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Post by bluediamond on Jan 27, 2008 9:15:13 GMT
I have 2 lovely male Degus - and I eventually would like to breed them, can I introduce a female without problems? Or will the boys fight her? Thanks for any advice.  |
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Post by buzz on Jan 27, 2008 11:26:24 GMT
They are most likely to fight. May I be nosy and ask your reasons for breeding and where your degus came from (pet shop/breeder etc)? See I only ask this because many many people talk about breeding but they aren't clued up in the slightest. I hope that didn't sound offensive as it really isn't meant to be.
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Post by bluediamond on Jan 27, 2008 11:44:09 GMT
I was only thinking about it at the mo - they are lovely animals and I thought I could make it a hobby. I got them from my local pet store and I'm still learning at the present. Thanks for your reply  |
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jacky
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 293
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Post by jacky on Jan 27, 2008 12:36:32 GMT
I feel that anyone should think very hard before breeding, a lot of the ones from pet shops are interbred and to breed from them can give you a lot of problems. I adopted one from a pet shop and then found out that he was a she and already in the family way. ( We later found out that the father of the babies was her brother) Two weeks after she gave birth she died due to diabetes leaving me with 6 live babies and one dead one,
My vet said it was because of interbreeding and over the next few years the babies had lots of problems with their eyes and teeth, again because of them being interbred. I lost all of them within 3 years. If you have two great degus then dont rock the boat, just love and enjoy them Its best to be safe than sorry.
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Post by buzz on Jan 27, 2008 13:05:33 GMT
One golden rule is never to breed from pet shop degus... generally they come from farms where the only goal is to produce the animal, not for temperament or health and Jacky has a very good example of why.. even if the two you mate are not siblings, theres still interbreeding in the lines.
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Post by bluediamond on Jan 27, 2008 17:17:38 GMT
Oh I see - thanks for the advice, so its best to get your degus from breeders then?
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Post by buzz on Jan 27, 2008 17:56:31 GMT
For breeding yes. Plus its handy, a lot of breeders will be happy to keep in contact and give advise and also help with rehoming situations where ever possible.
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Post by bluediamond on Jan 28, 2008 8:51:39 GMT
For breeding yes. Plus its handy, a lot of breeders will be happy to keep in contact and give advise and also help with rehoming situations where ever possible. Well thats good to know for future reference ;D thanks buzz. |
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Post by Lala on Jan 28, 2008 9:10:07 GMT
I strongly advice against breeding, whether you get your degus from a pet shop [which as jacky said, they could have been inbred] or from a breeder.
It's causes a lot of stress to the mother degu and a female degu is at her most fertile 24 hours after the birth. If daddy manages to mate successfully just after she's had the pups she's going to have a to nurse one litter while she carries another and it puts a lot of stress on her body. Pregnancies also shorten a females life quite a lot with every pregnancy! Births could go wrong so you need to have a vet on stand-by.
Then you have to worry about finding loving homes for the babies. A degu can have up to 10 pups per litter! It's not always easy to find homes, people might want them for snake food!!
I highly recommend you don't breed. There's been a few instances on here [reading through old threads] of owners who have found they have had a mixed sex pair and suddenly have lots of babies and they can't find homes for them!
Sorry, it's sounds like I'm having a go but please think VERY hard about breeding. It's not as easy as it sounds. Degus mate for life, and there's no saying your male and female will get along and buzz says.
.x.x.x.
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jacky
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 293
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Post by jacky on Jan 28, 2008 15:58:57 GMT
I second everything that Lalaandbean says above. Sorry to be a wet blanket but SO many Degus live a terrible life and end up being distroyed because they breed so quickly and owners just cannot find homes for them all. ( My five boys came from a mother that came from a house where there were over 100 Degus kept in two cages) , thank goodness the rescue people got to them. Several of the adults died due to interbreeding and many of the others had ears, tails etc missing.
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Post by buzz on Jan 28, 2008 15:59:52 GMT
Then again no one would breed lala, not just degus but any animal and then we'd be left farms.
The way I look at it is to ask yourself three questions.
1) what is my goal
2) how do I look for homes
3) can I cover vetinary expenses.
Don't ever go into breeding just for fun. For example gerbil/rat/chin breeders have a goal for health, temperament and colour (you can't do much with colour but you can definatly breed lines which are strong health wise and have a excellent temperament). you should never just stick two degus together and hope for the best, you need degus from breeders who know their lineage and therefore you can make informed decisions.
Don't ever go into breeding without spending months researching, asking questions and planning.
Don't ever go into breeding if you don't have the space, the time or the money to cover substrate, food and vet bills.
Don't ever go into breeding if you have difficulty finding homes and you should have an appreciation of the potential numbers you could end up with.
Responsible breeding is a big commitment but at the end of the day only you know your situation and how you'd cope. Perhaps just enjoy these two you have for a bit and see how you feel down the line?
There are always alternatives for example you could offer your service to rescue centres for fostering pregant degus etc. Obviously its not breeding but its an alternative.
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Post by Lala on Jan 28, 2008 16:16:52 GMT
I know people breed, but like you say, Buzz, months of research and lots of money go into it! I know a member on here breeds degus in Finland I think and looking at her pictures of the parents and pups they look extremely well!!!
Most people go into breeding not knowing half the stuff they need to and that's what leads to so many degus in need of rescue and the ones that aren't are put to sleep - or worse! So what Buzz has put is exactly right. There's so much you have to take on board. If it's just a 'hobby' I wouldn't breed them. Because as Buzz has pointed out it's going to be a very expensive and time consuming one.
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Post by buzz on Jan 28, 2008 16:43:49 GMT
I do agree that there are far too many irresponsible people go into breeding and the degus end up paying for it.
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Post by bluediamond on Jan 28, 2008 17:02:09 GMT
Personally - I wouldn't go into any sort of breeding without doing my homework, thats why I appreciate all your replies I like the rescue idea thanks buzz - again, its something to bare in mind for the future. |
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Post by kerry on Jan 28, 2008 22:38:18 GMT
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Post by buzz on Jan 29, 2008 8:07:43 GMT
Noooo never. I think people who purposfully stick two degus together with the intent to breed and without fully researching the consequences is irresponsible. your situation was a complete mistake and was the fault of the pet store employees not you, you shouldn't feel guilty.and you are definatly not a bad person!
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Post by Lala on Jan 29, 2008 8:43:38 GMT
Exactly, noone judges you as a bad person. It was a mistake and like Buzz says it's the fault of the pet store and as you know degus aren't the easiest animal to sex! You shouldn't feel guilty at all. You didn't mean to breed them! |
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 29, 2008 15:49:53 GMT
HEAR HEAR!!! Put your heart at ease, Kerry. There are some things that are just beyond our control, and that was definitely one of them! You are doing your best to give them a healthy, happy home now, and you are giving them wonderful care. Because of you they have the best chance they could have for a great life.
Let the sun shine, take a deep sweet breath, and be at peace. You're doing great.
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Post by kerry on Jan 29, 2008 22:13:08 GMT
thank you all for your kind words feel like i have stolen someone elses thread. if these babies do ok i will feel so proud. i weighed them all tonight and they have all put weight on, just no hair  thank you again kerry x |
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goozoo
Burrowing Degu
Posts: 129
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Post by goozoo on Feb 4, 2008 19:25:57 GMT
Hi Bluediamond. I don't want to put a dampener on things but I would think VERY carefuly before breeding your Degus. I'm in Essex too and I spent every waking moment for months and months trying to find homes for 150 accidentally bred Goo's. Although everything turned out ok in the end, nobody local wanted them.
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