Starting to panic

[saddlers]

Just throwing this out there, because I have no experience when it comes to degu pregnancy etc. The degu we recently adopted form the RSPCA was a big girl weighing in at 320+g when we got her. She is a monster, but has a lovely personality. She was put with Jerry two weeks after his neutering, I would have liked to have given them longer, but we had other things going on and I just needed to get try them together and thought the risk was very minimal......however Truffles is continuing to gain weight and is currently 369g!!!

She seems to be getting rather round and her undercarriage is getting a bit droopy. I don't know whether she may be pregnant...if she is I will be really annoyed with myself or whether we may have received her in a pregnant state. She has been with us for two months now. Could she just be a food monster or is it likely she may be pregnant? Are there any ways to determine pregnancy, or any signs I can check for? I am just worried in case it could be a separate health issue....or whether I need to reign in her feeding...but I don't want to do that if there is a chance she may be pregnant.....she does love her food

Hoping one of you who has experienced pregnant degus may be able to offer some insight...I can get some photos if that may help

[deguconvert]

Hmmm . . . I am thinking there is the likelihood that you received her in a pregnant state . . . although it is also likely that she is also a larger than average degu. But, in the potential that she is indeed pregnant, you need to handle her with great care when you have her out. The pups grow so big that the threat of uterine rupture is real. When a pregnant female is getting close to her time of delivery, you can much more easily locate the nipples along the sides of her belly. They are not up the middle of her tummy, but truly on the sides. They will begin to protrude, and will have not hair around them. Now they don't protrude so much that they stick out past her hair . . . you need to be holding her and looking closely, run you finger from her haunch up toward her front legs and that should reveal four nipples. She will also show a greater interest in building a nest. She might get kind of peevish with Jerry. IF she came pregnant, you will see pups in the next couple of weeks I would think. If she was impregnated by Jerry I would think it will be 4-6 weeks before you see pups yet. However, your description sounds a lot more like the first than the later.

[saddlers]

Thanks for that, just weighed her again...383g she seems to be rapidly gaining weight. I can not find any nipples, but because she is fairly new she is still quite cautious so I don't want to be too pushy. If this is a pre-Jerry pregnancy how is he likely to react to the pups? If she is only 2 months through pregnancy should she be gaining weight this fast, that is 14g in 3 days? She is a bit peevish with Jerry, but that seems to be the norm

[Kins]

My Dave is a big lad, but he's no where near as big as your lass. It does seem like she may well be pregnant. I have no experience I'm afraid, but I'd love to see pictures of Truffles regardless There's nothing quite as cute as a rather rotund degu.

I would imagine that natural instinct would kick in with Gerry and he'd want to help out with the potential pups...but you know him better so may be in a better position to think how he may react. I know when there have been females in together, even those that aren't the mum of any pups have helped out with looking after them, so may well be the case with a male degu too...

[ilikedegus]

I'd also guess that Jerry will play dad...apart from the lack of testosterone, I don't know how that would change his attitude.

I think that the social development of the degu is such that most adults will treat most babies with care. It's an impression I can't justify with specific information, just something picked up from reading about degus in the last few years.

I certainly suspect you're going to find out, Saddlers!

[saddlers]

I have taken some photos because I still can't convince myself either way.

[deguconvert]

I really think she is pregnant. Those are shapes I've seen a few times. However, if you want confirmation, you could ask your vet to look at her. I don't think you are very far off from seeing pups. You want to keep a fairly close eye on her, just in case she has any difficulty with delivery.

[saddlers]

She is still very active running and jumping around the cage, but I have noticed her doing a small squeak when she jumps as if it is uncomfortable

[moletteuk]

Floss has been up to 350g, and she looks pretty big and lumpy at that size. Mine have been putting on weight over the last couple of months, as they do every year in autumn (although they just lost it all from their activity from being in season).

14g weight gain in 3 days seems pretty rapid.

Have you got a plan? Get building? Hope for girls?

[yasmin]

Just read this thread.
If she is pregnant, it likely happened before you got her because right now it sounds like she is close to giving birth (and it takes 3 months from conception to birth).
Male degus are known to help out with rearing pups so it is likely that Jerry will help out.

Is she okay otherwise? I'm not sure I would take her to the vet if you really think she is pregnant because any handling is risky and I'm not sure they can tell. When my Azure was showing signs of blood in her urine, I took her to the vet (not knowing she was pregnant). He thought she was pregnant and took an x-ray but didn't see any skulls in it so we ruled that out (I'm sure that my insistence that there was no way she could be pregnant – how wrong I was – also caused him to let that idea go.) She miscarried a short while after (I think it was within a week).

Another sign that she may be pregnant is nest-building behaviour. Mine started shredding paper and building a nest inside a wooden hut I had in their cage when they were pregnant. This is behaviour that stopped when the pups are weaned.

[saddlers]

@mollette plan is to hope she is just chunky, then if not hope it is girls, then back to panic

They have built a fairly big nest but Jerry has always liked his nests and they built that one as soon as they were put together.

[saddlers]

Thanks for all the input folks

[moletteuk]

Hahaha love the plan

[saddlers]

Okay so she has been a lot more active today, loads of running on the wheel and running around the cage, which has made me think she is not pregnant...not seen her like that before. Starting to wonder if it may be some form of phantom pregnancy, couldn't feel any nipples when I checked earlier..however they have done this to their hay pile

[klbishop]

crikey !! goog luck hun x

[deguconvert]

At the same time, Saddlers, it could be that she is feeling the onset of labour pain and it is making her more active in response. Perhaps she is even feeling the urge to bring on labour. I don't want to add anxiety to your already full plate, but I am a little worried that she could be so heavily pregnant that she might need some help. Although . . . how you help something so small, I have no idea. But again, I am going to suggest having your vet take a look at her.

[yasmin]

My goos make "nests" like that to sleep in. Is there a covered "hut" in their cage? When mine were pregnant, they made a nest in that which they don't do now. You would also see one of them (not necessarily the mama) actively bringing material to the "nest".

As far as activity level is concerned, my pregnant goos were active throughout their pregnancies.

[saddlers]

I am now more convinced that it is panic over, her weight is down to 370g (I now think the scales must have had some sort of spasm!!).

yasmin these pair sleep in a log cabin which they have filled with bedding, but the hay nest was a new thing for them

[yasmin]

Noted. Just like people, goos are so individual in how they choose to live/decorate, eh?

[deguconvert]

I hope that is the whole cause and nothing more! What a relief that would be!