new mixed group

[shimmy]

I just got a trio of degus to add to my lonely girl, I was told theres 2 girls and a boy they are 2 yrs old and have never mated, is that strange? I thought they could from early on and usually would?

[deguconvert]

Yes they can, and just because they haven't so far doesn't mean they still won't. I suspect that introducing the new male to your lone girl will bring on babies, if only because she is new to him and not from his family group. Once he has started to mate, however, I imagine he will continue with the two he has always known, and then you will have three pregnant females to deal with. A litter can be anything from a single pup right up to 10, so your group could potentially increase by thirty within say a 100 days. Then the trouble begins, because that is a lot to care for and to find homes for, not to mention separating them into same sex groups before/by the time they are eight weeks of age. Perhaps you can look into getting him neutered?

[moletteuk]

Please don't do any introductions yet. It is definitely not safe to assume he is sterile.

Sex them all yourself to make sure they are what you have been told. Post pics and use our guide if necessary deguworld.proboards.com/thread/13070/degus?page=1

Once you have confirmed their sexes and if all is as you have been told, it would seem like the best option to look into having him neutered. If you can find a good vet, it is usually fairly safe and not too costly.

[shimmy]

Hi, don't worry I was not going to introduce them yet and the plan has always been to get him neutered anyway (once I have checked for sure its a he)because although I do have a separate 2 boys they are very young and I fear he would kill them if I tried to introduce so I do plan to keep him with the girls............and no babies lol
I just thought it was odd, the to new girls are related but the boy isn't, and this is all assuming I was told the truth that they havnt had any litters yet, they don't look pregnant so all is good, I plan to take the girls to the vets to just to check though

thanks, scary maths when you put it like that though, how quickly things can escalate with breeding :S

[moletteuk]

OK great, reassuring to know you were just asking out of interest. We do occasionally get reports on the forum of groups that were thought to be same sex producing babies out of the blue after a few years. I guess there could be a few reasons, poor fertility in male or female, less than ideal housing or food could all contribute.

[shimmy]

Yarp I know plenty of people who have had that problem, actually that seems very common in all animals. It could be the food then, she did say the girls bully the boy from the food, and the all look slightly underweight to me.