Possible pregnancy and handling question

[sarah]

A few weeks ago I posted about our degu girls that suddenly started fighting -- it turned out that one was a boy, and we had him neutered. This was on November 4.

The female, Blossom, is starting to look extremely round, so it's highly likely that she may be pregnant. I did some calculations, and if she is, her due date is on or around Feb. 4.

I've done quite a lot of research on the internet and the thing that frightens me most is that everyone says you should avoid handling her because that might cause an abortion and she could die.

How much handling is too much? Once a week we coax her into a cardboard tube and wisk her into a crate so we can clean the cage, and when it's time to go back we gently pick her up and put her back in. They don't like to be held, so other than moving them for the cleaning, we don't pick them up.

Do you think that's OK? I tend to worry too much and I'm so afraid of hurting her, or causing an abortion. But then I read so many posts here of degus having babies without anyone knowing they were pregnant and everything is fine.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Sarah

[girlrazor]

As long as you're not putting pressure on her abdomen at any time I think it should be ok - just make sure not to put her under any unecessary stress. And do you mean miscarriage? An abortion is when you deliberately remove a baby from the uterus, a miscarriage is when someone or something loses a baby by accident.

[sarah]

Yes, sorry -- I kept reading on various websites about "spontaneous abortion" so I guess that stuck in my head.

PS -- I love the name Diego! That's what we almost named Buddy after we found out he was a boy...

[ra]

That amount of handling should be fine.

My Mocha was pregnant when I bought her assured she was a boy who I named Virgil. I handled "Virgil" daily to develop a bond. I would allow "him" to climb onto my hands. I was surprised that "he" would snuggle and sleep there for 5 - 10min sometimes. I had read they wouldn't stay still that long so I felt fortunate to have such an agreeable Degu. Poor baby was pregnant and exhausted! After "he" gave birth to 9 puppies (8 live and one that died) I was appalled! I did some emergency research on mothers, babies etc and learned I should not have handled her daily. Needless to say everything turned out ok in the end and Virgil has become Mocha Java. Things will be fine.