Is my degu pregnant?

[Deleted]

Hi,

I have two degus, one blue and one brown, Thelma and Louise. I'm quite sure that they are both females. I bought them just under three months ago. My question is regarding my blue one. She has always been a little bigger than the brown one but recently within the last week to two weeks shes suddenly ballooned in size. She has a very big belly, you can see where it bulges on either sides sort of like an apple shaped woman. I also picked her up a couple of days ago and you could feel that her belly was sort of lumpy as well. I have read that degus can get pregnant at as syoung as 6-8 weeks old, and before I had her she was kept in the same cage as her siblings at the petshop. Is it possible that she is pregnant? Also, with both my degus being girls, if the blue one is pregnant and will be giving birth soon would I have to take any precautions with the other girl? Would she try to harm the babies?

Thanks,
Chrissie

[buzz]

Well, it is possible if her male siblings were kept in the same cage at that age. I've not had a pregnant degu before but from what I understand on the topic, if she has ballooned quickly and it is down to prenancy, it is possible that she will give birth in approximatly 1 month. I'd avoid any further handelling as it can cause complications to the mother and the babies.

I'm guessing this would be your first litter? If she does give birth, leave her alone for a little while before looking at the offspring to let her relax. At such a young age too, I'm guessing from what you say shes no older than 4 months, and thats 2 months younger than advisable, I don't know if theres a higher risk of complications, perhaps it maybe an idea to contact a vet to ask their opinions. If it were me I'd make sure I'd find a vet who has experience with degus and also ask prices for emergencies, like an emergency cesarean just to be on the cautious side so that your prepared incase things don't go smoothly.

Unless you see any tension between mum and sister then leave the sister in because according to what I've read, the other female will provide valuable help to the mother looking after the babies. It's always better for the mother to have a hand.

Other than that, do some reading around the subject, I'm not too sure if the mum needs more vits and mins in her diet for when she's feeding.

This is ofcourse if she is pregnant, to me it sounds like she is but I'm not experienced like I say, hopefully someone with experience can give you a second opinion. But if she is, Good Luck!! How are you feeling about it all?

Kate

[ra]

That's exactly what happened with my Mocha. I bought her as a male HA! Had her for about two months when she started to get very round. At first I feared I'd fed her too much green grass and she was gassy/colicky because I too could feel movement in her belly when she sat in my hand. I could not have been more surprised when she gave birth about a week later to nine Degu puppies. She too was a very, very young mother if the information the pet shop gave me was correct.

Actually having another female should be of some help and comfort for your young mother. The females usually baby sit for each other allowing the mother a break. Poor Mocha only had me and I knew LESS than she did about being a Degu mother!!!!

[laurieb]

OK, I went through this not long ago. Pregnant? Probably. They carry for 3 months, so get ready! Make sure they are all on 1 level for a while and the little ones can't fall out of the cage bars. They're really tiny.

The other female is a Godsend for the mother! She loves those pups as much as mom does, and cuddles them while mom can eat, sleep and just walk around. . Now, I have heard about people having problems, but it's very rare, so watch them at first.

Please avoid holding her. She could miscarry very easily, even at late stages of the pregnancy.

They pretty much take care of themselves. Just be sure to keep plenty of water and food in there.

Is she building a nest? Ours never did, but I guess most do. Ours just delivered in a pile of timothy and in a plastic jar!

[Deleted]

hiya, cheers for your replies. i had already done some reading up quite a few weeks ago, and guessed that she might have been but i thought i'd ask everyone just to be sure. but anyway, good news. i came home from work today and....

.....WE HAVE BABIES!!!

I can't see how many babies there are, about 4 or 5 i'm guessing they're all on the bottom level of their cage, she'd been building a nest underneath the house and platform on the first level.

i'm really excited. and the other female has been standing guard haha. shes on the top level in the house and everytime someone comes in the room she'll come running out and sit outside the house watching you.

i can't wait til the babies get a bit older though, i'm dying to give their cage a clean out, i hadn't dared to clean them out for about 4 weeks cos i thought it wouldn't be very good if she was to give birth and their home didn't smell like them, plus i didn't want to destroy the next she'd built. but now they're starting to smell a little...or quite a lot haha.

[jolie]

Awwww..... congrats on your new arrivals!

[buzz]

congrats!!!

[critterrx]

Congratulations!

[sarah]

Congratulations! The same thing happened to me...everybody has given you great advice but I'd just like to add one thing -- make absolutely sure that the other female is female, or you might have another surprise in about 3 months!