My old degus had babies!!!

[angeleyes80]

Hi there, i'm new to this board. About 6 months ago, i had to give my degus to a family member because i was going back to school and i didn't have time to take proper care of them. When i first got them, i was told that they were both the same sex, but soon after getting them home i figured out that they might not be. Anyways long story short, we got a phone call yesterday telling us that the degus were indeed a male and a female and that they had a litter of 11 pups. 2 of which i'm guessing were stillborn, she ate them. So now, in 4 weeks, i'm getting 4 babies!!! I have a lot more time for them now, and i can't wait. I just wanted to let you all know!! Thanks for letting me share,

*** one of the babies died today, so that leaves 8 in the litter***

[Aimeelou]

Hi there and congratulations on your new brood and sorry that she lost those babys, but 11 pups is quite alot! I think nature took its corse there, and 8 pups have more chance of surviving.
Hope the rest of the litter are ok and hope to hear from you soon with an update on your new brood!

[angeleyes80]

When i was told that she had 11 pups, i knew that some of them would die. From what i've read, a normal litter is only 5-10.

[Erica]

My degus first litter also had a few deaths. It's heartbraking but, as Aimeelou said, the rest have a better chance of survival since Mom can't nurse 11 degus all at once.

Have fun with your "new" degus! It's nice to know that they're the offspring of your original pets.

Welcome to Degu World!

[Aimeelou]

The two litters ive had there has been 7 pups but both times the seventh died leaving me with 6.

[angeleyes80]

From what i know so far, 2 babies died at birth and 1 died the next day. So now there's 8 left. Does anyone have a picture of a baby degu at 4 weeks??

[Aimeelou]

I hope Tigerlily doesnt mind but ive borowed some of her pics to show you, she dosent have a pic of a 4wk old but there is a 5 wk old. deguworld.proboards31.com/index.cgi?board=world&action=display&thread=1140616432

[angeleyes80]

Very cute!! At 4 weeks old, are they old enough to leave the nest? Can you hold them so they get use to being handled?

[angeleyes80]

oh sorry about all the questions, but i just want to give them the best possible home. is a 25 gallon tank suitable for 4 degus?

[Aimeelou]

Yes of corse! The sooner you can gradualy handle them the more they get used to humans and makes them a little less timid.
In my opinion, i think 6wks is a better age for them to leave the nest.

[Aimeelou]

Hay dont be sorry, thats what were here for! lol
Im not sure about aquariums, ive never had one and from what i was told early on when i first got my degus, they dont let much air in and dont alow air to cirulate asmuch. But on the pluss side they far more tidyer as the sawdust dosnt get kicked out!
Heres a great tank for a couple of degus.. deguworld.proboards31.com/index.cgi?board=world&action=display&thread=1157397973

[angeleyes80]

aimeelou said:

Hay dont be sorry, thats what were here for! lol
Im not sure about aquariums, ive never had one and from what i was told early on when i first got my degus, they dont let much air in and dont alow air to cirulate asmuch. But on the pluss side they far more tidyer as the sawdust dosnt get kicked out!
Heres a great tank for a couple of degus.. deguworld.proboards31.com/index.cgi?board=world&action=display&thread=1157397973

The aquarium would only be for a few months until they grow bigger. Then i'll transfer them into a chinchilla cage. I actually phoned around today, and got a price of 200$$ for a 4 tier chinchilla cage. (price in canadian dollards) Is that a good price or could i do better?

[diet otaku]

that sounds about right for a cage of that size.