Question from a first time degu owner

[ashleylynnp4]

Hi my name is LeeAnn. I was given 2 female degus about 3 weeks ago. The lady who gave them to me ? told me that they might be pregnant. My question is how do I know for sure? I do not want to handle them too much if they are. I had them in a cage that they kept escaping from at first so I finally got a different cage that they could not get out of. I do not know how to tell for sure if they are pregnant or not. If they are pregnant what are signs of labor?

[buzz]

How old are the degus? I'm afraid they don't show until about 10 days before the birth. Gestation period is 90 days so can the lady confirm when the degus may have been in contact with a male and that can give you a rough estimation of when to expect a birth.

Although to the eye it won't show, if you weigh them regularly, maybe once a week, there should be small increases in weight, maybe not so much at first but as the weeks go on, and you would expect this to occur more rapidly than if she were just getting fatter. It is bad as you say to handle, especially within the last 10 days but if you can find a way of her jumping on the scales of her own accord, maybe a tasty treat left there or something, it would be better. Better still, will they happily walk onto your hands? If thats not possible then it will probably be a guessing game as as its a defense mechanism to not show signs , if a predator can see your weaker it puts you more at risk.

Towards the end you will probably see the nipples becoming more clear, maybe a change in attitude...i.e. more annoyed at things that wouldn't have annoyed them so much before, restlessness, nestbuilding behaviour. Even nearer to the end they will probably become lethargic while they build up strength.

As for signs of labour, I'd imagine that it won't be obvious until she starts pushing. Have you seen footage of prey birthing in the wild, they are just walking along then lie down for a short while and out pops a baby . I can't be 100% sure thats how the degus handle it aswell so perhaps someone can correct me? Birthing will usually take place in the morining and there is around 45 minutes between each baby.

If you aren't 100% sure, its always best to provide more nesting material towards the end. The mums might want to nest together if they are both pregnant so it might be an idea to ensure that you have a nesting box big enough for 2 and then 2 nesting boxes big enough for 1. They may not even use them but its always best to give them options as mothers can get very stressed if they can't find the perfect spot. But thats just what I think, alot of people have had successful births so I'm sure they'll be online later and can tell you how they dealt with it.

Good luck!

[ashleylynnp4]

Thanks so much for all the info. They will just walk into my hands yet as I have only had them for a few weeks. The lady did not really say when they had had contact with a male last, but I was thinking it was not long before she gave them away. She was getting rid of all her degus and I took the females. It is really not a big deal if they are expecting I just want to make sure I am prepared.

[buzz]

Were they originally used as breeding goos or was it an accident do you know? If they are under 6 months by the way it unlikely that they will be pregnant.

Well you have about a 3 month wait on your hands then till you'll know for sure. Hope you get the outcome you want

[jackdaniels]

I was able to tell about a month before my female gave birth because she nearly doubled in size compared to the male, also when i put my fingers near the cage she would squeak run over and try to bite me and claw me. But this would be a lot harder for you to tell if both females are pregnant at the same time.

If they do end up having a litter make sure they cant escape from the cage they are able to climb out of anything from 2X2cm make sure they can fall from a height if possible.

While giving birth my male would sit at the top of the cage with his head raised high squeaking very loud, he also does this during a successful mate. But i am not sure if females do this Oswell or its just a male thing.

During the birth you shouldn't really do anything but just make sure that everything is ok with out disturbing them too much. All Degus in the cage will help out during the birth if its only just collecting nesting material.

When pups have arrived within a few hours they will adventuring the nesting box, not long after this the will looking round the whole cage. Next they will be eating food out of the food bowl (so make sure the can easily get to water/food/hay) but unable to digest it for a few days. Don't worry if you see them eating poo as this will help the digestive system they will soon stop eating it.

As you don't have a male no need in separating the male for 48 hours as this is when female is most fertile. Too may pregnancy's are harmful to a degu. Finally i would is giving it a few days before handling the pups, i left it about 5-7 days. separate males and females around 6 weeks.

[kate]

you have to seperate them as quickly as possible