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Post by rockyschick on Oct 12, 2013 20:44:02 GMT
We got our daughter 4 degus for her birthday all males according to pet shop. One is much larger than others and at first thought it was due to being dominant one in cage and eating most of the food. Today ehen cleaning cage I decided to weight them 3 of them weight about 198g whilst squidge the large one weights 320g they are only 6-7 months old and from what I have read his weight got me worrying. I then started to wonder if he wasn't a he so looked up how to sex them , we checked squidge and im 99 percent sure he is a she and think that the weight gain is due to her being pregnant . She seems less active and some what subdued today until I put finger in to stroke her and she bit me and drew blood. We slso fill water bottles every day is this normal .
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Post by ntg on Oct 12, 2013 21:14:40 GMT
Hi, has the weight gain happened quickly? And can you get pictures of her as pregnant degus look different to rotund degus. If the others look like they're male (which I really recommend checking), then the chances are she's pregnant. I'm assuming the pet store is pets at home, if so, you can go over there to get a second cage for free for temporary use as it's due to their own ineptitude. However, long-term, their cages are far too small to keep degus in (take a look at our cage size recommendations).
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Post by Maravilla on Oct 13, 2013 8:23:43 GMT
We slso fill water bottles every day is this normal . What size is this water bottle? Does it work fine or do you find the bedding around it to be wet? A normal degu might drink between 10 and 15 ml of water per day, depending also on his activity and the kind of food. With fresh and watery food they drink less than with dry stuff and pellets.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 13, 2013 10:18:31 GMT
I think you need to check the sexes of all the degus, so you know exactly where you are at. Here's the sexing guide deguworld.proboards.com/thread/13070/degus?page=1 Often a large glass jar or encouraging them to climb up some mesh can give you the opportunity to get a good look. Immediately after giving birth degus have a fertile period and can often get pregnant again right away, so it's really important to know which degus are boys and girls and make a plan to try prevent further pregancy.
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Post by rockyschick on Oct 13, 2013 21:54:19 GMT
It is just the largest one thats female the other 3are definitely males. The water bottle is standard size and no leaks on it at all, they are in our dining room and our house isnt on the warm side. I called pets at home today and they have said they will help with supplying cage etc if she does give birth and will help with rehoming babies and offered to take mother and babies if it is too much for us to cope with. I will upload photo of her tomorrow as haven't been able to get one today as she has spent most of time in box.
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Post by ntg on Oct 13, 2013 22:14:48 GMT
Personally, I would go into the store and demand a cage right away, and tell them that supplying a cage IF she has babies isn't good enough otherwise you're risking back-to-back pregnancies, which isn't good for the mother at the best of times, nevermind when she's so young. Plus the presence of a female in the cage with three males could cause severe falling out for mating rights, so it's risking their health as well. I wouldn't leave the store until they did so either, it's their responsibility for selling you a missexed group, and she can't be left in there.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 14, 2013 16:40:06 GMT
It sounds like the babies could come any time now, so she needs to be separated as soon as possible i.e. before she gives birth. Go back to PAH and tell them you need to avoid a further pregnancy so you need the cage right away. You could take a photo of her looking fit to pop to convince them you know what you are talking about and aren't making it up! Also she needs some nesting material, just some toilet or kitchen roll and plenty of hay is fine.
The water is a concern. To me a standard degu bottle is around 300ml, and four degus should drink about a third of that maximum per day, and usually less. You could have a urine or kidney infection or diabetes going on, so you need to indentify whether it is one degu or more that is doing the extra drinking and take them to a vet.
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 18, 2013 6:49:20 GMT
I am curious to know . . . have you seen any sign of babies yet? She sounds like she is about ready to deliver. You should get an additional cage, if at all possible, and put her in it as soon as possible to prevent an immediate second pregnancy.
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Post by rockyschick on Oct 18, 2013 20:04:13 GMT
No still nothing im starting to wonder if im wrong about it off to get spare cage tomorro to be on safe side, there is two boxes in cage and plenty of hay and kitchen roll for nesting
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 19, 2013 13:16:38 GMT
Are you registered with a vet in case of difficulties?
How is the extra drinking going, is it a 300ml bottle you have?
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Post by rockyschick on Oct 19, 2013 13:29:03 GMT
Been to pah this morning got spare cage and moved her into it , she seems fine with it boys seem to be more bothered by it , checked btl and it only holds 177ml so maybe water consumption isnt as bad as I thought, we r not registered with a vet but we have one 5 min walk away and vetsbfor oets look after pah degus which is only 10 mins from us.
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Post by ntg on Oct 19, 2013 20:52:29 GMT
With it being a 200ml bottle it still seems quite a high intake, I half fill my 300ml bottle and they rarely drink more than 50ml between the four of them in a day.
How long has she looked so big for? As they usually start showing in the last month of their gestation so it might give you a better guide of when she might be due (it's unusual to have a degu be so overweight at such a young age, particularly when their cage mates are the same age and weigh a normal amount).
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Post by rockyschick on Oct 20, 2013 8:23:34 GMT
I say about a month give or take, we brought them on July 20th and the following weekend I called pah as I was worried about how bsdly they were fighting as they we kicking each other off the shelfs in the cage and it looked and sounded really bad. Im guessing noe that they eere probably fighting over her and that's when she got pregnant which woukd make her due date end of month.
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Post by ntg on Oct 20, 2013 11:28:00 GMT
I think you might be right about the others fighting, it would be more than enough to set them off! Usually they give birth at night, and the pups are quite active in trying to get out the nest from day 1 so you should be able to spot them quite quickly when she drops!
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Post by rockyschick on Oct 20, 2013 12:36:20 GMT
The cage is a thicketts cage will the mesh be ok for pups how small are they when born
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 21, 2013 19:35:19 GMT
You don't want the mesh to be more than a centimeter in width. Degu pups are highly mobile and they escape without even realizing they have found a way out, at first. Then they get smart about it and start intentionally looking for ways out. They are adorable, but they can be brats about exploring and going on adventures, LOL.
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Post by rockyschick on Oct 22, 2013 20:55:44 GMT
Having problems with my males the have all got scabs on them from fighting moved squidge to other side of room should they calm down now or should I move her to a different room or will that stress her out being alone
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Post by ntg on Oct 22, 2013 23:49:44 GMT
Are they all about 6 months old now? As it's possible that they're entering their adolescent phase, and boys can be particularly fiesty with each other!
The female could be setting them off but it could also be due to fighting for dominance or lack of space if they are also in a Thickets cage as they have nowhere to escape from each other.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 23, 2013 9:39:11 GMT
Has it helped the boys to move Squidge further away? I would be reluctant to move her to a different room, you don't really want to unsettle her if she is about to give birth. They all really need more space, have a look at our cage guide deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9396/forums-cage-size-recommendations Three boys will need something around the size of three Thickets cages!
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Post by rockyschick on Oct 23, 2013 13:49:18 GMT
My brothers making us a much larger cage that will be 2 seperate cages and then have several levels per cage most likely 3 to fit in our alcove which is about 4ft wide with possibly a tank for dirt so they can burrow. At work at mo but they had eased off this morning
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