My Fizzel just had first baby!

[kpepsi]

I am not going to disturb her but I just knew last night that she was going to have them in the night or today.
She was unsettled and kept wanting attention like crazy and wanted the others to stay away from the level she chose. She chose the bottom one. So last night my oldest daughter came over. She and I fixed it up for the babies we put a water bottle on that level and put cardboard around any place we thought they might get scrached by wire. I put the lettle wood cabin in there that I bought for her. And this morning I woke up and my six year old came out to check on the Degus with me. (they are in the office/living room) we moved the office in there because I love to have the bay window to look out of. Anyway we still have the family room for guests. I practialy live in here.
anyway my daughter said mom I hear a baby and sure enough she just had one. problem other girls they were trying to come see. Mom got mad and chased after them. so I put their round rock they love to sit on over the hole between those two levels. Mom seems happier now.

[kpepsi]

Wow while I was writing the last post she had another two babies have three right now.
how exciting this is. Oh boy are they cute but smaller then I thought they would be. I raised cavies (guina Pigs) years ago and their babies were bigger then this by a long shot. Or my memory is fading. I know they are a little bigger animal but not so much that the babies should be this defferent in size I don't think. these guys are maybe an inch long. does that sound about right or are they a might on the small size?
got to go mom is calling for more food. She is too much she keeps wanting me to come give her little bits of food and attention. Must have had more.

[kpepsi]

Just had another and the silly girl she keep churping for me. She doesn't seem to want to do this alone yet she doesn't want the other three girls to bother her yet.
I thought I would give her twenty four hours then move the rock so the others can go for a visit if they want.
What do you think? any one got any ideas for me?
oh she is calling for me she is at the side of the cage calling for me. I thought they didn't want to be disturbed guess Fizzle forgot to read the rules on pregnant degus.
Wish us luck

[Sunshinemeg]

I have to say I am unsure about seperating the others away, as there could be arguments if kept apart for too long, but as I have an all male group, I will leave it to the owners who have reared babies to make any suggestions.

[kpepsi]

You are right. My girls all make what they want or need clear to me. After she finished giving birth and the first nursing. Fizzel got up on her hind leggs under the hole and made lout squeeking noise. I came to the cage and she ran to me then back under the hole and did the same thing so I moved the rock. She calmed down and went back to the babies. soon one by one the girls came to take a look then went back up and left Fizzel and the babies alone.

[worthym]

Congrats on the new babies Kpepsi ( well Fizzel really!!...)
Will we be seeing any pictures??! I hope all goes well, and look forward to hearing updates in the future.

[kpepsi]

Gosh Degus are so smart. One of my other girls came down when I was offering a treat to Fizzel and she took it I thought she was getting it for herself but she went gave it to Fizzel then came back for one for herself. After she got it she took it back up to one of the higher levels.
Just thoght you might like to know what's going on here in the nursery.
More later and I will up load some pics I took minutes after birth.

[kpepsi]

Worthyn,
Yes pics will be up later this after noon or night depending on where you live. I am in Calgary Canada myself.
I am so excited and I have another girl who will give birth in I am guessing few days. I didn't have a clue they were pregnant when I got them from the humaine society. So it is all a surprise.
But so exciting that I can't stand it.
oh my name is Kate

[kpepsi]

This morning is the second day it has been just 24 hr.
The little guys are still bobbing their little heads and can hardly crawl. Is that normal? I thought they were more like Cavies when they were born. Cavies have their eyes open in just a matter of minutes an hour was the longest I remeber waiting for one to open it's eyes.
Also they were moving around a lot more and by the second day if not sooner they were looking and moving around just like mom and dad. In fact they looked and acted pretty much like mini adults.
So whats the scoop people can you help me? what am I to expect when it comes to the growth of these little guys and what are they like when they are first born.
Thanks
Kate

[worthym]

Hi Kate
Well, I really don't know much about Degu breeding, as mine are all boys, and I haven't had them long!! But I do know a little bit about breeding rodents, as I breed mongolian gerbils myself, and hopefully soon some pallid gerbils too!!
Anyway - back on topic - from everything I have read - they should have their eyes open after 24 hrs - see here :

The babies are born fully furred with open eyes and ready to move around. It is not unusual for newly born Degu to be exploring outside the nest within a few hours. They are able to eat solids with a day but will continue to suckle for approximately 6 weeks.

source : www.blackness2000.fsnet.co.uk/degu.htm

But as with all animals, some will always be slow developers - so don't worry if some are winkers (just the one eye open!) at first.
From what I have managed to glean from the internet, and also from personal experience with the gerbils, sometimes mothers either don't lactate enough, or don't know how to care for their first litters. If this happens you could try hand rearing the pups, but it would be difficult, and they still might not survive.
Hopefully all is well, and they will be starting to explore the nest now, and mum will be feeding them.
You asked in another post about feeding anything different, and from my experience the best thing for mums is usually more protein. For the gerbils that means I tend to give them dried cat food - but I found one site that said this :

Kitten booster formula has been reported to be beneficial to pregnant females during the last 3 weeks of pregnancy. In addition it is supposed to help the females remain healthy while they are lactating. Additionally if more pups are born than the mother can feed naturally they can be fed the booster forumla.

source : centralpets.com/pages/critterpages/mammals/rodents/ROD3461.shtml

Sadly information seems to be scarce - so it might be worth trying to take some pictures yourself, and then maybe they could be collated as a development guide that could be put (obviously only if SunshineMeg agrees ) onto the website to help future owners/breeders out.
Good luck and let me know how you get on!!

[kpepsi]

Worthym,
Thanks for the information. Sadly all of her pups died.
I am thinking they were not fully developed. I use to breed Cavies and I was under the imprestion that these guys were born the same way with fur and their eyes oppening with in 24 hr or close to that.
But these guys were very small and didn't look right they could hardly move even today. and they never did start getting stronger. one by one they died starting with the girl.
I am going to go buy some of the kitten booster for my other pregnant degu and hope that all turns out for her.
I am about to up load the pics I took and hope that from them I can find out what experianced degu owners think. I would like to know if they were premes like I think.