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Post by dops on Aug 14, 2016 22:07:50 GMT
my mum is a vet, but not locally, but will have her on the phone as soon as i notice something
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Post by winic1 on Aug 14, 2016 22:08:31 GMT
If she's still running around a lot, she must be feeling good, so no, that's not a problem.
I'm probably in the same situation as you. Very suspicious that one of my three brothers is actually a girl. Will know in about 5 weeks. Got all three from a rescue last fall, they're over 2 years old now, and they have very good protocol for making sure they've got the sexes right, and separated, and never mix up who's who. Yet, somehow, things are looking very suspicious. And over here, no one has degus, no one knows what degus are, and I don't know who or how I would rehome them, so I'm hoping if he really is a she, that it's a small litter. I don't have room for more.
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Post by deguconvert on Aug 14, 2016 22:09:42 GMT
DEFINITELY pregnant . . . and all that Winic has advised I echo. You will need to look at the width of the bars, as pups are active right away, and they will just walk right through without pausing to understand they are supposed to stay inside, LOL. SO you can line the sides of the cage, better if done on the outside, with cardboard. This needs to be several inches tall, so will impede the view in somewhat, but will keep your pups safe.
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Post by winic1 on Aug 14, 2016 22:13:17 GMT
Threads can get wrapped around toes and feet and even bigger parts. Any fabric that you can pull fibers from should probably be avoided, at least at the start.
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Post by dops on Aug 14, 2016 22:18:59 GMT
okay this is all amazing, thank you. tomorrow I will: 1) Line empty cage with cardboard 2) Move Mowgli into other cage 3) Stuff it full with lots of safe nesting material (loo roll) 4) Give her some oats
Ah winic1 I am starting to worry about rehoming also! I could probably keep a total of 5, single sex group. But looking at the size of Mowgli, I'm afraid hes gonna pop out quite a few...
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Post by dops on Aug 14, 2016 22:19:43 GMT
*not forgetting to move old bedding also
(sorry i am writing it all out so I dont forget anything!)
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Post by dops on Aug 14, 2016 23:11:14 GMT
also, just been doing some reading and some sites say that you should separate the male and female as soon as she gives birth, but after a week you can put the male back in? is that true? don't want to risk another pregnancy
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Post by yasmin on Aug 15, 2016 3:21:08 GMT
No, you should not put the male back in unless he is neutered. He will kick up a fuss about being separated but that's just how it is going to have to be. If you have male babies, though, they can be put in with him at age 6-8 weeks – my male Sean (aka Sienna) was very happy to have the company of his sons and accepted them immediately. (I took each litter to the vet when they reached 6-7 weeks old and had him separate them out into males and females. Couldn't risk making a mistake. )
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Post by bouncy on Aug 15, 2016 6:30:58 GMT
Thinking aloud, if you have males and are in London, mattandhis3degus will be interested, I'm sure!
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Post by dops on Aug 15, 2016 13:26:38 GMT
Ok lemmi will have to deal with being alone!
Set up the old cage and at the moment i have left the door open and they are both running around in it. I thought id let them explore it for a while and let them tire themselves out a bit, and then put them in their separate ones.
I am worried the litter is going to be a large one! Although Mowgli is huge, I can't feel any nipples yet and he hasn't been nesting at all.
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Post by ilikedegus on Aug 15, 2016 18:14:06 GMT
Regarding fabrics - I'd certainly be careful; more so with synthetics. long ago I had a baby gerbil lose a foot to a bit of nylon thread in a sock I'd given mum to nest with - it wrapped tightly round his ankle and cut off the circulation. Lesson learned :-(
Fleece is probably OK, my adult boys never seemed to create any problems. But then again if mum makes a hole in it, it might not be good.
Give mum a cheap toilet roll to shred - it'll keep her and you amused for hours!
Might be time to start calling Mowgli "She" ;-)
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Post by dops on Aug 15, 2016 18:18:29 GMT
okay will be very critical of any fabrics I put it! Thank you, and ow the poor baby gerbil :-(
Ive been thinking about it, but am struggling to make my opinion as peoples experiences seem to have varied a lot. As I guess I will have 2 options, either give away Lemmi with all the male pups that may be born, or risk neutering Lemmi, and then he can stay with Mowgli + any female pups (and give away male pups). Its a difficult choice, I would be so sad to have to give away Lemmi but I don't want to be selfish and put him through a risky surgery!
