Dotty the Degu might be pregnant - too much Whisky and Brandy!

[zoo20000uk]

Hi everyone, we bought a little girl degu who had been sat in the pet shop on her own for a while as she was one of a litter of four - the other three were boys. She was about 5 months when we got her and a few days after we brought her home we bought two more 'females'. We trusted the breeder and introduced them all to each other. Dotty, as we called her loved her new companions - Whisky and Brandy and we were so pleased that she could enjoy their company. They all love sleeping on top of each other in a pile and squeaking together. However, even though the younger two are about 2 months old and should be smaller anyway, Dotty looks fat and we keep seeing one of the others chasing her and mounting her. We've seen her do the same to the others and they have lifted their tails an put their bellies on the floor but she's not manoeuvered herself into position the same. Both of the other two seem very interested in sniffing under her tail as she moves around the cage and on very close inspection, we are sure there is more space between their anus and their cone than there is with Dotty's. She is far more docile than the others anyway, but seems more lethargic and less inclined to zip around the cage as fast as she used to. We are wondering also if she was already pregnant when she left the pet shop as the assistant there told us that she was in with boys until they realized she was a girl. I am going to take the two others to the vet and see if they can help sex them for me. I've looked at all the pictures on the net and I'm sure the other two are boys. I hope I'm wrong. On the other hand, I don't want Dotty to be fat for any bad reason. I feed them a very plain diet with no sweet stuff whatsoever. They are quite happy with their pellets and their hay. I looked up everything I could before buying them and sexing them seemed quite straight forward. I'm very confused. When will I see movement in her belly if she is pregnant? I will keep you all posted as to what happens next.

[Kendalle]

I'm sorry i have no idea about degu's but alot of people on here do, so good luck!

[emmzie87]

if you can manage to take a picutre of their "bits" i can easily sex them for you. if thats too trickey the easy way to sex degus is, the space between is indeed bigger on males but there is also a line going vertically down, on the females just under the cone there is a horozontal line, this is very obvious on both sexes and is the easyest way to deterimne sexs.

[Amethystbelle]

I always advise people to get someone else round and get two opinions on the sex, if you both agree its more then likely you are right. Sexing degu's isn't the easiest thing if you are new to them, basically its all about the distance between the urethra (the cone) and the anus. In the male the distance is greater then with a female.

If you are concerned she is pregnant then i would treat as she is from now on, and limit handling etc.... How long have you had her?

[zoo20000uk]

Hi again, I took my degus to the vet and he says they are all female but he's only 85% sure! He also told me that Dotty is pregnant and has less than a month to go so that means they can't belong to the ones I bought to keep her company. So, the pet shop sold me a pregnant degu! I can't see any movement in her tummy yet and don't know when that would start. Can anyone tell me? The thing is, one of the other degus looks a bit fat now and I'm starting to think she may be pregnant as well! The vet told me that he's seen so many pregnant degus lately because people just aren't familiar enough with how to deal with them and they are being sold in a pregnant state to people who aren't breeders and haven't got the knowhow (me included). If the other two are females, he said we would know by the time Dotty has her litter because their bits would be larger due to age. That would mean we wouldn't have to separate them when she's given birth. Poor Dotty, she is only 6 months old and such a sweetheart. Any advice would be brilliant!

[zoo20000uk]

Just to clarify where I said that their bits would be bigger so we would know if they were girls, I meant that, if they were bigger we would know they were boys.....if you know what I mean.

[Amethystbelle]

If she is pregant its important you don't handle her much from now on as you could cause her to abort the litter or give birth to still pups. Degus have quite along pregnancy at 3 months and you might not see any movement at all in her belly, its usually the last few weeks when people tend to see anything. If she is 6 months old you will need to keep a close eye on her as she is young for a first litter and be prepared just incase the pups are born still born (its common in degus who give birth at younger ages doesn't mean it will happen though as every degu is different), also start thinking about baby proofing the cage, making sure there is nowhere they can escape or climb up in the first few weeks. The other degus will help her rear the pups and hopefully take some of the sress of her

[mulder]

for sexing, here's what i've learned. boy and girl goo bits are identical, HOWEVER the boy bit is farther from the anus than the girls. think of 0.5 cm versus 1cm. i know the distances are less, but that's a proportional idea

[zoo20000uk]

