I need your opinions....

[happythieves]

I have two one-year old females, my friend has two males (just slightly older). We were thinking about breeding them but aren't sure what is the best way to do this.

Here are two options that I've thought of. Please tell me what you think and if there is a better way that we haven't thought of yet:

Option 1--Introduce the pairs, see who likes who, give that couple some private time and let nature do the rest. Then separate them again. Then my two girls can raise the babies and when they are old enough we would separate the babies. I'd keep the new females; my friend, the males.

Problems with Option 1--How will I know if a pregnancy has occurred, if they are only together for a short time (and how long should I keep them together...)? How will the girls do raising the babies together without the father(s), especially if they BOTH get pregnant? Will the males except and/or bond with other males in their cage (once the babies mature) if they weren't there from the beginning?

Option 2--Trade each other one male for one female. Introduce them, let nature take it course. Keep the families together until the babies are mature. Separate all the males to live with my friend and all the females to live with me.

Problems with Option 2--This could be like a six month separation and I'd really miss whatever girl was living at my friend's house! Both f/f and m/m pairs are bonded, wouldn't they miss their partner during that time? And then wouldn't they miss the male/female partner when they are separated again? Will the families bond with other members that come into the cage once we separate the families?

Lots of questions! I'd love some feedback, especially from those of you who have bred degus before!

Thanks for reading!!

--Karen

[Sunshinemeg]

You cant mix degu groups and then expect to return them to the original groups, they will fight. degus mate for life, and the males help in raising the young. Unless all of the degus are yours, and you have homes ready for the young now, you shouldnt be attempting to just dabble in this set up,its not fair on the degus.

[Sunshinemeg]

yes. the male and female will raise the young together. The males should not be seperated from the female as they help her. People that breed degus just because they think having a few baby degus would be nice are putting a great deal of pressure on the females. Being a breeding degu will shorten their life span and put unnecessary risks on all degus. if the owner then decides that one litter is enough, the pair must either be seperated, or the male neutered. this operation, will fairly standard does, like all operations on small animals carry a risk, and therefore, if it can be avoided,if there is a happy set up cage with single sex animals, why risk ruining it all?

[happythieves]

OK--this thread sounds like it's going in the wrong direction. I hope you don't mean to be condescending but your responses sounds that way. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive. Let me give some further details.

First off, I have no intention of putting any kind of stress on my animals, which is why I wrote the post originally and put it here (because I respect the opinions of the degu owners on this site).

Second, I would not breed my degu(s) without knowing where the babies would be re-homed. Most, I imagine, would stay with me and my friend. If there was an a large litter, we would already have other homes lined up for the other babies.

Maybe it would help to know that living in Eastern US, there are no degus available (or VERY few). I don't know of anyone other than my friend who has (or even heard of, for that matter) degus. We've had a number of our other friends, having met our pets, express an interest in owning degus. We've spend time educating them on the peculiarities of degus so they will be prepared if they shoud become owners. And, finally, as we only have the two each, we thought trying to breed them would be a good idea.

I've done as much reading as I can on the subject of breeding. I've read that degus can mate for life, primarily in the wild but that they don't necessarily when they are domesticated. I've also read that if the father is not present, another female will help raise the babies. If you read the post I wrote, I mentioned this as one of the potential problems and was asking for opinions and advise from others who have bred degus.

I'm not looking to start an argument here. This is a very peaceful site. I was merely looking for some advise on how to breed my degus. I'd really appreciate any insight on the best way to go about it.

Thanks for reading....

[ra]

Easy guys, I think the number one concern for everyone involved is the Degus themselves. You have to figure the poor little creatures didn't come knocking on our door asking us to take them in. I truly believe everyone wants what is best for the Degus but there are varying opinions as to just what that is. We must try to remain civil while discussing some of these more touchy subjects. Mistakes and misunderstandings are inevitable. We really only have one another to turn to. Some of the information I originally read in the Degu handbook I bought (written by a veterinarian) is now being disputed. So very hard to know.

For those of us in the USA. I do worry some about breeding. There weren't any restrictions or registrations of breeding pairs. From what I've read the gene pool is pretty limited in the US and can cause some genetic type birth defects. More cases of diabetes, etc. The Degus were originally introduced into the United States as lab animals to study diabetes. Does anyone really know for sure - I think I read all of the Degus in the US came from about 5 original Degu pairs. The pet shops certainly don't have a handle on what is going on. That I have experienced first hand.

