Questions. please help????

[rk]

When a degu gives birth, about how many cubs does she bring??? i wana get my degu a girlfriend, but my folks are totally against it, cause they think degu's will reproduce as much as rats or something.

If anyone knows, please help.

How often do degu's give birth??? and if anyone encountered it: is it messy?

If u keep a boy and a girl degu, do they mate all the time or what?

sorry, but im really clueless and want to know, thank you for replies

[ra]

Degus litters average around 5 puppies but can go as high as 10!

My Mocha (originally Virgil thought she was a boy when I bought her Ha!) gave birth to 9 puppies on April 5th.
No it was not messy at all. I'd given her a nice cardboard box as a nest box. When I opened the box to see why "he" was making funny noises, it was obvious her water broke - the bottom of the box was wet and there lay a pup!. The box dried out - no odor no clean up. The information source I was using said not to be alarmed but the mother would and should eat the after birth. I never saw that because not knowing how long I shoud wait before checking on her again I waited about 6hrs. By then all 9 puppies were sleeping and nursing and she looked content.

I thought I had 8 puppies - apparently one had died at birth or shortly after. Mocha buried it in the bedding under the nest box. I only found it when showing my sister & brother-in-law my Degus family. Kevin was concerned about the amount of feed in her bowl. I told him she took the food and buried it in various places, infact she had buried some under the house. I lifted the house and found the dead baby.

Since the mom only has 8 teats it's probably just as well.

The eight babies will be three weeks old this coming Tuesday. The cage looks like an act from Circe du Soliel when they're all up and about.


There is no extra care with the babies. The parents will tend to everything. You just have to make sure they have plenty of fresh water and food for themselves.
The father will spend time sitting on the babies to keep them warm so the mother can get out to eat and drink and exercise a bit. Poor Mocha has been frantic taking care of her babies by herself. Like I said, I never planned on babies - I bought a male Degu or so I was told!

I'd just read they mate for life. One special note, separate the father from the mother immediately after she gives birth to prevent her from becoming pregnant again. Only have to keep them separate about a week. Then you want to put him back in to help take care of the babies.

She won't be ovulating again until she weans the babies at approximately four weeks.

[rk]

WA?? 8 >.< omg, my parents would kill m.e what are u gona do with them? are u keeping them all???

and im also afaid that when those babies come in, they wil be very small, and might crawl out through the bars >.<

[Aimeelou]

Hi RK
ive recently become a "grandma" to 5 little ones and they will be 2 weeks old on wednesday. I didnt plan on a family as i bought 2 little boys! I wouldnt start a family untill youve realy thought about it.
The female can have around 4 litters a year, around 5-10 babies a litter and sadly due to frequent pregnencys, the females life span is halfed. A female that is constantly pregnent will live up to 2 years, rather than up to 10 years!
Also have you thought what to do with all these babies? Im struggling to find homes for mine as it is mainly because no one has heard of them!
Give it some thought.
Aimeelou

[ra]

You would have to cover your cage at least temporarily with hardware cloth or screening of some type because yes, the little babies fit between the 1/2" spaced bars.

I'm with Ameelou, you might want to check your market area before breeding. I too am having difficulties finding homes for my babies. I intend on keeping two females as companions for their mother. Any that I can not find homes for will go back to the petstore where I bought Mocha.

[rk]

hm.. yeah i know. ire goan go around pet stores, asking whether they will buy baby degus.

im stil considering this whole breeding idea. just one degu will get lonely. thats all.

[ra]

Mocha seemed to be doing just fine as a lone Degus. I spent a lot of time with her however. If you give them lots of toys, cardboard tubes, branches - things to do and explore your lone Degus may be fine.

Rather than breed just get another same sex Degus. There's lots of good advise on introducing them on this forum. Check out the "Setting Up A New Herd" thread further on down the page.

[Aimeelou]

I think its a good idea that you keep one of your babies as a friend for mum but make sure its a GIRL!!
I origanaly only had one degu to start with, and i thought he was fine on his own. Until the more i read about them getting lonly made me get another. Now to see them cleaning and cuddling up to sleep makes me understand.

[Sunshinemeg]

RK, I agree with Ra, keep a cage of same sex degus. Although you will get some initial fighting while they get used to each other, as long as your degus are correctly sexed you wont have to worry about babies, and you will have a companion for your original degu!

let us know how you get on

SUNSHINEMEG ;D