Help me! My boy has babies!!

[Aimeelou]

Hi peeps!

I have a slight problem! I have a Virgil/Mocha problem!
I joined this site at christmas when i got a little boy called Taquila, and on realising they cant live alone i got his new best freind Taco.All was well and good.Well untill this morning!
Months ago i noticed they would both try and get their "leg over" with each other, and reading up ,put it down to a dominance thing.
Well it turns out Taquila isnt a boy and has 5 beautiful pups!!!

The main problem is i realy need help! i dont know what to do when to split them up what to do with the babies or what to do after the babies!!! have i got to split mummy and daddy up?Help
I f anyone out there can give me any advice i would be eternaly gratefull as i dont want to do anything wrong!!!
Thanks Aimeelou

[ra]

I had a crash course on birthing, babies etc last Tuesday! Went to every Degus site available and read. Have the spine on my handbook broken to those pages!!

First you will want to separate the parents for three days I believe. I will confirm that once I get home tonight for you. The female will go into heat immediately following the birth of her pups and could become pregnant again!

Once the three days pass you can put the father back in with the mother and pups. Infact she will appreciate it if you do. He will sit on the pups and keep them warm giving her a chance to go out and stretch, eat etc.

Poor Mocha has no one to help her. She is pretty frantic these days.

The babies have no ability to thermoregulate the first week so either the mother or the father need to be near by to keep them warm. Though it is said to be unusual, my babies were out and about wandering in the cage the first two days! I was worried and kept putting them back in the nest. Apparently the parent Degus know when the babies are getting cold and will return to nurse and or sit on them.

The babies will wean from their mother at about week four. They will begin eating solid foods within the first week but not seriously - they depend on the mother for their nutrition. I see Mr. Brisky has a milk replacement pellet that helps in the transition from mothers milk to Degus pellets. I may order some since I have eight babies for poor Mocha to feed.

They are now at day 9 and are actively hopping and running about the cage. They gather in the nest for frequent naps. Mocha squeeled at one the other day because it was attempting to eat her food! They seem to be pretty rough and tumble critters. She runs right over them in her haste to get to the cage door when I come home. They just roll, pick themselves up and continue on!

You will want to sex them at about 5wks. Even though Degus do not mature sexually until at least 7mo the females can become pregnant as young as 6 weeks!!! I believe that is what happened with Mocha. Poor little thing!

I intend to separate the boys from the girls at the 5th week, keeping the girls in the larger main cage with Mocha and the boys in the cage I first bought when I brought Virgil/Mocha home. I refer to it as the baby cage because the wires are closer together and of course it is much smaller. If I find the ratio of boys to girls is too high I will have to buy another larger cage to keep the boys in.

If you don't want to keep your babies once they are weaned I would suggest calling the pet store where you bought your Degus and see if they would be interested in your litter. Often they are.

Good luck.

If you have any questions I will try to help.

[Aimeelou]

Thank you so much Ra!
The only problem is were on day 5 and i didnt split them up on the first few days!! I looked at a few other sites to and they said the same thing about the female being fertile so soon after birth, so i hope she isnt pregnent again! But if she is theres not alot i can do! ive also found out that you cant seperate the loving couple permantly, because they mate for life, and get lonly and pine for each other - and well die
Ive read somwhere that you can have them neutered but it does sound risky for the little critter.
Thanks again

[Aimeelou]

Hi everyone!
just to let you know how things are going one the babys.They will be 4 weeks old on wednesday and there all doing great!
But unfortunatly one baby died last week I think she was the runt of the litter as she was a little slower than the others.But the other 4 and mum and dad are doing fine.
There just starting to get used to us a bit more now and have started taking treats from the cage! One brave baby started it when we gave taquila and taco there nightly treats and as taco came up to the door to get his, a baby came and had a sniff. Taco stood there and let him take it witch i thought was quite sweet! Soon after the other 3 came to have a look to see what they were eating and it stared from there!
Still looking for homes for the babys so if anyone in the UK would like to give a free home to them please let me know!

[Sunshinemeg]

Hi Ameelou.

I think I should be quite grateful to my pet store for one thing, they have correctly sexed all the degus I have, and I am safe knowing they are all male! But part of my wishes I could see Gromit as a dad!
Glad to hear your degu pups are doing well, even if it has been a rather quick learning curve for you!

If you are willing to list your knowledge of pup rearing, I would like to add to the main website, including a page on breeding, since the degree in successful sexing by stores seems quite low, this is becoming a common occurence!!

All the best

SUNSHINEMEG ;D

[Aimeelou]

Yes meg id love to!
After all the home work ive done on them now, and my experience on breeding now, it seems to be a shame to keep it to my self!
I would love to help on a link on breeding. Theres so many other people who dont know what to do with a family, like i was, and if it wasnt for people like Ra i would of been very stuck!
I would love to share my knowledge so people like i was can get the best advice.
Just let me know what to do!