100% that they'll breed.

[Maravilla]

What you call chance (I suppose you mean this in a positive way) is what I call risk.
And yes, there is a huge risk that this will happen one day, maybe it has already happened, maybe it will happen tomorrow.
Is it your intention that your degus have pups? And then, what will you do with them? Are you prepared to care for them if you don't find good new homes or to spend money for the vet if something goes wrong with mum and/or pups? And when do you want to quite this circle?

Even though pups are nice and cute, it is not all about fun. I am not sure as the picture of your avatar is very small, but do both degus have white patches?

[clichedegulovername]

The boy has a huge amount of white on him, but the female is mostly a very dark brown with only a few patches of white. And yes, I do want them to have pups. I've had pups before from a different female so I'm prepared.

[Maravilla]

Aug 19, 2015 11:50:12 GMT clichedegulovername said:

The boy has a huge amount of white on him, but the female is mostly a very dark brown with only a few patches of white.

Apart from not understanding why it is necessary to breed (but ok, different country, different situation) just this tiny bit of information: breeding with this combination (both male and females with white patches) has a higher risk of mortality of the pups, including several risks for the mother. This article is in German but maybe you can use a translator to get the main facts.

[deguconvert]

What is your purpose in breeding them? Are you familiar with the fact that a degu is most fertile immediately (and for 4-5 days) following delivery? Do you have a plan for the separation of the male and female pups? For father and mother? Cages?

[ilikedegus]

Maravilla we're really lucky to have you contributing here.

I had realised that German breeding of coloured degus was much more advanced than in the UK.

I scanned the articles after getting them Google-translated online; I urge anyone interested in breeding patched or white degus to have a go at the article in translation (and another article referred to in the one Maravilla links to).

Disclaimer / invitation - if anyone wants to write a better explanation, go ahead please. I haven't time right now to dig out relevant diagrams to illustrate this and explain it better; I'm just scribbling from my own (small) understanding.

Very high level summary - breed patched degu to patched degu and you will have pups die: statistically around 25%. Some may die in the uterus, causing stress to the mother, some may be born but are very likely to die before sexual maturity.

[Slightly more detailed for those able to grasp the genetics - All patched degus are heterozygous agouti/white. A homozygous white degu has a lethal gene combination. Breed 2 heterozygous patched degus together and you will statistically get 25% homozygous agouti, 50% heterozygous patched, 25% homozygous white babies.]


Not uncommon in pure white mammals across a range of species (horses are a well-known example).

[moletteuk]

Thanks Maravilla and Ilikedegus.

Cliche, I thought you already had an accidental litter this year and also were having space issues?

[Maravilla]

I am not sure if you are still reading here as there are things that you probably don't like to read.
But even if you don't do, maybe there are others who are also thinking about keeping males and females together and risking pups.

You talk about breeding. Have you read something about this topic? Breeding degus is almost impossible, there are no professional breeders anywhere. Why, if they are so highly fertile animals, you may ask. Breeding is something complex, it is not about just mating a male with a female degu. You don't know anything about your animals: about their genetics, about illnesses, about all those social aspects. But this is important for breeding. If you are not aware of them, you risk compounding health issues, social problems etc.
I know that there are so many people doing what you want to do. Here in Germany this is a huge problem. But it is all about colours, ignoring at the same time all those side effects this can include. I haven't read anything about an approach to reduce tooth problems, tumours, social deficiencies.

Keeping animals means having a lot of responsibility. "Breeding" them means having even more responsibility as it does not only mean taking care of the own animals but also looking for a really good home for the babies. But lots of those who sell pups forget about this aspect. At the end of the day, it is all about money. Or why do they want to have (as an example) 10 Euros for an agouti and 80 Euros for a patched degu? All coming from the same mother, living in the same home, eating the same food? And better don't ask what some do with the unwanted agoutis which they cannot sell. I am sure you don't want to know this.

It is therefore we distinguish between "breeders" (people who really know what they are doing) and "producers" or "multipliers" (the rest...).