Post by smux on Nov 22, 2010 18:26:54 GMT
Things to consider when breeding:
Are you breeding for money? It's asked above, but if the answer is yes you're going to be very disappointed. Imagine your female gets pregnant in January, she gives birth around the same day in April, a total of 12 weeks later. Now add on 6 weeks weaning for the babies, and let's assume you had 3 (in my case it was 3 both times, although it can be more...I think you'd get more with older babies) so 18 weeks, and you can only get a degu pregnant once a year max if you want her to have a long and healthy life. You need to feed the mum for the 12 weeks, that's normal, but you should be supplementing her food a little bit with the right treats (like peanuts) to build her fat/energy reserves up or feeding her the treat listed in the food section specifically for pregnant/ill degus. That's a little bit of cost. Now you have to feed those 3 babies for 6 weeks, that is going to be quite a bit of food, they tend to put away a lot as they are growing babies. Unless you plan to sell the degus for something like £15 each (IIRC P@H's price :-)) you're not going to get much profit out of it when you also count in anything you need like bedding, replacement toys, treats, the list really does go on.
If you're not doing it for profit, then as said before...there are way too many degus out there already and unless you are going to bring something new to the mix like a degu pair that are both unrelated to help with the inbreeding issue, it's a waste of time and would do more harm than good to the degu population.
If you are still going to do it, you need to be prepared for any eventuality. I have to say, babies are definitely cute and I am glad it happened with Theresa...however, I wish it had happened when she was a bit older and it would have been a more enjoyable process for all of us.
If you are going to breed some babies and it's not for profit, please buy a female degu pair and keep them in another room, and KEEP any babies you breed rather than sell or give them away. Maybe that way you will also be limited in how many times you can do it, which you may find is a very good thing when you find out how much hassle they can be at times...lovely though they are, 6 weeks of 2-hourly feeding means there could be noise at all times of day and night, and if mum dies during birth (unlikely but possible, esp. in inbred degus which is most of the population...and you have no idea how many generations of inbreeding your female has come from) you'll be the one sitting there feeding them every 2 hours of every day.
Degutopia has a long guide for breeders, read all their FAQs and guides and make sure you know all there is to know. I managed to get through it the first time about 6 months after getting my first degus, and I am going through it again because of a mistake mentioned here and degutopia (about putting dad in with mum) but hopefully this is the last time unless one of the babies is pregnant because of horny dad. As easy as it is, I don't recommend it until you've had degus at least 6-12 months.
Are you breeding for money? It's asked above, but if the answer is yes you're going to be very disappointed. Imagine your female gets pregnant in January, she gives birth around the same day in April, a total of 12 weeks later. Now add on 6 weeks weaning for the babies, and let's assume you had 3 (in my case it was 3 both times, although it can be more...I think you'd get more with older babies) so 18 weeks, and you can only get a degu pregnant once a year max if you want her to have a long and healthy life. You need to feed the mum for the 12 weeks, that's normal, but you should be supplementing her food a little bit with the right treats (like peanuts) to build her fat/energy reserves up or feeding her the treat listed in the food section specifically for pregnant/ill degus. That's a little bit of cost. Now you have to feed those 3 babies for 6 weeks, that is going to be quite a bit of food, they tend to put away a lot as they are growing babies. Unless you plan to sell the degus for something like £15 each (IIRC P@H's price :-)) you're not going to get much profit out of it when you also count in anything you need like bedding, replacement toys, treats, the list really does go on.
If you're not doing it for profit, then as said before...there are way too many degus out there already and unless you are going to bring something new to the mix like a degu pair that are both unrelated to help with the inbreeding issue, it's a waste of time and would do more harm than good to the degu population.
If you are still going to do it, you need to be prepared for any eventuality. I have to say, babies are definitely cute and I am glad it happened with Theresa...however, I wish it had happened when she was a bit older and it would have been a more enjoyable process for all of us.
If you are going to breed some babies and it's not for profit, please buy a female degu pair and keep them in another room, and KEEP any babies you breed rather than sell or give them away. Maybe that way you will also be limited in how many times you can do it, which you may find is a very good thing when you find out how much hassle they can be at times...lovely though they are, 6 weeks of 2-hourly feeding means there could be noise at all times of day and night, and if mum dies during birth (unlikely but possible, esp. in inbred degus which is most of the population...and you have no idea how many generations of inbreeding your female has come from) you'll be the one sitting there feeding them every 2 hours of every day.
Degutopia has a long guide for breeders, read all their FAQs and guides and make sure you know all there is to know. I managed to get through it the first time about 6 months after getting my first degus, and I am going through it again because of a mistake mentioned here and degutopia (about putting dad in with mum) but hopefully this is the last time unless one of the babies is pregnant because of horny dad. As easy as it is, I don't recommend it until you've had degus at least 6-12 months.