3MB and the limit here is 1MB, but I'll post it later along with a bunch of pics of the 3 babies. At least I know they're suckling fine. TBH I didn't notice nipples on her at all, and I did look. Yesterday or the day before I noticed something that looked more like a spot than a nipple and I was going to take a picture, wish I had now :-)
Handling tips for hand-taming the babies will be welcome, BTW, I haven't seen much but I want to give these guys the best possible future and I have lots of free time. Going to make sure both of us have plenty of clean clothes so they are happy being around us, and I am probably also going to look into some sort of fleece or something to put in the house to keep them warm as toilet paper really isn't enough...at the least I'll probably put in some shreds of old T-shirts, it'll do the trick :-)
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Post by smux on Aug 20, 2010 17:22:56 GMT
Newest pic of all 3 - excuse any red stuff in there, you know what it is...I cleaned out the bloody tissue (for the most part) but didn't want to get too in their way.
I will get better pics when the time is right
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 20, 2010 17:40:09 GMT
They are absolutely beautiful, Smux!! Congratulations!! I expect that the three males are fighting because they all want to mate with Theresa. She is at her most fertile right after birth, but will continue to be highly receptive for the next month at least, and all three boys know it! So, for their peace of mind, you mind need to find a different location for her and the babies. Otherwise Loki and the others will continue to be greatly aggitated and fighting with each other.
Well done, Theresa!!
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Post by smux on Aug 20, 2010 18:05:16 GMT
Theresa's in another room although I *have* given her time with them (highly supervised for the exact reason you mentioned) as she really wanted to see them. Any time they tried (and they did) was quickly stopped. Tonight all my clothes are going in the wash to get rid of any scent that they might be getting of her on me, and I'll take a shower before wearing anything clean.
They've been totally separated from her since about 11am except the quick visit around 12ish. I've just this second removed the partition between Damien/Gizmo (top/middle of cage) as Damien got through and he seemed to behave with Gizmo (little bit of whining but no proper fighting)...I let Damien visit Loki and Loki ended up jumping out the cage away from him and onto my shoulder (he's a very acrobatic boy, despite the last time he tried acrobatics from a balcony :-)) so I am keeping the bottom separate for now.
Theresa's been whining to get out of the cage often, she's missing the company of the boys, so we relent and give her regular kisses and cuddles so she feels happy and passes it onto the babes.
I've yet to sex them, obviously :-)
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Post by smux on Aug 21, 2010 7:12:28 GMT
Uneventful night for the boys. Damien waited until I returned to the bedroom (I was looking after the babies while Theresa had some free time out of the cage, I'd listen for squeaks while she was too far away and return her to the cage if they made any) to force his way into the bottom of the cage and show he was over the fighting, and all went well so I removed all the partitions and apart from a bit of dominance humping and semi-serious fighting (obviously not playing but nothing to worry about) it all seemed fine so they spent the night together. This morning they're all chittering together again.
No idea how Theresa and the babies are, I'm leaving them alone until later on as I'm sure she's had a busy night with them if she's had to deal with hourly feeds :-)
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Post by degumad on Aug 21, 2010 8:20:25 GMT
Oh wow! They are so cute! I'd love to have degu babies but we already have 4 goos - 2 pairs in 2 cages (and I've been told that's the limit!) Congratulations to Theresa!!
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Post by smux on Aug 21, 2010 14:24:34 GMT
Have since checked on Theresa and the babies, and all seem fine and still alive...she's very antsy and wanting to get out of the cage though, understandably. If she is to have the father (or who I assume the father is) in the cage with her, I'll probably be putting Gizmo in there as he seems very down compared to the other two boys so it isn't working out this way for him. In the absence of any advice to the contrary, I'll do this tonight. The baby basics guide in this section is a bit contrary in that it says the father should be put in after 24 hours but also says that she's highly fertile for up to a month later...in my mind that's just asking for her to get pregnant again :-)
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Post by smux on Aug 21, 2010 17:05:43 GMT
I put him in an hour or so after posting the above and there were many attempts to hump her but I persevered and at one point he was the doting father (even nudging the babies into the house) but then he got her in the house and had his way. Luckily the house was a box with a lid but I have no idea if I was too late or not.
Double-checking the facts on here against those on degutopia, Chloe suggests it is safe to reintroduce the male(s) after 4 days, so I will re-attempt this after the 4th day.
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tanyajk85
Burrowing Degu
Lyra, Lola, Luna, Leti & Lexy [url=https://postimg.org/image/dwub0fayl/][img]https://s6.postimg.cc/3zja7d3cx/heart.gif[/img][/url] my 5 lovey ladies R.I.P my beautiful Lily
Posts: 228
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Post by tanyajk85 on Aug 22, 2010 13:43:32 GMT
hey! phew ive finnaly got back around to posting was going to do the other day an i never got chance so her it goes....
OhMyGosh they are the cuties things i have ever seen! i actually sat infront of the computer and letout a very audioable AWWWW! i love how they have such big eyes and ears compared to the rest of their bodies! and those little diddy tails are soo adorable! very very very cute
tanya xxx
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Post by smux on Aug 22, 2010 15:06:55 GMT
Nothing compares to actually holding one of the little unstable creatures in your hand, their little legs wobbling but holding their weight well. Very inquisitive little guys and gals too, there's a gap between the t-shirt and the box on the right (like a little tent) and they all like going out of the house and in there but all it takes is a call from Theresa and they come home to the box.
I have some blackberry leaves from P@H that I put a bunch of in for Theresa, and one of them decided to have a nibble...he was standing on his hind legs and holding this big leaf in both hands, it was so cute (although obviously he wasn't standing upright, but he did the best he could).
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tanyajk85
Burrowing Degu
Lyra, Lola, Luna, Leti & Lexy [url=https://postimg.org/image/dwub0fayl/][img]https://s6.postimg.cc/3zja7d3cx/heart.gif[/img][/url] my 5 lovey ladies R.I.P my beautiful Lily
Posts: 228
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Post by tanyajk85 on Aug 22, 2010 17:09:02 GMT
aww i bet that was adorable! i can just picture it! bet the leaf was bigger than he was! it must be such an experience to see them literally grow up infront of you bet your so proud if theresa! whats you going to do with the little munchkins? tanya xxx
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Post by smux on Aug 22, 2010 17:28:06 GMT
The leaf was almost as big as his head...reminds me of the "eyes bigger than your belly" phrase :-)
And I'm undecided on what I'll do with them yet...if there's enough girls (preferably all) they may get to stay with mummy in their own cage, and any boys will go with my boys if they'll have them. If I go this route, I'll probably have to get her another cage as the one they're in now is an "emergency" cage and not big enough for her to live in.
I might also give them away if I decide 12 is too many (which is possible, although I am pretty sure I can handle Theresa and her babies fine), and I've already promised some to someone from here if that is the case...I'll find homes for the other(s) if needed.
I'll get a video of one of the little buggers moving around...they're so cute, pictures don't do them justice :-)
BTW, I've covered the cage on all sides except the front with thick cloth (bedding) so it's nice and dark in there no matter what the time of day and even with the light on full at night...it also works well to keep the place warm and shields them from noise and such.
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