how long?

[gemmagreaves]

Hey well ages ago i gave soem felamles from our group of 26 to a friend and 1 of them was pregnant without us knowing and gave birth. he kept the girls and asked that i take the one boy. well, ive had halo for a good few months now and he lives woth derek and brian who are about 2.5yrs old. however, halo came for a cuddle the other day and i noticed he was really heavy and chubby. when he went back in the cage he climbed the bars and i noticed he was a she. now god knows when she changed as she was definitely a male beforehand! and my goo friend will confirm that!
the problem is she lives with the 2 males still, ive no idea who is the father and my other friends goo gave birth 6 days ago and one of the males in the cage started ripping her babies to shreds (she thought she was a he aswell so that was a nice suprise!, even though she still looks like a he as her bits are almost 1cm apart?!?!) anyway, im wondering how long halos got left until she drops? shes all lumpy but ive not seen nest building. ive taken her away from both males and given her her own cage next to the boys so shes not lonely but i want to know if this is the best way, or should i put her back in with the boys?i dont want her to be all on her ow struggling with the babies but aside from trying to bond her quickly with my friends female goo i dotn really know what to do? and ym friend separated the female and babies and her 'brother' who we now think might be a girl too, and the sister munched all the babies! mum was frantic when we opened the cage and ran around with a dead, legless baby in her mouth trying to hide from us. she was frantic bless her . does anyone know what caused this? they were left in a cat free room with barely any interaction for the week and then they were suddenly killed?

[deguconvert]

I must confess to being a little confused. I need to ask some clarifying questions.

The degu that had babies recently . . . is it one of the babies you gave away from your group of 26?

Is it this same degu whose babies are now dead?

If the mum and babies were separated from the male in the cage . . . who killed the babies? And now there is question as to the sex of the male that 'was' in the cage with this mum and babies?

Do you know who was the father of these deceased pups?

Halo . . . is the offspring of one the female pups you gave away, who is believed to be male but now appears to be a pregnant female at least from all aspects but the genitalia?

Could you post us a couple of pictures of Halo? Some body shots from above and the sides, and then a shot of the genitals? If you can get someone to help you, so that while you hold Halo and lift his/her tail gently straight up, they can get a clear shot of his neather regions. It might also be an idea to take Halo to your vet to have him/her examined.

Things are certainly very perplexing. I don't know why the pups were ruthlessly destroyed by another degu. Their poor little mum will be grieving. Maybe once I understand the events a little better I can give some idea . . . but that may not be. Sometimes it is just beyond us.

[Gemma]

So, is it true what pets at home told me. Degus can change sex? Or do you think it is just that they are so difficult to sex that they were wrongly sexed in the first place? When the guy told us this my husband and I didn't know wether to believe him or not.
If so, then one of my 4 boys could become pregnant??!!

[deguconvert]

Well . . . I don't really know what to think. I have never heard of a mammal that can change it's sex. Fish can . . . amphibians can I think . . . but I don't think mammals can. I think it has to be a case of difficult sexing with some degus. In the case of your Halo . . . I would like to pictures, and I'm still wondering if you shouldn't take him to your vet. It sounds weird all the way around. Can you elaborate on your first posting around the lines of the questions I asked, Gemma?

[emz]

Feb 21, 2010 11:16:15 GMT Gemma said:

So, is it true what pets at home told me. Degus can change sex?

No.

I bet they told you that to cover for their terrible ability to sex degus. As long as you checked you have 4 boys you will be fine.

[gemmagreaves]

right the goo that just had the babies was one of 5 males i gave to my friend in a large cage back in november. they were definitely male and had almost a cm gap between their bits! now her and her brothers bits are about half a cm apart and so we guessed the brither was a girl aswell and put them into a separate cage. then the *brother/sister* attacked the babies and killed them. not sure for definite that it wasnt the mother aswell but mum was going frantic so not sure? im working on getting a picture but as they're my friends im struggling to find time when shes not at work and im not at uni. no idea which one 'dad' is as it could be any of them.

yes halo is a pup from one of the others but is definitely a girl now. theres no gap between her bits at all now. shes incredibly heavy compared to what she was, and her bellys quite large. im never in when the otehr half is so pics will be up on fri as we're both free tomorrow night and shes a little bit nippy so i dont want to handle her on my own and risk her falling/hurting herself. well theyre certainly keeping me on my toes! lol.

[deguconvert]

They sure are!! Good grief . . . that kind of excitement can wear you out! How is the little mum whose pups were slain doing? Has she recovered or do you know if she is showing signs of grief. I have heard of cases, in the last two years, where a mother goo has grieved over the death of a pup(s). It sure sounds like Halo is female and pregnant. It is VERY weird how their bits have changed in appearance so dramatically. It must have more to do with stages in growth and maturity though, rather than actual sex change. ;D If she is being testy, she may be very close to delivery, in which case, don't try to get any pictures. It would be very easy to cause a rupture of her womb, so don't risk it. We'll just wait with baited breath to hear of the arrival of most unexpected and surprising pups!