How do i know if their pregnant???

[sophiethebest]

Hiya,
ive got 3 degus, 2 girls 1 boy n im breeding them...(ive started about a week ago)

i dunno if their pregnant yet so i searched the internet to find out...but i only found 1 fact that is happening so far

*If the female is pregnant then the male will start building a nest for the babies(make sure theres nothin sharp in the cage)

Does anyone know anything else that i can see happening at this early stage??

[deguconvert]

I have no experience with female degus.

May I ask? Why are you planning to breed them? Do you have a plan for the babies?

[kerry]

are they all together in the same house and how old are they?

[jackdaniels]

How old are you degus?

TBH I think you should really separate the male and females at this stage because it seems that you don't know that much about them at this time.

I think you should read about the breeding sides of things first see how degus are not at all in demand and then think about breeding them .

[buzz]

Degus are not that popular as pets presently and assuming you plan to rehome the pups, finding the correct homes is a big responsibility.

Do you know of your 'parental' degus family lines and hereditary illnesses along them?

[sophiethebest]

ITS ALLRIGHT! all your messages seemed very conserned and dont worry ive read all about breeding, the degus are all around a year old, i have 1 extreemly large cage, which ive seperated into 2 parts one part with the male and female, and one part with the other female.

I KNOW LOTS ABOUT BREEDING THEM DONT WORRY!!!

i have been researching for weeks now but one thing i cant find is how to know if the females deffinatly pregnant

thnx for replying!!

[Rachel]

I have to say though, you didn't answer what your plans for the pups were...?

Are these your first Degus?

[buzz]

You won't, they don't show till nearish the birth.

But seriously, breeding for yourself to keep or breeding for a hobby? How many times are you going to get the female pregnant... back to back breeding especially is bad for her and too many litters shortens their lifespan.

[jackdaniels]

Jan 3, 2009 23:11:04 GMT sophiethebest said:

ITS ALLRIGHT! all your messages seemed very conserned and dont worry ive read all about breeding, the degus are all around a year old, i have 1 extreemly large cage, which ive seperated into 2 parts one part with the male and female, and one part with the other female.

I KNOW LOTS ABOUT BREEDING THEM DONT WORRY!!!

i have been researching for weeks now but one thing i cant find is how to know if the females deffinatly pregnant

thnx for replying!!

Ok sorry to sound harsh.


But if you know as much about breeding as you do you would know that a female degu will not show until at least a month before giving birth to the pups. Also depending on the size of the litter her size might not change to much. The only way to do this would be to weigh her every day. You will see a great gain in weight in the last couple of weeks. But then again you really shouldn't handle a pregnant degu too much.

Not all female degus nest so you will not know if the pups are coming if she/ others don't do it. If she does nest she does this 1-2 weeks before giving birth.

You may also notice that your female degu will be a lot more aggressive than usually.


I would also like to ask what are you planning on doing with all the pups?


If you keep the 2 females and male together do you know you could end up with a maximum of 72 pups a year??

[sophiethebest]

Oh sorry i didnt mention about the pups...

They are going to a local pet shop and from there i will make sure that they are looked after very well...

i am not going to continusly breed them (that would be harsh on the female)
if her first lot of pups are all healthy then i will continue..

any more questions...?

[kerry]

sorry don't mean to sound naieve but how will you be able to look after them after they have left the pet shop?

i had a litter of unexpected pups and didn't know she was pregnant till they were born. they caused me lots of problems to begin with as they developed allergies and all sorts. are you preapred for all eventualities?

sorry we all sound negative to breeding but there are so many unwanted litters and pet shop mis-sexing.

what sre you feeding them on?

[buzz]

This is not meant to sound as negative as it probably will come across as but whenever someone talks about breeding I think it sets alarm bells off in my mind because an awful lot of people aren't thinking what is best for the animal.

Have you researched how many degus eventually become unwanted and end up in rehoming facilities? Going through petshops means that you cannot trace where your litters are ending up... nor can you trace any illnesses that occur in the pups as they mature which could provide evidence for a defect in a certain line.

I don't know of a proper degu breeder on this forum, if you want to know all the pros and cons of breeding rodents and the responsibilities that entail go to somewhere like fancyrats.co.uk. I know they won't be able to tell you anything about degus but there are alot of responsible breeders that can give you advice on breeding in general.

[buzz]

Also, are the degus brother and sister or related in any way? Just asking because you should try to avoid any inbreeding.

[sophiethebest]

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11....

UMMM....

*no their not brother and sister...
*i plan to meet whoever is buying the degus and make sure their genuine...
*i am reserching all illnesses that the babies may be born with...

have i missed anything out?

[jackdaniels]

I have never come across a pet shop like that before ?

can i ask where you are from?

[silverfox7]

my female degu only showed that she was pregnant month before she give birth.

first time my degu got pregnant she only been with male for 2 weeks, 2nd time was 3 weeks after giving birth.

he has now been to the vets as i dont want her to have any more