Now then...

[Lala]

We seem to think Jack might be a Jackie... and might be expecting [either that or Coke's violated him]
We've heard Coke make the successful mating call and Jack[ie]'s private parts are all exposed!

Any definite sure way we can find out?

[buzz]

I have no idea sorry. I don't even understand what you mean by the parts are exposed. I have heard the mating call before with my four boys once or twice. All three are definatly males though.. I've seen the evidence.

The only way to see if he/she is male or female is to sex them using the anus and the uretral cone method. I guess if its mating time the vagina entrance could be open so you'd be able to see it, then again if it has been a successful mating the entrance might have closed.

Pregnancy... from what I remember I think you wont be able to tell for a good few months... I think they carry for around 3 months and the mother doesn't show till quite late on.

I hope someone with more knowledge can answer your questions better than I can.

[Lala]

I wanted to check they were both boys when I first brought them home [don't trust PAH ] so I used pictures off the internet as a guide and all looked normal from the pictures - except for Jack, we weren't overly sure.
But now, his/her bits are all pink and his/her urthral cone is quite close to the anus so I'm a bit

He does seem to be getting a bit plump compared to Coke... might just have to wait and see in a couple of months if we have new arrivals?

Ta

[buzz]

Do lots of reading about breeding as a precaution and about their weaning processes. What will you do if they do have a litter?

[melmel1987]

We thought the same about Axel, we actually called him Maybelline at first (maybe..haha) anyway his parts are different to Houdini's and compared to the pics didnt look the same...

Houdini is always mounting Axel and doing the various flirty mating calls, Axel even squeeks really high pitched for Houdini after hes done it and that goes on for an hour but i definately think they are both boys.

fingers crossed yours are both lads too. if not....happy baby sitting =]

[Lala]

Well if Jack is a Jackie then I'm just going to watch Coke cos I don't want another litter straight after PLUS it's not fair on Jack[ie]'s little body!

I might make another appointment at the vets [sneezing has gotten worse and Coke's becoming a bit lethargic] and while I'm there I'll ask her to sex them. If their both boys then woowoowoo If not then I'd love to keep all the litter but depending on the size I might have to sell a couple!

Coke does exactly the same thing with Jack and Jack will squeak like heck at Coke "/ *sighs*

Does anyone know any good sites for breeding and babycare or even books?

Ta

[buzz]

Poor Coke. *Sending get well wishes* They have on average 6 pups a litter. Hopefully if your degu is pregnant you might be able to keep at least one girl for Jack(ie) and one boy for Coke if your planning on seperating them after the pups have weaned. Also, I don't know if you know, but only take Coke out for 3 days, after that try to put him back in as it really is beneficial to the mother and also is important for the development of the pups.. it goes into it in more depth on the degutopia site if your interested. Then when the male pups have weaned remove Coke with them and leave mum with the girlies (if you don't want any more litters that is).

The degutopia is a good website I find: www.degutopia.co.uk. Probably one of the most in depth sites I've found. If you need any help please ask, I would be more than happy to look through websites to get answers for you or direct you to them.

Hope everything goes ok.

[Lala]

Coke sends squeaks of thanks . He seemed to have picked up in the last day, I'm sure he does it once he knows he's going to the vets

I found degytopia site the other day and printed off pictures to compare and had a read through. I was going to keep at least 2 babies if s/he has a litter [how could I not]? But I think I'll just have Coke and the little one nutered to stop any accidents!!

I'm making them an appointment for vets today, to have them checked out!

Thank you for all your help

.x.x.x.

[luke]

lalaandbean said:

I wanted to check they were both boys when I first brought them home [don't trust PAH ] so I used pictures off the internet as a guide and all looked normal from the pictures - except for Jack, we weren't overly sure.

Oh god..... dont tell me that!!
I'm about to buy 2 "BOYS" from PAH (Pets at home I assume) ! I hope they dont mess me about and say they are boys....... I'm only 15 so I will feel abit Iunno.. It is stupid and on the day I willmake sure but I hate asking people at shops so many questions and requests like can i hold one can I look at thi what about that etc.. the people at PAH seem unexperienced.. they were very cautious about holding them when I tried to give it back to them ..but they look in good health. there little sweeties:P

So what should I do about this boy/girl situation when I get mine from PAH ?

