HELP ARE MY DEGUS MATING ???

[staceyg]

Hi everyone
Right, i got my degus a week ago now and all is really well. They are in a much larger cage, loads of shelves, little hideaway, they have their timothy hay and degu pellets, plenty of degu safe chewy toys and they seem happy. Well over the last few days the larger degu has been mounting the smaller one, we were told they are both females. This didnt bother me as i read it can be a dominance thing so no problem there.....until today. The same degu has been proper going for it and then squeaking for quite a while afterwards, now ive also heard this can be heard from a male who has done the deed, im so confused !
I havent had chance to get them out to do a bits inspection as im 8 months pregnant and have a my hands full until later on tonight when hubby gets back, but just had to post something to see what people think. As this is the first time we have kept degus im unsure what to make of this squeaking, they seem very happy, very active, eating and drinking, snuggling together so im stumped. Right now again the larger one is following the other and one of them is making a sort of like pig squealing noise, cant see from here which one, like a warning maybe ?? Any advice would be really really appreciated xx
Stacey xx

[w8152]

I don't want to panic you but does sound very much like at least one of them is male...

I only have males so i'm not sure on female behaviour, i'm sure someone will post shortly with a confirm or deny...

[staceyg]

I was starting to think that, the only thing that makes me wonder is they have been in my locals pet store for a while now and no babies, at what age do they become able to reproduce ?

[w8152]

its about 6-9 months for males depending on the male growth rate i think, and females its fairly soon if i remember what Smux said previously...

[staceyg]

he/she is making a different kind of sqeaking now, like a distressed one, i cant see that its distressed, but they have been having little scraps since i posted earlier. I thought it might have been because the other one wouldnt let it go on the wheel, so im getting another to see if that will solve the problem, other than that, i really dont know what else i can do

[deguconvert]

The question of gender confirmation can be a HUGE one! How did you find out their sexes?

[staceyg]

i havent, i was told at the store i got them from that they are both female but havent checked myself yet, i didnt see the need up until today which is when their behaviour changed.

[tomm]

Hi. My "two females" are behaving in the exact same manner but only really around 11am-1pm. I have experienced the same thing as you with the wheel as that is where minor fights always seem to start.

The minor fights result in chasing and then the bigger degu mounting the other degu. The smaller degu seems to make a distressed call when this is happening. I have checked the distance between the cone and the anus on both my degus and am pretty sure they are both female. The only real suggestion i have is that both of us have 2 degus, one noticeably bigger than the other. It is probably just a dominance issue.

Got any updates on the situation with yours?

[Philip]

pumps ( the larger one) humps pops (runt) every now and again, and i think i've heard somewhere that even females hump each other...?

[deguconvert]

Yup! Humping is a true built in characteristic of the degu psychy. No matter the gender, they will hump! "If you buy two . . . they will hump!"

[karla79]

Hi i have recently got 2 degus myself and as like staceyg one of them has been making the sqeauking noises and still doing them.
I have noticed a little bald patch on the grey one i have never owned these pets before and i was also told that they were both female.
I have tried to find out but i cant tell they dont stay still long enough.
So any suggestions would be a big help Thanks Karla

[tomm]

Hi karla. I wouldn't worry too much. Mine are still at it and are definately both female. At the start my little blue goo had a small bald patch appear on the top of her head from where the other was mounting and nibbling her at the same time.

Chances are they are just caught in a dominance struggle at the moment.