Is our degu fat or pregnant?

[yetanothermike]

Hello.

Two weeks ago we bought a single female degu from a petshop. We were of course told to buy at least a pair but couldn't since they only had this one.

We we're told she's about 6 months old and she has been pregnant already.

She seems fine and healthy, no injury nor cataracts. But over the past week she seemingly doubled in size and became noticeably heavier. Her cage is stuffed with an endless supply of hay as advised on multiple websites. And also some herb pellets, which I'm told by my GF are the best she could find, low on carbs, etc.... We're easy on the pellets and only fed her twice a day. Besides that she was given carrot slices as treats. But then we learned we should be easy on that as well.

We stopped feeding her pellets, but no matter that, she's an avid eater. Whenever I look at the cage, she's either eating hay or drinking. After catching her attention or playing with her, she always goes back to eating

We're letting her out of the cage to properly stretch at least once a day. For as long as she wants. Mostly until she comes back biting. But over the past few days she became noticeably lazier, not wanting to run around the room. Instead she just kind of walks or jogs, mostly wanders around me. She is still nimble and able to jump around the cage, though she mostly just likes to sit around. That's huge difference when compared to a week ago. Maybe it's not new and she has nothing to explore anymore?

Could she be pregnant?
Again. We're not so sure about how the petshop handled them.
Or is she just fat due to mistakes in feeding?

Like I said before, she was pregnant recently and we managed to buy two of her pups and reintroduce them to her. They are just few weeks old (we're not sure how old) and from our multiple visits to the petshop we can tell they have been separated for at least a week, with mother being put up for sale, and the pups hidden in back room. They wouldn't sell the pups for another week if it wasn't for a cashier remembering us buying the mother recently. Though the staff were a bit worried the pups would want to breastfeed again despite being able to eat hay already.

The pups are chasing her and trying to get under her belly. Not sure if they're just want to cudle, seek protection or breastfeeding. She won't let them and is running away most of the time, pushing the pups away, sometimes even off the ledge (if food is at stake ). In general she just doesn't really care that much for the pups. Except for one night when we saw her (just head sticking out of house with pups inside) lying on her back, presumably breastfeeding?

The beefing up began about the time once we reintroduced the pups.
Could she be lactating again?
Or is she depressed or something, and simply not moving enough to burn all the food?

Sorry for the long post and thanks for responses.

[winic1]

Degus can get pregnant again immediately after giving birth. Immediately, as in the first 24 hours. So, if the male was still in the cage with her at the pet shop when she gave birth, she could indeed be pregnant again.
Pregnancy lasts 90 days. So if the pups were taken from her at 6-8 weeks, hopefully not before 6 weeks, and then it's been at least two more weeks since you got her, she's at 8-10 weeks since she gave birth. 90 days of pregnancy is just short of 13 weeks. So yes, you could be seeing signs of pregnancy at this point. They generally start getting very heavy and pear-shaped near the end.

Hay alone is not a sufficient diet for degus. What pellets are you using? Aside from limited carrots, are you giving other foods/treats? Please read our feeding guides, and I'm sure others here will soon be on to give you more guidance on food. If she is pregnant, which seems very possible, she needs extra nutrition above and beyond normal feeding.

We also have pregnancy and birth guides, too. Look in each section of the forum at the pinned posts right at the top in each section.

[winic1]

Also, have you checked the sex of the two pups you got? If either is male, by the time she gives birth they will most definitely be fertile, males can become fertile and capable of impregnating females by 7 weeks of age. Also important that if the two pups are not the same sex, that the male(s) get separated from all females, right now! If one is a male, it would not be good for his sister to become pregnant by him so young. Also really not good for the mother to have a third, back-to-back pregnancy, should one of the pups be male, that would be really hard on her health and could have serious and/or long term effects.

If you can post pictures of your pups' undersides, we can help you make sure of their gender.

[deguconvert]

Hello, YetanotherMike, and welcome to the forum!! WOW!! You are in the deep end! Thank you, Winic for all you have advised!!

