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Post by yasmin on Oct 7, 2011 17:55:21 GMT
My degu Lilac's babies will be 4 weeks old on Tuesday. I have two questions:
1) When is it okay to clean the nest? I think the pups are still being nursed and they still spend time, along with at least one if not two of the adults, in the nesting house.
2) I think my third female, Peridot, is also pregnant. I expect her to give birth in the next few weeks. I have set up a second nesting house, exactly the same as the one that Lilac's babies are in but on a lower level, but no one seems to be using it. Will she use Lilac's nesting box to give birth to her babies? What happens if Lilac's babies are still in there?
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Post by fuzzymum1 on Oct 10, 2011 16:56:08 GMT
I've had three litters previous to my current one. I have done a complete cage clean and changed the nest totally when the pups have been 2 weeks old without any problems.
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Post by fred on Oct 11, 2011 7:40:22 GMT
Will she use Lilac's nesting box to give birth to her babies? What happens if Lilac's babies are still in there? They nurse their young communally, so that wouldn't be a problem at all. |
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Post by yasmin on Oct 12, 2011 21:13:32 GMT
I cleaned the (upper) nesting box (the one they were all using) on Monday and all seemed as usual. Then, last night, Peridot gave birth but not in the cleaned nesting box. She used the lower box that I had set up in case she wanted a different box. They had showed little interest in that one before; it hadn't even been prepared as a nest, so I ripped up paper towels and one of Lilac's babies took the strips in while Peridot was birthing. The other adults must have gotten to work this morning because when I checked on them the nest was fully prepared like the upper one had been.
Lilac's babies seem to be using both boxes as they please.
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 13, 2011 15:09:33 GMT
Awww! How sweet to hear of one of Lilac's pups helping kit out the nest! That is so precious!!! What amazing animals degus are.
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Post by yasmin on Oct 19, 2011 19:10:22 GMT
Just an update. Right now, Lilac's litter is 5 weeks old and Peridot's litter is one week old.
When I checked on them on Sunday, they had moved all but one of Peridot's babies to the upper nest. That would have meant them carrying the babies up two ramps and over the upper level tray! Wished I would have been there to watch the move. I picked the straggler infant up to the nest and he/she joined the others.Now when they sleep, Azure, one of the adults, sits on top of the nest box while all, and I mean ALL, of the other goos pile up inside of the nest box. That's two adults, five kids, and six infants! Legs, and tails, and butts hanging out of the windows, and all. Surprising that no one suffocates or gets crushed in there.
All are doing well though. Lilac's kids continue babysitting and the infants help with the nest building believe it or not. Peridot's babies are much more precocious than Lilac's ever were. On November 1st, Lilac's litter goes to the vet so he can check them out and help me sort out the males from the females. (Really can't afford a mistake there.) No doubt, I'll be getting a third cage soon.
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 20, 2011 1:11:21 GMT
I would SO LOVE to see a photo of that . . . tails, butts, and legs all sticking out. (Not the occasional nose? LOL) They sound so sweet!
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