joes
Warbling Degu
Posts: 41
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HELP!
Mar 27, 2020 11:31:32 GMT
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Post by joes on Mar 27, 2020 11:31:32 GMT
One of my degu gave birth and I did not expect that what should I do? Before you ask they are no males in my cage I probably just buy her when she was pregnant
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Post by savvy on Mar 27, 2020 12:31:37 GMT
Wow! What a lovely, if unexpected surprise! Do you know how many she's had?
OK, first of all mum will need more high quality food as she's now nursing.
You will need to baby proof the cage, remove anything they can fall off, into and get trapped under. You will also need to block off the outside of the cage so the pups can't fall out of the cage. They will be fully active within 24 hours BUT will have absolutely zero common sense so try to restrict them to one level for now.
Don't remove any of her bedding, or clean the cage just yet, apart from removing any hazards to the pups.
Lastly. Enjoy watching them! And we want pictures!
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joes
Warbling Degu
Posts: 41
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HELP!
Mar 27, 2020 13:05:15 GMT
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Post by joes on Mar 27, 2020 13:05:15 GMT
I don't really know I've saw 2
She sleeps in some kinds of miniature house so I wash everything except it right?
Also there is another degu with her, can I let her in the cage? It's one of her eldest daughter and she seems to take care of them too
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 27, 2020 13:18:53 GMT
Don't wash anything right now, spot clean as much as you can so that you don't disturb her too much. Do a partial clean if you really have to but try not to actually wash the scent off everything.
Her daughter should be fine to leave in the cage and should help look after the babies. Occasionally a cagemate will take a dislike to babies but not often.
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Post by bouncy on Mar 27, 2020 14:59:57 GMT
Congratulations!
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HELP!
Mar 27, 2020 17:40:35 GMT
Post by deguconvert on Mar 27, 2020 17:40:35 GMT
Congratulations on the pups! Are you certain it is an elder daughter and not a son? Just asking to be sure, because male and female degus have very strong similarities and are often wrongly identified as to sex. Just so you can see, if you don't know what the differences are, here is a link. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/13070/degusPups are tiny and can fit very easily between the bars of many cages, which is why you need to be sure that IF the bars on your cage are wider than a half centimeter, you have blockades immediately around the outside of your cage so that the pups cannot walk through and then get lost, or stepped on, outside the cage. Degu pups are escape artists and are VERY active, so you need to be very proactive about this. (Believe me! I've had my house trashed by degu pups that escaped and lived through the trauma of finding said escaped pups. LOL) Also, it takes about four weeks for pups to be old enough for their bodies to begin regulating their own temperature. This means they can get chilled easily and are unable to warm themselves up. If you touch a pup, or find a pup wandering outside the nest area, and the pup is cool to the touch, you need to help that pup get warm. If your hands are usually cool themselves, tuck the pup in with it's litter mates and put some nesting material over them to help it warm up, or first tuck it inside your shirt and let it warm up there and then put it back into the nest and cover. In about a week, you will begin to see the pups tasting the solid foods. They will begin to eat it, but will not be weaned until they are about four weeks old. They need to remain with Momma goo for another two weeks to continue learning degu behavior and manners, so do not separate the pups at this point just because they have been weaned. They require at least the full first six weeks of life with their mother. You will find that degu pups are voracious eaters, especially once weaned. You will need lots of food on hand. Between six and seven weeks of age you need to be sure that you separate the male pups from all the females. Don't go beyond the seven week mark for this. Female pups are able to conceive at six weeks of age, and male pups are definitely able to impregnate by age 8 weeks, possibly earlier.
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joes
Warbling Degu
Posts: 41
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HELP!
Mar 27, 2020 17:45:57 GMT
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Post by joes on Mar 27, 2020 17:45:57 GMT
Ok so I apparently there are around 5 I manage to take a pic. I've heard that I should sometime feed one of them myself how to do it?
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joes
Warbling Degu
Posts: 41
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HELP!
Mar 27, 2020 18:25:18 GMT
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Post by joes on Mar 27, 2020 18:25:18 GMT
No it's a big sis I'm sure about it.
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Post by winic1 on Mar 27, 2020 18:27:45 GMT
The mama degu will feed them just fine, you shouldn't need to. If this idea was to make them more human-friendly, you don't need to take over feeding them to do that. Once they are out and about the cage, you can interact with them to get them used to hands and people. Feeding is always best done by their mother.
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joes
Warbling Degu
Posts: 41
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HELP!