Where are you located, Mike? I ask because in different parts of the world the resources you can draw from are very different from other parts. There are also different regulations in pet stores. Which means in Britain, if your female, and mother of the two pups you also now have, is pregnant, and I don't think there can be much doubt of that . . . and you brought them home from P&H, then you may have recourse to get some help from the pet store!! You very well may need an additional or different cage, and you will need more food!

First off . . . you must make sure what the sexes of your pups are, and this link . . . deguworld.proboards.com/thread/13070/degus . . . will help you to do that.

Secondly . . . if you can, it would be good to get a weight on your mother goo, so that we can keep track of how quickly she is gaining weight now. In the last two weeks of gestation especially, their weight gain is rapid. Degus are born fully haired, eyes open, and very mobile. Usually within hours of birth, the pups will already be exploring the cage. They are wobbly on their feet, so you need to make sure there are no ledges they can climb to and no heights they can fall from. I would be interested to see a photo of her, just to see if we can determine how close to birth she may be. If she resembles a large furry tennis ball with a head and tail right now, she is due any day!

Third . . . the pups you have now are voracious eaters and will be needing more than hay to fill their tummies with. Four . . . same with Mom . . . she is nourishing however many pups within (the average litter is 6-7, but they can have 10+) and then will have to produce milk for them all, so she also needs an augmented diet. If you only have one water bottle in the cage, I would recommend putting at least one more, maybe two more in. As well as additional bowls for the food.

FOOD . . . degus are foragers in the wild, and they eat a lot of grasses, leaves, flowers, and seeds. Hay . . . while very important, is only one part of the whole. So . . . I'm going to give you some reading to get through. I'll give you the links.

Degu feeding guide deguworld.proboards.com/thread/16425/degu-feeding-guide

So that you can see what various members feed their degus on here . . . deguworld.proboards.com/thread/21261/feed-degus

This thread is primarily links to other threads about diet and foods for degus . . . deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15795/links-interesting-food-threads This will give you lots of information to use for your degus.

These are internet shops that you can order from, that have been found to be excellent and trustworthy. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15794/internet-shops-specialist-degu-foods

Seed and nut guide . . . deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15602/vegetable-seed-nut-nutrition-charts


Are these things safe? deguworld.proboards.com/thread/16787/safe-bought-food-treats-toys

That is a lot of reading, but certainly not all that we have. Degu husbandry is a steep learning curve!!

Nest to last . . . for now . . . degus need a lot more space, or more specifically, surface area to live on than is often given in the majority of the cages that are sold as suitable for them. With the three degus you have at the moment, you need to have at least 15,000 sq. cm. or 2,300 sq. inches, of surface area (not volume , but horizontal surface area). That is the minimum. Best is 18,000 sq. cm, or 2,750 sq. in. Once Mom delivers . . . it will be even greater . . . which is why I said you will likely need another cage. Surface area is crucial, as degus are built for traveling and moving about. They have large territories in the wild and can travel up to 5 km each day as they forage for foods. Even though degus don't have to work for food in domesticated conditions, they still have the need for movement, and when kept in small cages, they can become aggressive with their cage mates, depressed, lethargic, and even aggressive with their humans. When in cages that give more surface area and space to run, they become more animated and exhibit many more natural behaviors. They are happier and healthier!

Here is the cage size recommendation that we follow and use on our forum . . . deguworld.proboards.com/thread/9396/forums-cage-size-recommendations

Would you be willing to share with us what your cage dimensions and number of complete levels or shelves is?

Lastly . . . the vast majority of us started out with cages that were too small, food that was inadequate or out right wrong, and difficulties that we didn't know how to solve or confront. We understand that finances, the homes we live in, the other animals we may have, and all our other humans need to be considered in the equation. We do our best to help you, because as you learn, you make a better home for your degus. Whatever questions you have, please ask, we will answer as best we can. And if you haven't seen it yet . . . yes . . . degus do eat their own poop. It is completely normal and healthy for them to do so.