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Post by eddyyoda on Jan 5, 2009 16:16:58 GMT
Well, a few months ago we got 2 new male degus to keep our old male company after his brother had died. This morning I was greeted by six degus instead of the three I was expecting. This seems to be a scarily regular occurence of mistaken identity in pet shops - we were told by both pet shops that it was males we were buying but it appears that Fiver is in fact a girl Anyway, we have three adorable babies all snuggling together. One is already having the occasional wander around the cage. I have a couple of concerns though. My degu book says that any other degus (non parents) will assist with the babies, and this seems to be true in that they are all gathering nesting materials and contributing to the nest. However, the 2 males are squabbling a lot, and bouncing around dangerously close to the babies, who, due to destruction of previous house, are not in a nesting box. We've improvised with a thick cardboard box over Mum and babies to try and protect them. Is it wise to remove the other male for now? I guess the squabbling is down to wanting to mate her again but I don't want to disrupt them as a group if I can help it. Any ideas? We're a bit thrown by this and want to do the right thing. The babies were unexpected but very welcome. Is there anything extra we should feed Fiver or anything that should be avoided? We don't give them treats particularly - the occasional bit of dried banana or a peanut is about it.
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Post by buzz on Jan 5, 2009 16:25:20 GMT
Firstly congratulations,
Females are most fertile for the next 24-48hours after giving birth... more than likely the cause of the squabbles... I'd say to remove both males and put them back in after the 48 hr time period.
I'm not sure about the food so hopefully someone else may be able to fill you in.
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 5, 2009 16:35:21 GMT
Congratulations! I'm thrilled for you and so glad that though unexpected, the babies are welcome.
I would make sure that you have enough food on hand so that Fiver can graze often. If you don't have a feeding dish per degu (errr, well per the three you started with) you might want to put some more in so she doesn't feel she needs to compete for the food. Feeding and caring for the babies will put a huge demand on her body. Some degu moms get VERY possesive of the food. It won't hurt for her to have some peanut a little more frequently, as it will give her the fat her body is using for milk production. I would stay away from the dried banana though. Keep and eye on her, just to be sure she isn't getting thin, but she should be just fine.
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Post by eddyyoda on Jan 5, 2009 19:27:04 GMT
Thanks very much for those comments, all info is very useful at this stage! We've separated the cage in two as we did when introducing the new(er) 'gus back in September. This has calmed everything waaaay down and thankfully, Fiver is now spending much more time in with the babies rather than having to keep running away from the amorous males. We also gave the boys a long run around out of the cage which seems to have helped.
We're desperate to get in and check the babies over but we are restraining ourselves, they look fine from a distance and they're making the most adorable little noises. We'll give it a few days and see how things go.
Fiver has got a food bowl to herself (I must get used to writing 'her'!) and we're kkeping an eye on her. She's been eating quite a lot, little trips out to the food and water then back to the babies.
Thanks for the helpful words anyway, if anybody has any more hints they'll be gratefully received!
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Post by eddyyoda on Jan 6, 2009 17:20:37 GMT
Hey sorry for the double post but it's occurred to me that the mother is a blue gu and dad is a brown. The babies look brown at the moment but I wonder how they'll develop.
At least I don't have to worry about any inbreeding at present, but does anyone know whether the offspring of a blue and brown might come across problems? I can't imagine there would be but I'm doing the worried mum thing!
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 6, 2009 19:27:34 GMT
I don't think that would be a problem. The blue coloring actually exists as a result of extensive, selective inbreeding. SO I would think that adding a brown back into the mix will reduce the inbreeding. Unless they are brother and sister . . . that wouldn't help much.
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Post by jackdaniels on Jan 6, 2009 21:13:43 GMT
If they don't look grey in colour to begin with the will be brown degus but will carry the blue gene.
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Post by eddyyoda on Jan 7, 2009 16:39:54 GMT
We've lost the babies, or rather they've been stolen by the monster called death. We couldn't see them this morning but heard them, but this afternoon no noise, Fiver pootling around the cage and no sign of them. We took the box off and found them huddled together in the bottom. We tried to revive them with a hot water bottle and a massage (apparently that can work to restart the heart of soon enough) but no luck. We're gutted.
Fiver seems ok so far, we're keeping a close eye on her, but we have the immediate dilemma of what to do. Think we're going to sell the males, keep Fiver and get her a cage mate - whose sex we will check in the pet shop this time. But is it correct that degus mate for life? If so am I going to stress Fiver terribly by getting rid of her chap?
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Post by buzz on Jan 7, 2009 19:47:25 GMT
I'm so sorry, I guess the hardest thing is wondering what went wrong but seeing as it was a small first time litter, one explanation could be that mum may not have been stimulated enough into producing milk.
Yes it is true about them mating with one but as long as shes got the company she should be ok.
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 7, 2009 21:05:11 GMT
So sorry that things have changed once again, in such a dramatic manner. I feel so bad for all of you. I hope you are able to successfully and happily find the solutions you need for your degus.
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Post by eddyyoda on Jan 8, 2009 10:02:04 GMT
Thanks again. We were driving ourselves nuts last night wondering whether we could have done anything to help or if we did anything wrong, but there's no way to know. Maybe Fiver didn't know what she was doing, it was definitely the first litter as she was only 12 weeks when we got her last January.
They all seem ok this morning but last night was a bit tense.
We have a friend who may be able to take the boys, he's always had small animals as pets and is thrilled at the thought of small pets that keep the same hours as he does. If he doesn't want them then I'll advertise them int he adoption section.
Thaks again for the help and support.
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Post by gmablett on Mar 12, 2009 9:27:49 GMT
I adopted 2 degus from a pet shop and was told they were both boys until last week when 1 had 8 babies, I dnt know anything about having degu babies and wondered if any1 can give me any tips? Dad loves them and is always with them but when they both know they are getting food they jump around the babies alot willl they harm them?
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