[Degumagic]

Happythieves, wind ya neck in.
Can i just say one thing.
I rescued my UNWANTED Degu's from the rspca and even they didn't know what they were doing.
I ended up with 2 females and a male, resulting in " 2 litters of 8. (16 little mouths)
I agree with sunshine meg and Ra
It is not a thing that should be done lightly if ever at all.
These intelligent creatures should have never been made to live in cages by humans
I have worried my self silly trying to home my babys and an very unset that this happened
I work with animals at a childrens farm and know that animals come first.
Please think long and hard before making any more live in captiverty.

[Hanlou]

marumba7 said:

Yeah, when I first started here I thought that there was a general condescending tone about the members. But, I didn't let it get to me and continued to do, pretty much, my own thing with their good advice in mind.

I would recommend putting all the degus in one space. If the males fight too brutally or too long, take one male out and put him by himself. When a successful mating has occurred, he will chirp, and chirp, and chip. You'll know so long as you supervise their time together. If you can't supervise, keep them separate until you can.

Once one of the ladies is pregnant, I suppose you can give your friend her boys back. If only one degu lady is pregnant, the lady who isn't pregnant should help with raising the litter

No. The tone is not condescending. It is merely, as ra said, trying to give the best advice possible for the benefit of the degus.

What you do with that advice is of course up to you (both). However, if you ask questions like this you must be prepared to hear the answers given, even if those answers were not what you wanted to hear.

[Eamon]

Please, stop fighting and nitpicking! I've never see anything like this on this site... it's like hearing your parents fight... it's really sad...
Being a animal owner you should always think about your animal first, because it doesn't have a chance to tell you what it want, but I'm sure no one think Happythieves has a bad judgment.
we give advises when asked for and (as far as I'm concerned) give our opinion when needed.
I mean, I don't wanna sound like a hippie here, but can't we all just get along?

[ra]

cornelia said:

Please, stop fighting and nitpicking! I've never see anything like this on this site... it's like hearing your parents fight... it's really sad...
Being a animal owner you should always think about your animal first, because it doesn't have a chance to tell you what it want, but I'm sure no one think Happythieves has a bad judgment.
we give advises when asked for and (as far as I'm concerned) give our opinion when needed.
I mean, I don't wanna sound like a hippie here, but can't we all just get along?

DITTO!

Cornelia, your "I don't wanna sound like a hippie" made me smile! That's exactly how I feel. We can't afford for this board to self-implode - the information on Degus & Degu care is so limited. We truly do need one another. Everyone has opinions and thoughts. We each speak from our own point of view and experience. Some people are extremely passionate in their thoughts. Read posts, take what you can from each and leave the rest go. No offense is meant I am certain of this.

[diet otaku]

happythieves - please understand that the reason you got the response you did is because, quite simply, breeding is not in the best interest of a degu's health. your initial post sounded like you wanted to breed your degus just because you can, for fun. and while it's great that your other friends are interested in degus, there is still more to consider before throwing degus together randomly and hoping for the best. first, you have no idea how closely related your degus are. as ra mentioned, the entire US population of degus came from 5 pairs of research animals. and since your degus came from the same area, there is the possibility that they are closely related enough to cause serious defects in the babies - defects which could result in death. also, you have no idea whether the males and females will get along. animal breeding is not as simple as male + female = babies. sometimes the male is interested but the female is not, or vice versa, and sometimes the 2 are mortal enemies from the start. and when degus fight, they can seriously injure each other. in general, it's best to "leave well enough alone."

[Aimeelou]

I oppologise now if i sound condecending or anything else but i have to say that Meg is correct in her research. I have bred 2 litters and i see your point in controled breading as it works for dogs, but with Degus it just wouldnt work as they tend to mate for life.
Just imagine it being us, beeing thrown into a room full of strangers and expecting to "get on with it" so to speak!


Lets put this post down to a missunderstanding and lets learn from it.

Happytheives, Meg didnt mean to sound condescending, but as moderaters, we do know what we are talking about! lol

[Sunshinemeg]

the mods have talked about this thread and feel that it has now run its course, therefore it is now being closed. if anyone wishes to discuss the matters raised further, please feel free to contact any of the mods.

thanks