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Post by degunorrisandchunk on Jan 30, 2014 9:47:46 GMT
hi i use to breed degus about 4 years ago ive got degus again and just wondering as to refresh my mind so i dont do anything wrong how do you step by step breed degus and can two males breed with a group of 4 females without being seperated ? as when i seperated them in the past i noticed i had to reintroduce them or is there no way of avoiding that ? cheers for any help and advice
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Post by Maravilla on Jan 30, 2014 10:06:41 GMT
Hi, and welcome to the forum!
What do you mean by breeding? Do you have any information about the degus you want to use? About their medical background? Their parents and grandparents, possible genetical defects? Social problems or abnormalities? ...
Do you have a plan what to do with the animals you do not find new homes for? I mean, having 4 mothers could mean to have more than 30 babies at the same time... And what to do with the animals you cannot use any longer as you should not use the females for more than a few litters to avoid serious health problems.
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Post by degunorrisandchunk on Jan 30, 2014 10:12:35 GMT
Hi, and welcome to the forum! What do you mean by breeding? Do you have any information about the degus you want to use? About their medical background? Their parents and grandparents, possible genetical defects? Social problems or abnormalities? ... Do you have a plan what to do with the animals you do not find new homes for? I mean, having 4 mothers could mean to have more than 30 babies at the same time... And what to do with the animals you cannot use any longer as you should not use the females for more than a few litters to avoid serious health problems. well i use to breed all sorts of different types of animals as it was an exciting hobby so im not a beginner i use to have about 8 females that i bred twice i bred animals for about 6 years all different types from rodents to rabbits to lizards. so im fully experienced in breeding was just looking for something to refresh my mind |
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Post by swiffermuis on Jan 30, 2014 11:08:24 GMT
Like Maravilla said, what are you going to do when you can't find homes for the newborns? You can be very experienced but doing this because it's an 'exciting hobby' sounds a bit selfish in my opinion. I can't help you with this though, I have no experience in breeding for ethic reasons  |
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Post by degunorrisandchunk on Jan 30, 2014 11:21:44 GMT
Like Maravilla said, what are you going to do when you can't find homes for the newborns? You can be very experienced but doing this because it's an 'exciting hobby' sounds a bit selfish in my opinion. I can't help you with this though, I have no experience in breeding for ethic reasons ive always kept the one's that i couldnt find a home which is no problem at all and if you think what im doing is abit selfish then you have probably misinterpreted my attitude to keeping them |
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Post by saddlers on Jan 30, 2014 11:35:36 GMT
Hi,
I also have no experience with breeding degus so can not offer any real technical advice, other than to say multiple males will potentially fight to the death if kept with in a group with females.
As others have pointed out degus can breed very quickly, and as a forum we see a vast number of degus that have been bred which need adopting, who can not find suitable homes. This is both from private owners/breeders and rescue centres.
This is why you are probably getting quite a sharp response from the forum, it is nothing personal, just that we do not really want to encourage breeding when there are already high numbers of degus already looking for placement/adoption.
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Post by degunorrisandchunk on Jan 30, 2014 11:40:52 GMT
Hi, I also have no experience with breeding degus so can not offer any real technical advice, other than to say multiple males will potentially fight to the death if kept with in a group with females. As others have pointed out degus can breed very quickly, and as a forum we see a vast number of degus that have been bred which need adopting, who can not find suitable homes. This is both from private owners/breeders and rescue centres. This is why you are probably getting quite a sharp response from the forum, it is nothing personal, just that we do not really want to encourage breeding when there are already high numbers of degus already looking for placement/adoption. i see thats very understandable it may be the case in other places but as far as i know the only real places to get degus in scotland is at pets at home who do bad jobs at keeping them and giving advice on them, degus are not much known but ive never had a problem selling all the babys and always make sure i give out a full care manual when i use to breed them. ive often looked on animal shelters to see if i can adopt any degus but ive only ever seen 2 in the past 6 years |
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Post by saddlers on Jan 30, 2014 12:00:13 GMT
It is also worth noting Maravilla's point that there are a lot of degus who do not have the best genetic make up as a result of inbreeding and it is now very common for genetic issues such as cataracts and teething problems to be present. Therefore it is also important to ensure any breeding is carried out with degus where their parentage is known
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Post by ntg on Jan 30, 2014 12:07:13 GMT
Unfortunately Scotland isn't all that far away from the issue. A small rescue in Northumberland is still trying to rehome degus from 2 years ago. There just isn't the demand for them. As soon as animals are commonly sold in pet shops like pets at home, they become overbred, and the breeding lines suffer for it. Unless you can guarantee the genetics of your boys and girls, you don't know what health problems they may have. We currently have a member who has quite a few degus with dental issues among other things, all presenting the same way and all related.
Just a quick search shows degus in the spca in Aberdeen, a search in scotland on gumtree has 13 hits for degus, preloved has some in Edinburgh who have been on there for quite a while as I believe they're the same group of four that were up two or three months ago. The reason you've had "no problems" probably comes from the fact they're babies and so easier to find homes for, because everyone thinks "cute babies" rather than seeing the adults and giving them a chance.
I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but breeding of any animal should not be a hobby, it should be for the better of the animals health and wellbeing. The only way this would be possible in degus would be to bring entirely new lines into the breeding lines, which would only be possible with wild caught animals. Something that I don't condone either. I'm sorry if you came on here for support; we can give you advice and support on how best to care for your two new additions. However, my best advice to you at this moment would be not to breed them and add to a growing problem.
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