Mar 27, 2020 22:57:51 GMT
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Post by joes on Mar 27, 2020 22:57:51 GMT
Really? I've heard that it's possible that some pups will be neglected and that I have to feed them myself
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Post by savvy on Mar 28, 2020 0:23:08 GMT
They can have up to 9 in a litter. I've never come across any degu mums needing help feeding before.
As long as she has access to enough food, she should be fine.
How long have you had mum? Also, did you get them both at the same time? I'm just wondering if your other degu could also be pregnant if they both had access to dad.
The pups should be out of the nest tomorrow so please make sure you've blocked the bars if they are wide enough for them to get through. You only need to cover to about 4inches (10cm) up the cage at each level.
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joes
Warbling Degu
Posts: 41
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HELP!
Mar 28, 2020 8:04:33 GMT
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Post by joes on Mar 28, 2020 8:04:33 GMT
>How long have you had mum? Since 15 february Also, did you get them both at the same time? Yes >I'm just wondering if your other degu could also be pregnant if they both had access to dad. She's definitely not, the mom was unusually big and her elder daughter is still quite frail
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 28, 2020 9:51:22 GMT
Definite no to feeding pups if mum is healthy and is feeding the pups herself. But do provide mum with plenty of forage and high calcium items like the right seeds, maybe some alfalfa, dandelions, kitchen herbs, plantain (weed).
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HELP!
Mar 28, 2020 9:58:53 GMT
Post by savvy on Mar 28, 2020 9:58:53 GMT
Thanks for the answers, I was only asking so I could give you a possible timeline.
I've done a quick calculation in terms of dates etc,. Gestation for degus is around 90 days, give or take the odd day. This means that if you got them on 15th Feb, and clearly mum was already pregnant at that point, you may not know if her daughter is until the beginning of May at the latest.
Female degus don't give any signs of being pregnant until about a week before they give birth, and then not always as you've just discovered. Even a frail looking degu can still be hiding a pregnancy.
You are not the first, and I very much doubt you'll be the last, to bring a pregnant degu (or two) home, or to be surprised by finding babies in the cage one morning, it's a fairly common occurrence. But we can answer any questions you have and help you get through it.
Degu pups are delightful, funny, cuteness overload little guys as you will find out in the next few days.
Ask any questions you need to, there are a lot of people on here who have been in exactly the same position you have.
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HELP!
Mar 28, 2020 14:30:25 GMT
Post by bouncy on Mar 28, 2020 14:30:25 GMT
If your goo was pregnant when you got her, the pet store you got her from has a obligation to provide you with either a home for the pups you don't want to keep, or give you sufficient stocks (including a cage) to help you feed the extra mouths and separate into two sexed groups when the appropriate time comes. You've got a few weeks to think about whether you want to keep them, or not.
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HELP!
Mar 28, 2020 22:58:56 GMT
Post by deguconvert on Mar 28, 2020 22:58:56 GMT
Joes, I'm just wondering if you still have the degus you had back in December? I know that one sickened and died . . . do you still have the other? I had thought that the females you have now were the originals that you posted about when you first joined, but they can't be since you got them February 15 of this year.
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joes
Warbling Degu
Posts: 41
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HELP!
Mar 29, 2020 11:29:00 GMT
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Post by joes on Mar 29, 2020 11:29:00 GMT
I will probably sell them when the covid outbreak will end which is not soon
Unfortunately they are not the one I got, they both died, the mom is a new one I bought...
Also a last question, which is very important: the degu who gave birth had 2 consecutive pregnancy I herd it was dangerous...but how dangerous?
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HELP!
Mar 29, 2020 11:51:42 GMT
Post by savvy on Mar 29, 2020 11:51:42 GMT
I think she should be OK as it was just two consecutive pregnancies, and they'll be no more if she's kept away from a male degu. Just remember to separate any male pups when the time is right.
It's if the pregnancies keep occurring that it becomes too much for them. With high quality foods, she should be OK as the back to back pregnancy chain has now been broken.
Back to back pregnancies can be very draining on their little bodies as they get no rest from being pregnant. As soon as the last pup has been born, dad is in there again and she's pregnant straight away. It does take a toll as all their energy goes into the pups, she's feeding one litter while growing the next one.
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Post by winic1 on Mar 29, 2020 13:43:48 GMT
Question--how old was the daughter when you got them?
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joes
Warbling Degu
Posts: 41
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HELP!
Mar 29, 2020 17:34:03 GMT
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Post by joes on Mar 29, 2020 17:34:03 GMT
She's born in January.
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