OK, I am still waiting for the birth. Dotty's babies are moving about all over the place and she is VERY wide. When you look at her from the back when she's resting, you can see the babies moving about and sticking up either side of her spine. I guess she's getting near.She's just trying to rest as much as possible with the other two constantly racing round the cage and banging into her. None of them use the nest box to sleep in...they just pile themselves in a heap with Dotty on the bottom and sleep like that anywhere they find themselves (even on one of their wheels)...never in the nest box. She's started going in the box and scraping around and I hope she's thinking about having her babies in there and not on the wheel or something! I am getting a new, bigger cage as I'm not happy with the one the pet shop sold us. This one is on wheels and taller more like a chin cage. I will keep any girls I have and try to find homes for the boys. I hope there's more than one boy so it's not on its own. All girls would be a miracle 'cos then I could keep them all. Let's hope Dotty can cope with the pregnancy/labour and the babies survive ok. I will keep you posted.

[zoo20000uk]

I just wandered over to the cage to see what they were all up to and Dotty was fidgeting about in the big nest they have. She was trying to get as far under the bedding as possible and making a real pushing face....if you can imagine that. She had her eyes shut for about half an hour and just kept moving about trying to get comfy. Meanwhile, the two other girls, who are not related to her have been going mad building the nest up around her. They have not left her alone for one second. If one wasn't with her, the other would be or both were in there fussing about. I actually saw one come out and it was by chance because it's quite dark in the nest box and there's just a chink of light coming in from the patio door and it was like she turned round to show me (probably not). The other two had been staying with her for about five minutes before she delivered and they just took over! I saw the baby lying on its back and the two other girls were licking and fussing it. It was wriggling about and so cute and little. I don't know if any more have been born yet, but I have decided to leave them all alone for a bit. I know that the other girls are being kind to her and helping out loads and that was my main worry about her giving birth. I'm happy she's got all the help she needs. The cage is soooo quiet where they are all in the next box and fussing around mother and baby/babies. I will keep you posted.

[winter_frost]

oh congrats on the new babies! It's amazing how they all help eachother out when one is in labour and then help out with the babies ^^

[zoo20000uk]

I have five babies here and they are all doing really well. They have just started to venture out of the nest box, but go back in quite quickly once they realize there's not much for them out here. Dotty's doing brilliant. She's been feeding them and then covering them up fora sleep before coming out for her food and water and to have a go on th wheel. It's so nice to see her being able to leap about and run after all the sitting about looking miserable she's been doing while in the later stages of her pregnancy. Our wheels are attached securely to the sides of the cage too high up for the babies to even think about getting on so it's good that the others can still get their exercise. Brandy in particular loves her wheel and is hardly ever off it. Whisky is still spending more time with Dotty and the babies. She's more of a fusspot than Brandy and likes to groom my head. I have shortish purple hair and she's forever digging into it and pulling out any little knots she can find. It's really sweet. I will keep you posted.

[zoo20000uk]

Well, now I have had these babies since 10th November 08 and they are getting bigger every day. The four baby boys are in their own cage and the baby girl is in with the three older females (including mum). A nice equal number for each cage. They are all really healthy and happy and an absolute pleasure! Now that I have had both boys and girls I can easily tell the difference between sexes. Even when they were first born, I could tell the difference so I'm completely satisfied that I've split them up properly. Whisky and Brandy, who are sisters but not related to Dotty, are soooo much bigger than Dotty and her babies. I got them when they were smaller than Dotty and they are now really big girls! They gnaw and vandalize everything far more than Dotty and Sugar (her baby girl). The boys, however, are very laid back and just eat and pee! They hardly gnaw at all. Their names are Rascal, who is the biggest, Basil Brush & Wolfie Smith...who are very similar and last but by no means least is Ronnie. I called him Ronnie because of Ronnie Corbet...he was the runt of the litter and very sickly. He couldn't stand up very well and he wasn't gettig much milk. I got a syringe from the vet and held him in my hand while feeding him kitten milk a few times a day (he was so titchy). I got really good at it and he took the milk really well. It took him some time to be as agile as the others and he's still not quite as confident, but he's getting there. He's still smaller than the other boys but he's the naughtiest and even tries to dominate them by riding on their backs! They are so good to him and just let him do it. He's always first to the front of the cage when the treats are being handed out. I think it's because he was spoilt as a baby :->

[RodentzRule]

Congrats, im glad theyre all ok

[mebri123]

I love your goo story it is soooooo cute....

so what are you naming the little guy?