I have a pregnant one help!

[kpepsi]

I got a pair of sisters from the humaine society about two weeks ago now and I thought wow one is kind of fat well she has been expanding like crazy. Last night I was holding her and my oldest said mom is she pregnant I said " I didn't think so but she does look like it."
I fliped her over and sure enough her nipples are stating to stick out and when I turned her back over and was holding her in my hand I felt movement in her tummy.
Now I am worried what do I do? do I remover her from the rest ? do I have to set things up differently? help!

[Aimeelou]

Is one of the other one definatly a girl? Either way dont split them up! A degu family is a bit like us, the father or any other females will halp look after the brood. Just put another bed in for them so the others have somwhere to sleep if she dosent want them in the nest while shes feeding them.
The whole family usualy help out with the babies by keeping them warm( They cant thermorgulate for the first few weeks) or by making sure they are safe in the nest and help gather nesting materials.
Just make sure the other Degu is a girl! If it turns out to be a boy, dont worry, just split him up from mum for the first day because he can get her pregnant again due to her being highly firtile 24 hours from birth!
But put him straight back with her to help with the babys.
She will try and make a nest high up, so try and make sure that if they fall out they have somthing soft to land on. If the spaces between the cage bars are a problem, use old CDs! They are relativly chew proof if fitted on the outside of the cage.
Hope ive helped! Aimeelou

[ra]

Found myself with a surprise pregnacy too! Aimee pretty much covered it all.

The pet store told me to make sure the mom had fresh water and lots of food and she'd take care of the rest.

Try to leave the nest box alone once the birthing starts. (It's hard to not peek!)

Good luck.

[kpepsi]

Oh thank you so much you have put my mind at ease. yes the other one is a girl too and I have a feeling she just might be pregnant too. I took another closer look at her becasue she has been putting on a lot of weight too. I just thought they were big girls.
And unfortunitly I think she is too. It is exciting to have babies I just worry about finding good careing homes for them all.
You people are all so wonderful any advice for after they are born? Oh and my cage I made myself it has mesh wire and the floors are full with one small hole in each one for them to go up and down.

[ra]

I found it difficult to find new homes for Mocha's babies. My sister took two girls for a friend of hers ( a doctor who had had a number of other rodent pets - good home). I kept the smallest girl Tanzania Peaberry as a cage mate for her mom Mocha. I finally had to take the five baby boys to the local pet shop where I bought Mocha. The people at the pet shop were happy to take the boys for me and they were very receptive to my ideas and information pamphlet I wrote for prospective buyers. All made me feel better about taking the boys there.

Call your local pet shops and see if they might be interested in the babies once they are weaned at about 4 - 5 wks of age.

[kpepsi]

I would only use the pet store as a last resort and they would have to be willing to give proper instructions. Like what you did I would make up a pamphlet to go with each baby. That was a great idea. Still if I can help it I would prefer not to sell to them.
My oldest daughter says I should start a colony of my own now. Since I was talking about doing that to try and study them and figure out exactly what is the perfect invirement and feed for them, so I could get more free good information out there for new Degu friends like myself. I found it so hard to get information on them let alone good information.
Ops I am running on at the mouth as usual sorry guys.
well got to go pay attention to my girls before I go to bed.

[Aimeelou]

Hi kpepsi
Before you think about a colony, Take this into consideration-
A female can have around 4 litters a year between 5-10 pups a litter and sadly halfs the females life span the more litters she has.
I also thought about breeding, but due to this, and the fact that no one has heard of them i stuggled to find homes for them.
Hope everything goes ok
Aimee

[kpepsi]

Aimeelou,
Good points. I think I will follow your advice and forget it.
But I might add a couple more females, I will have a all girl colony.
I guess you could call it my Amazon Degus.