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Post by violetfae on Sept 11, 2011 19:18:03 GMT
long story short Vet told me i had agirl, so I got "her" two girls to keep her company...... turns out sparkle was a he.... woooo I now have two litters three weeks apart.
the older litter (3 weeks +2 days) have been eating solids and drinking from the water bottle for well over a week now and I have noticed them feeding from mum
tonight however I noticed 2 of them feeding not sure if it was from mum or auntie (who has a litter of 5, 2 days old) how can I be sure that the new litter are getting plenty of milk? (short of seperation)
help please the younger litter are very adventurous already exporing up and down the age yestterday I dont want to lose them cos mama cant feed them.
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Post by NightwishRaven999 on Sept 12, 2011 3:03:12 GMT
This is not within my field of experience. But from what I know, degus breed and raise their young communally in the wild. Females will help the mother milk the pups and raise them.
Female degus have been known to have occasional large litters (up to 9-10). From what I have heard the mother is able to provide/feed all her young, although a very demanding and draining process.
Hopefully, someone with experience in the matter of breeding will be able to answer your question.
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 12, 2011 4:44:23 GMT
No personal experience either, but have heard often that sharing the duties of motherhood, including the nursing, is very common. I suspect that if there were a danger of pups not getting enough, Auntie would chase away pups that were not a part of her own litter.
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Post by fred on Sept 12, 2011 11:27:42 GMT
As nightwishraven and deguconvert wrote, degus are known to communally nest and nurse their pups. If you would like to read up on this, here is a nice brief paper: www.bio.puc.cl/downloads/pdf/lebensperger.2002.001.JE.pdf Daisy will still have milk and it is very likely that she will also nurse Coco's pups. Just keep an eye on how her pups are developing; you now have the experience from the first litter and know what to expect. |
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Post by fuzzymum1 on Sept 12, 2011 15:26:48 GMT
I had a similar experience, only I had three litters. two of the litters were in together and all the babies (about a week between litters) have done great. I did have an issue with the younger litter's mum deciding all the babies were hers for a while but they soon settled down and thrived
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Post by violetfae on Sept 12, 2011 19:24:45 GMT
the babies are all fit active and exploring the cage full from about 30 hours old and none seem to be suffering atm, i'm off all day tomorrow socan keep an eye on them x
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