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Post by dops on Aug 15, 2016 18:56:38 GMT
does anyone know, when theyre giving birth do they make any sounds or signals? Their cage is in my bedroom luckily, so I should be around most of the time and if something happens in the night I hopefully will wake up.
She gobbled up a sunflower seed and some oats (she honestly is eating so much!)
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Post by Bexi87 on Aug 15, 2016 19:15:32 GMT
I s'pose the first question to ask is do you have an experienced vet that has done the surgery before?
I've had one boy nurtured (Hugo from my old group) and I was really lucky, I found a really experienced vet and everything went smoothly. I don't recall any problems at all - other than keeping the girls away from him enough for him to recover. I never regretted the choice - he had been advertised as aggressive at PaH but he was the bottom of my group (I don't think he had a choice with 5 girls) - but I know others have had much more difficult times.
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Post by dops on Aug 15, 2016 19:50:32 GMT
I don't but I am sure I could find one. WHen I was at uni, there was a very good exotics vet but now i am in london it would be quite far. I will do some research!
Thank you, that is encouraging! And Lemmi is so mild-mannered and gentle, I hope he would adjust alright.
In the meantime, I have ordered some perspex sheets for the cages. Also Lemmi has started nesting loads? Does that mean anything?
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Post by Bexi87 on Aug 15, 2016 20:02:17 GMT
I don't have experience of pregnancy but the males are pretty good dads so he could be helping out?
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Post by dops on Aug 15, 2016 20:05:52 GMT
Naww that would be sweet. He is being very stubborn about it too, trying to make a nest in my clothes drawer and the more i take the bedding back to the cage he gives me a look and starts bring it aaallll back to the drawer. He honestly wont stop!
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Post by goolover on Aug 15, 2016 21:56:12 GMT
Oh yes....that's a pregnant goo alright lol. When my goo Lula gave birth she was silent until the first pup came out. Thought she was just sleeping until I heard another voice in the room. The more pups that come out the more voices get involved and its just one big love nest of mam cleaning and chatting to babies, babies chatting to mam, babies chatting to each other..........so cute, it will melt your heart. My first lot of pups are bigger than their mam now but they still make baby noises to her and roll on their backs trying to get under her belly. Such a special thing to watch. They are amazing mothers and although we worried about the birth, she took it all in her stride, we even watched her eat the placenta afterwards, ewwww! Our boy is also a very good dad but the advice members are giving you is correct...don't put mam and dad back together unless you want another litter........we learnt the hard way! So exciting though
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Post by dops on Aug 15, 2016 22:00:33 GMT
Looking at him now it seems ridiculous that I ever thought it was just weight gain...
Okay I will make sure Lemmi get separated! I am letting them again run around this evening together, as I figure if she's running around, shes not about to give birth and so no risk of mating. But tonight they will be separated. Am going to keep letting them have time together while she is still pregnant, but only when I am right here to watch. As soon as a few more day have gone by/she starts acting weirdly, they will be permanently separated. Let me know if this is wrong! Just reluctant to separate them before needed, as they do love each other.
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Post by winic1 on Aug 15, 2016 22:46:26 GMT
Questions--(since they're appropriate for both of us) Do they typically give birth during the night?
If I saw mine mating during June 20-24, am I safe leaving them together until mid-September? They wouldn't have been mating if she was already pregnant, would they? Haven't seen any action since then.
Noticed, the last few days, when I'm handing out treats, that Phil will take things the others still won't, like pepitas and sunflower seeds and millet clusters and dried flowers, pretty much anything I offer (the others don't because they never had this stuff before I got them last fall).
Can babies fit through 1/2 inch bars? I have a Critter Nation, so the bars are 1/2 inch, which looks tight, but I've never seen newborns. The "nursery" cage I'm thinking of actually has 3/8" bars, would that be guaranteed safe?
Just wondering how long I have before I have to take action on things. Still hoping Phil is just looking fat (but there's that sinking feeling...), ordered a scale from Amazon that will be here later this week. If he's just two months pregnant, and already looking bigger, should I expect a big litter?
Keep trying to see if he's pear-shaped, but he sits with front and rear feet close together, so he's crunched up, and just looks fat all over. Keep trying to lure him to a better position, but he's determined to stay huddled. Is that characteristic? Did see him take a few leaps today from one log to the one near the front (got food? got treats? Let me come see) and they were very heavy leaps for a degu. But is it fat or pregnant?
Shame there's an ocean between us, dops, or we could swap boys for girls together.
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