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Post by Bexi87 on Jul 24, 2011 21:21:26 GMT
Well I weighed all 6 goo's today and the results are as follows; Biscuit (1 year, 3 months approx) - 205g Fudge (1 year, 3 months approx) - 217g Nutmeg (1 year) - 211g Ginger (1 year) - 211g Pumpkin (1 year) - 203g Hugo (10 months) - 245g! I'm now worried that the girls are underweight their weights have stayed pretty much the same for the past few months so I had assumed they had reached max size but compared to Hugo they look very light. What do you guys think?
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Post by blossombrooks on Jul 24, 2011 21:31:49 GMT
They seem ok in my opinion. Like you I know the guideline weights for degus and I had a panic when I realised mine were on the lighter side. Thing is both my girls eat til theyre full and have hay all day plus the leftover nuggets they stashed. I honestly think they're like people, some are bigger, some are smaller. Hee hee Hugo bless him is obviously a sturdy lad! Both mine hover around the 205 mark and they're a year and a bit old. Just make sure your lightest one isn't getting food pinched by others! :-)
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Post by emz on Jul 24, 2011 21:34:54 GMT
Usually around 170 - 300 grams is an "acceptable weight" for an adult degu (a year plus-ish). They sound fine to me, just sounds like Hugo is a big lad.
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Post by Bexi87 on Jul 24, 2011 21:40:13 GMT
I knew he was big but I had to laugh when the scales showed it. Oh well, the girls always have plenty of food and hay, a mini shreddies each a day and a monkey nut once a week so they can't be starving.
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Post by fred on Jul 24, 2011 22:08:56 GMT
I have recently looked into this because I was rather surprised that one of my girls had reached 200g at 4 months of age (no fat though). I found that there is quite a range that can be considered normal. For example 18 females at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park weighed between 176 and 306 g. In another colony at the University of Michigan weight ranged from 180 to 250 g (males and females). From several other data it would seem that your girls are at the lower end of the normal range. Males are on average 10% heavier so the weight difference to Hugo seems pretty normal too. So I don't think you have anything to worry about.
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Post by Bexi87 on Jul 24, 2011 22:32:15 GMT
Thanks Fred
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Post by amie on Jul 25, 2011 8:52:57 GMT
I think it's not uncommon for a lone degu to weigh a little more than those in groups. They become quite lazy and food becomes a bigger deal to them, lol. Elijah's starting to drop a little weight now he's with the babies. I think it's all he humping, lol
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Post by joodles on Jul 25, 2011 9:35:18 GMT
my boys are 200 and 215 and have been like that since they were 9 months or so, but i think the important thing is not what they weigh but how fit they are and both are healthy active boys, bright eyed, bushy tailed and love to run in their wheels - like blossombrooks says - some are just bigger than others and Tequila has always been bigger than Tabasco. if their weights changed that would worry me more
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Post by fred on Jul 25, 2011 10:16:34 GMT
I agree with joodles that health and fitness are far more important than weight. In a recent veterinary survey the authors classified the degus according to their appearance and not their weight. From the several parameters they listed, I found spine, ribs, and pelvic bones easiest to check. In “thin” degus they are visible, in “ideal weight” ones they are not visible but easily palpable, and in the “slightly overweight” ones they are hardly palpable.
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Post by emz on Jul 26, 2011 6:32:52 GMT
I agree with that, I do not weigh my degus I tend to monitor how they look instead. It tends to be something you do once you've had them a while.
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