I thought I had two boys!!

[missfoxie]

Hi! So long story short, I got a pair of male degus a few years ago. When one of my boys died, I decided to get my remaining boy a friend to stave off the lonely life. I went to pets at home who assured me the one I got was also a boy (honestly believed them)
A year on and my lovely Bilbo turns out to be a lady and has had a litter of 5 pups. All pups are healthy a lively. Today marks a week (I think!) since birth and I've just changed over the cage and cleaned it. I noticed now that their is blood on some one the cardboard I put down by the 'nest' hammock. I've checked all the babies and a reluctant mum and dad and found no source of any bleeding. I'm concerned that because I didn't know Bilbo was a miss, that she has maybe fallen pregnant again since the birth which terrifies me! But she may have misscarried?

Any advice on the matter would be fantastic! Still new to Degus in general and wasn't expecting to be a degu granny!! But I'm very worried that she might fall ill when she's still nursing because that could mean losing all the pups too.

[savvy]

Welcome to the forum.

You are not the first to be sold a mis-sexed degu by pets at home, unfortunately it happens all too frequently.

Now for the bad news, degus can get pregnant again within 24 hours of giving birth so if dad is still with mum chances are there will be another litter in about 90 days. You need to remove dad to a cage by himself, but close to his family so they can still see each other and interact. If you want to keep the pups, you can have two colonies (one of girls and one of boys) but dad will need to be neutered if you want to keep him in the same cage as mum.

Does the blood look fresh? Have you checked their feet to see if anyone has ripped a claw? It could be a very small injury which you'd hardly notice. How is mum behaving, has there been any change in behaviour? She could have had an accidental nip from an over zealous pup when feeding so please check her nipples.

If mum is nursing she will need more food which should include seeds etc to make sure she is getting enough to feed herself and her pups.

Please read through our baby care section deguworld.proboards.com/thread/1363/basics-babies which should tell you all you need to know, but please don't be afraid to ask any questions you need to and we will try to help.

Also have a strong word with pets at home, the very least they should give you should be a spare cage for dad. Not to mention bedding, food etc. Don't be afraid to complain about their mistake.

Finally, what cage do you currently have and has it been baby proofed?

[deguconvert]

Also have a look at this . . . deguworld.proboards.com/thread/13070/degus . . . it will help you with knowing how to identify male and female in degus.

[bouncy]

It is likely that the blood is from the birth, if there are no obvious injuries.

I'd say remove dad immediately, shout at p@h VERY loudly. Make them give you another cage, extra bedding, food, wheel and (unless you want to keep them so mum and dad each have company) tell them it's their responsibility to take the pups when they're weaned.

As the others have mentioned, bilbo definitely can be pregnant again already, but not necessarily. In the meantime, feed mum up, particularly calcium, pup-proof your mum's cage, and enjoy the enjoy the heartwarming entertainment of pups!