is Baby pregnant???

[babz]

Hi,
another scenario on my hands now...

My three year old degu (i have just got the three of them), Baby doll, has been nesting, shes taking all the shreded paper and such into the nest box and whilst the other two are playing or eating she's peeping out of the box and rarely lets the others in.
I have also noticed Twinkle has been making some odd sounds that the other two don't make, i have just checked them out and shes making sounds that are mostly used by male degu's, and the other night she was mounting baby, i thought this was a dominance thing so i didn't brake it up (it was midnight too so i was absolutely zonked) but on reading further into this, i read that,when mating they emit a series of grunts and chirps, and i believe some of that was going on then but as i said i thought it was dominance.
It is possible that baby is having a phantom pregnancy having just moved home but is it also possible that twinkle is sercretly a boy having recently come of age where she is able to mate???

I am going to try and get a look to check twinkle later, but so far silkie is the only one that will let me hold her, she runs to the door as soon as i come near it baby doll likes me to stroke her through the bars and Twinks likes me to push my finger through the bar and withdraw it then she'll run up to it and grab it and i have to swirl it around trying to "get" her as soon as i stop she gets grumpy and walks off xD
Do any of you think that Baby Doll sounds like shes pregnant? shes a little on the chubby side too but i don't know if this is just because shes older and so much bigger than the other two???

Update as im writing this Twinks just tried it on with silkie but she ran off, it looks like my theory may be right o.o i'll have to find a way to check her ...

Any help would be nice
thanks in advance

x

[Sunshinemeg]

if you are struggling to catch them to check the sex, try getting a large empty jam jar, (or any glass jar) put a treat in it, get the degu in, and then you can hold the jar high to look at them without having to force them onto their backs.
If you do have a male in the cage, you will need to seperate him by putting a divide in. then get him neutered by a vet. once neutered they can all live happily together. If either of the females are pregnant they will help each other raise the young, and you will need to find new homes, there is plenty of discussion on this matter in the breeding and baby care part of the forum, and the people that have gone through this can help you more. if you are unsure with sexing the degus, check out the FAQ page on the degu world site (www.myhomezone.co.uk/degus) for more tips and some handy pics!

[sarah]

Well, it happened to us! We had Buddy (the degu formerly known as Coco) neutered but it was too late. Another thing to remember is that after neutering you should still keep them separated for a couple of weeks because the male can still have some residual sperm. If I were you I'd get "him" out of the cage until you're sure she's not a he.

[Sunshinemeg]

Babz (before I reply, PLEASE update your profile, check the forum rules, its a condition of posting)

good point Sarah, but to seperate I would make a divide in the cage so he/she gets part of it, but overall they are still in the same cage, as this way you will have less hassles with reintroducing later. You can do this very easily Babz by visiting a hardware store and getting chicken wire. it can be cut to fit, and then garden wire (the plastic coated stuff) can be used to attach the wire wall to the edge of the main cage so they cant get round it.

Also, it may well be that you DO have 3 females in the cage. One traite of degus is to "mount" those in their group they see as being further down the pecking order. they will often do this to establish themselves as boss. So dont panic too much until you are certain you have a male on your hands!!

[sarah]

Yes, you're right Meg. When we separated Buddy we were able to push the "Bachelor Apartment" right up against the big cage so they were able to nuzzle and talk to each other through the bars. They could be together without any hanky-panky!

[Sunshinemeg]

haha, hanky panky is definately out!!!
Sarah, did you have buddy neutered? and if so how did it go?

[babz]

Hi,
thanks every one, sorry Meg i forgot to do that, all sorted now, except hehe according to this i live in Sthingythorpe because there is a ... word in there that isn't exactly nice should i put dots in my location?

Isn't having them doctored dangerous?

thanks x
*goes to look for a jar*

[sarah]

Meg, we had Buddy neutered as soon as we found out he was a boy, and the two baby boys were neutered later, when they were 8 weeks old. All went very well! We have a wonderful vet who specializes in small animals -- he has even neutered dwarf hamsters.

Buddy was a little cross when we brought him home, but he had no problems at all. The baby boys went right back to business as usual -- running on their wheel, eating and playing. The cost was about $150 per degu -- a little expensive, but worth it.

[Sunshinemeg]

babz, if you want to change your location to the country thats fine, its just to aid people when talking about products etc.
Getting a male animal neutered does pose a risk, but the vet can talk to you about this, as sarah shows in her message, its a very small risk and more often than not the op goes very well!

Sarah, its great to see how well the degus adapted to their new "situation", my dog was neutered on his 10th birthday (he had cancer so it was vital to save him) and he spent the next week or so walking as if he had a wet nappy on, and blamed my mum personally as she was the one that took him! (this was a few years ago now, but we extended his life and gave him another very enjoyable year he would not have had!)