Lukey-

[Lala]

Ask as many questions as possible. And ask if they're definitely positive they're boys. I'm also thinking Rocky isn't a boy either, but I didn't get him from PAH

As long as they're in good health that's all that matters . Hope everything goes well when you bring your guys home

I've booked both mine in for a check up, so the vet can sex them among checking them over for that infection they had the a few weeks ago! Hope they turn out to be both the same sex - whether boys or girls lol!

[melmel1987]

i got all my 4 boys from PAH and they all appear to be little chappies.

i often find Axel is being molested by Houdini.....if u get what i mean

and then i have axel shrieking for an hour afterwards and looking a bit disheartened, which did make me think uh ohh i got myself a lass and a lad here but its ok =] i think Houdini just has slight "tendancies" now and again.

Don't be afraid to ask questions to the helpers at PAH, its going to be more than likely they dont have a clue about them, only one girl did at my PAH, the same that lala got hers from and atleast she kinda had half an idea of what she was talking about.

You can always ask them to double check the sex of them (all being if someone knows how to do that!). make sure u ask the best food for them, i recommend getting the chinchilla food xtravita i think its called, you will have to pick the raisens out of the food each time u feed it to them though!

i also feed mine rat pellets too, PAH did say guinea pig pellets but mine don't like them. If you can, get a nice big house for them to hide in, id recommend gettin the wood cabin and now the mud sheck looking one with a straw roof that they might have in the PAH tank, simply becuase mine destroyed the roof within a week and its a bit of a waste of money.

Also if you look in the bird section they have little nest boxes for around £2.50, get one of them becuase my goo's love snuggling up in there and sleeping together, pop it on a higer level towards the top of the cage.

a cargo net is also good for them to climb up and also it can connected the levels of the cages (take a look at my cage in the pic section "meet Axel, Houdini, Rocket & Punk") u might get some ideas from there seeing as everything apart fromt he large cage is from PAH.

I have 2/3 water bottles in my cage each on different levels. I use a chinchilla sandbath because its really big and gives my goo's plenty of space for both of them to comfortably sit in and roll, I have a plastic one thats like a sphere so that they cant flick sand out all over the place....believe me it gets messy when they proper go for it hehe!

umm oh if you can get a BIGGER wheel than an average hamster one simply becuase we got a hamster size on with our aquarium tank and out goo's have gotten to nearly twice the size then when we first got them (at 12 weeks old) and they dont fit in the hamster size one so you might aswell, if u can afford to, go for a larger one straight away! I have also had to buy a wheel each for my 2 newer goo's as they fight over who can go in it.

umm i think thats about it...ooh remember to get a salt lick block just so your boys always have it available to them, once u have one it pretty much keeps for a long time!

my boys like to eat timothy hay mixed with herbs (available from PAH) and i also get them regular hay so they get a bit of both.

Ohh a nesting ball is also good too =] haha i put this in with the hay and my goo's bury themselves through the hay to sit in it.

sorry that this is like a mammoth bit of writing, im just going on what my 4 goo's like and benefit from just so you get a bit of a heads up cos allmy gear was from PAH too.

My goo's like a running ball aswell, this is completey subject to your personal choice, some goos like them and some dont. i put both of mine in at a time and they run about for hours. again you need to get the larger size ball, i think it was for rat size.

Hope this helps!

and enjoy your goo's!!

xx

[melmel1987]

and i just found myself going off a bit on that and completely off lala's post sorry love!!

let us know what the vet says!! x

[luke]

Heh Sorry lalaandbean I hope the vet went well. And thanks melmel mammoth post = mammoth help .

Luke-

[kerry]

hope all went well for your little babies. x

[Lala]

Melmel it's fine!! S'what the threads here for init! Mine & your goos seem to like more or less the same things

I did book J&C in for the vets yesterday for a check up but I was really ill & couldn't get out of bed so it looks like I'll have to wait til after xmas too get them in!

I'm half hoping s/he is pregnant so we can have more goos around & half hoping s/he's not cos I don't want to have to split them up!

[exile57]

Try and get some pics up on here, I'll give it a go at telling you if I think they're girls or boys, as I'm sure others might.

I'm no expert, but I have managed to successfuly sex 11 pairs of goos so far.

[Lala]

I was gonna post pics, but they don't stop still long enough for me or my boyfriend to get pictures PLUS my camera on my phone isn't the best quality.. waiting until after xmas *hoping for a new digital camera* .

Any tips of keeping them still long enough for a decent pic pwease .

[exile57]

I dunno about tips, I just tell mine to chill and they do, lol