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Post by sazira on Feb 9, 2016 11:33:06 GMT
Hey everyone! I just got my very first 2 degus last week! They are a male and a female, her name is Sazira and his name is Brutallegend (I know, strange names, they're my husband and my usernames on pretty much every game we play lol)   Sorry for the bad quality of the photos... I've had gerbils, rats and guinea pigs before, so I wanted to try something different this time around  |
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Post by bouncy on Feb 9, 2016 12:52:14 GMT
They're lovely! Especially love the face in your first photo |
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Post by deguconvert on Feb 9, 2016 15:44:03 GMT
Hello, Sazira, and welcome to the forum! You are going to thoroughly enjoy your degus!
May I ask if you are certain of the genders of your degus, and did you specifically want a male and female? Is the male neutered?
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Post by sazira on Feb 9, 2016 18:10:43 GMT
Hello, Sazira, and welcome to the forum! You are going to thoroughly enjoy your degus! May I ask if you are certain of the genders of your degus, and did you specifically want a male and female? Is the male neutered? Well yes they look different and I compared them to images i found on the internet... I didn't want a male and a female specifically but that's what I found on a portuguese version of craigslist. I wanted some kind of small pet and when i saw them, with cage and food and everyting included, i just thought i'd try them out. no, the male is not neutered as far as i know, but they're 7 months old and have never had a litter so something may be going on i don't know. |
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Post by deguconvert on Feb 10, 2016 0:00:14 GMT
Well . . . just because they haven't produced a litter doesn't mean they won't. At seven months of age they are still five months from being adults, and lots of breeding time is still before them. You could have a brother and a sister, which would be bad, as the difficulties that arise from inbreeding are considerable. Degus have a 88-90 day gestation period, and the mother is immediately ready to conceive again as soon as her pups are delivered, the hours and days following are her most fertile. Females have a 21 day cycle. Many "domesticated" females become pregnant again and 90 days later you have another litter of pups. On top of this, due to the regular and generally abundant food available, female pups are sexually mature at six weeks of age, and male pups are as well at least as early as 8-10 weeks of age (I know this personally), and I think it is possible they are as early as the females. So . . . father goo can impregnate his daughters, and if brothers are still in with their sisters, they can as well. Then who knows how many pregnant degus you have . . . and ball rolls much faster from there. They can increase in numbers so quickly that you will find yourself bewildered and struggling to stay afloat.
You are located in Portugal?
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Post by moletteuk on Feb 10, 2016 10:36:06 GMT
Welcome to the forum Sazira Here is a link to our beginners guide, it covers all the basics deguworld.proboards.com/thread/19754/beginners-guide-degu-keepingDo have a serious think about neutering Brutallegend, or possibly getting more degus and splitting them into a male group and female group, just ask if you have any questions. |
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Post by sazira on Feb 11, 2016 16:23:49 GMT
Well . . . just because they haven't produced a litter doesn't mean they won't. At seven months of age they are still five months from being adults, and lots of breeding time is still before them. You could have a brother and a sister, which would be bad, as the difficulties that arise from inbreeding are considerable. Degus have a 88-90 day gestation period, and the mother is immediately ready to conceive again as soon as her pups are delivered, the hours and days following are her most fertile. Females have a 21 day cycle. Many "domesticated" females become pregnant again and 90 days later you have another litter of pups. On top of this, due to the regular and generally abundant food available, female pups are sexually mature at six weeks of age, and male pups are as well at least as early as 8-10 weeks of age (I know this personally), and I think it is possible they are as early as the females. So . . . father goo can impregnate his daughters, and if brothers are still in with their sisters, they can as well. Then who knows how many pregnant degus you have . . . and ball rolls much faster from there. They can increase in numbers so quickly that you will find yourself bewildered and struggling to stay afloat. You are located in Portugal? I know, I've done enough research to know this. They probably will have a litter sometime and I'll find new owners for the pups then. They are not brother and sister, that much I know. Yes, I'm located in Portugal, where vets don't neuter small rodents like these unless maybe I take them to Lisbon or something like that which is halfway across the country from where I live. I'll just have to separate the males from the females after they have their litter. Don't worry they'll be well taken care of. All I want to ask is how do I know when she's gonna give birth so that I can separate the dad from her for a few days? I don't want her to get pregnant again right away, and it might happen while I'm sleeping or at work, which would give the dad more than enough time to get on top of her again... |
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Post by deguconvert on Feb 11, 2016 23:05:39 GMT
Our females (vet certified as male at pet store, and so introduced to males at home with an incorrect belief that they were male) delivered at night, waiting for our busy and noisy household to be quiet and still first, and thus we found ourselves in this very predicament. So my advice to you would be that if you see her shape changing, and she is taking on a pear shape, she is in the latter stages of a pregnancy. Now, she can look pear shaped anywhere from 2-4 weeks before delivery, which can be a difficulty for the owner to be in time if you are trying to avoid separation too far in advance of delivery, and end up waiting too long. However, I would err on the side of caution. I also want to warn you that some degus look plump, but don't really take on the pear shape and so don't look too much different. Perhaps the best way to know, it is to weigh her on say a weekly basis, and if you start to see she is gaining rapidly over a couple of weeks then she is likely pregnant. Also, the mating call that happens following a mating session, is a loud bark that will often last 20-30 minutes. If you hear that, make sure you make a note of it and mark it down so that you have something to refer to. This could happen several times, but once a pregnancy is successfully started there will not be more loud and long barking, and the last known will likely be your date of conception. Of course that is in the hope that you are present to hear. When a degu is near delivery, sometimes you can detect her nipples, along the side of her belly, not in the middle of the belly, but on the side as if from fore leg pit to hind leg pit. Often you have to brush the hair forward to be able to find or see them.
I hope that all comes across clearly enough to be understood?
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Post by sazira on Feb 12, 2016 11:56:41 GMT
Our females (vet certified as male at pet store, and so introduced to males at home with an incorrect belief that they were male) delivered at night, waiting for our busy and noisy household to be quiet and still first, and thus we found ourselves in this very predicament. So my advice to you would be that if you see her shape changing, and she is taking on a pear shape, she is in the latter stages of a pregnancy. Now, she can look pear shaped anywhere from 2-4 weeks before delivery, which can be a difficulty for the owner to be in time if you are trying to avoid separation too far in advance of delivery, and end up waiting too long. However, I would err on the side of caution. I also want to warn you that some degus look plump, but don't really take on the pear shape and so don't look too much different. Perhaps the best way to know, it is to weigh her on say a weekly basis, and if you start to see she is gaining rapidly over a couple of weeks then she is likely pregnant. Also, the mating call that happens following a mating session, is a loud bark that will often last 20-30 minutes. If you hear that, make sure you make a note of it and mark it down so that you have something to refer to. This could happen several times, but once a pregnancy is successfully started there will not be more loud and long barking, and the last known will likely be your date of conception. Of course that is in the hope that you are present to hear. When a degu is near delivery, sometimes you can detect her nipples, along the side of her belly, not in the middle of the belly, but on the side as if from fore leg pit to hind leg pit. Often you have to brush the hair forward to be able to find or see them. I hope that all comes across clearly enough to be understood? Thank you this advice will help a ton! I'll keep all this in mind! |
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