pregancy - behaviour changes in the female

[vic]

Good day all,

I am a bit perplexed. I brought two degus for my two boys. At the petshop they told me that they were two boy degus and that they were brothers. I was very pleased and thought ''HOW CUTE... two brothers for the two brothers and on top of it one was slightly smaller so the smallest degu was going to be for my youngest and the bigger degu was going to be for my oldest. My sons were very very happy and are wonderfully responsible owners and friends to these two beautiful little creatures. However, once we managed to get the degus comfortable enough to be 'handled' I inspected them and am convinced that we have a boy and a GIRL! Now I am worried that she may be pregrant becuase they shared the same cage at the petshop. Also, if they are both from the same litter and she is pregrant this could be dangerous, no? Also, aren't girl degus supposed to be bigger than boy degus? The girl is actually smaller than the boy and if they are from the same litter should I be worried that she may be sick?

Does a pregnant degu's behaviour change upon getting pregnant. She is very lazy compared to the boy degu. He runs and climbs and gnaws and jumps... she barely moves. I am worried about 3 things.... is she pregrant? is she sick because she is smaller than the boy? if she is pregrant by her brother, what does this mean?

Any information on behaviour of a pregnanct degu would be helpful. Any information on girl degu being smaller that boy degu would also be appreciated.

Vic

[Purplebunny]

Hi Vic! I had the same problem I got 2 degus from a pet shop, which I was informed were both male.. 3 weeks later one gave birth to 4 babies, I took them all to the vets a week later, and was told that the 2 males were in fact both female.. The babies turned out to be 3 girls and 1 little boy.. As they can breed from a young age I put the boy in his own cage, and when he was old enough I had him neutered.. This itself was not easy as he has many problems, which I will not go into detail about, except he had to have mayor surgery and was very sick.. I will explain if you would like to know..
I have not noticed any size difference, the males are supposed to be a bit bigger, maybe because we had him done at such a young age he wont get that big..
If you need more help, I suggest asking a vet, and get them checked out also..
Hope this helps?
Feel free to PM me, if you want to chat..

[Amethystbelle]

I always thought male degus were larger than females but i do know they can be hard to sex if you don't have much experience with them?! Most petshops i have been in tend to pair degus up in mixed pairs which makes me mad as its irresponsible pet ownership if people don't want to breed them later on like yourself. The size difference might be because they are from different litters so could be two males but ones younger than the other and could be quieter as not the boss so to speak or could be like you say because they are different sexes. But if your worried get the degus checked out at a vets as hopefully they would be able to put your mind at ease and tell you either way

[nygerbil]

How old is your degu? Degus are not supposed to become sexually mature until 6 months of age and this has been our experience so I imagine they must be at least that old. (Hopefully this won't be considered offensive) You can tell genders dead on with degus - both have a small "tube" distending from their abdomen. It does look like a male gender organ. The difference will be in the space between that and the "behind" dot. Boys have between 1/4 and 1/2 half inches of space between the two and girls have virtually no space at all. Our degus have had a couple of litters and the personality change I saw toward the time of birth was aggression toward all others - very protective mommy! If she is just being lazy and not active I would assume one or two things - she may be ill. If not ill she may not be full grown and old enough to reproduce safely. She may also not be getting enough nutrition. They need more than what most pet shops will tell you. Take a look at the list of food we give our degus on a daily basis here. The degu on the top of the page was 89 days pregnant in the photo and this is what they should look like. All of our degu females are larger than our degu boys. Hope all goes well.

Cara-lee

[corgimom]

I can't help with the pregnant thing, because we just got our degus a few days ago (one boy, one girl, because that's all we could find), but our girl is slightly smaller than our boy, so I wouldn't worry that she's ill just because she's small. The shop we got ours from had them there for 4 months, so if she was sick, I think they'd have had trouble with her by now.

I did alot of research before buying degus and read up on breeding after we got them (we don't intend to breed, but it's probably inevitable with one of each). Female degus are pregnant for approximately 3 months, and they normally don't start to show until 2-3 weeks before giving birth. So it may be awhile before you know.

Sorry I wasn't much help. I just wanted to let you know that my girl was smaller, too, so you wouldn't worry about that part.

[Runt]

All of my males are slightly bigger than the females.
As for when the girls were pregnant the only change was they hogged the food bowl more ( which to me would be a normal thing)I usually put 2 small dishes in to take care of that little deal.Out side of that my girls were all really sweet even when babies were born.I handle all mine from the first day just as I do my chinchilla babies.

Quote: Now I am worried that she may be pregrant becuase they shared the same cage at the petshop. Also, if they are both from the same litter and she is pregrant this could be dangerous,

It is a very good possibilty they are from the same litter.(You might want to question the petshop to see if they all came from the same breeder.)This is what I really hate about some petshops.

[vic]

Hi all,

I much appreciate all your input. I am still in the dark....... I called the pet shop to ask : how old (approx) they are.... are they from the same litter.... how come they sold me a boy and a girl when I asked for 2 boys.... if she is pregnant what should I do.... etc.. etc.. The owner of the shop is a 'horrible woman'.... not only did she not have ANY answers for me but she was very rude to boot. I adivse anyone in the Montreal area (Valleyfield) to avoid SUPER ANIMALERIE. The only thing she offered was to exchange speedy (female) for a male. I can't do that at this point my son is attached to speedy and 'retuning' an animal is just wrong. It is not a toaster oven. The pet shop does treat these animals like toaster ovens though. Anyway, she is a bit more active now. She is slowly starting to be more 'friendly' but she is VERY nervous compared to Taz (male) who I was told initially was her brother...

Last night she took all the bedding in her aquarium/cage and put it in the corner of the bottom floor. Is this a sign of pregnancy? How soon before giving birth do they usually build the nest? Is their any good info on degu gestation out there? I want to be as prepared as possible if in fact she will become a mommy.

Since the pet shop can't even tell me how old they are, and since they lived for quite some time together in the same cage at the pet shop - they did tell me that the two were at the shop for some time - months - so it is quite possible that they are fertile.

Any assistance I can get in terms of advice to get Speedy through a healthy pregancy and birthing and baby degu care would be very very appreciated.

Best regards

[Sasami]

Generally, pregnant degus build the nest more towards the beginning of the pregnancy. But this isn't a sure sign, because some degus build nests even if they aren't pregnant---or so I've heard. The degu gestation period is 90 days and she won't 'look' pregnant until only about a month before giving birth.

[Runt]

Quote: Last night she took all the bedding in her aquarium/cage and put it in the corner of the bottom floor.

What size Aquarium do you have them in.I prefer a cage and always suggest a cage.in my opinion Degus like to climb and jump,they like to have a wooden ledge to sit on.
Wire bottom cages can cause bumble foot that is why I have plenty of stuff for them to be on.I have corner nets for them too.

There gestation is 90 days.Babies will have eyes open and look like a mini degu.
Mine had any where from 3-6 babies.
If dad isn't removed mom will breed back.
Are they still together or have you seperated them?
If there is anything you need to know I will help you all I can.

[vic]

I truly appreicate your advice.

Runt, I have an aquarium as the base of the cage. I have a 2 story cage sitting on top of the aquarium. Wooden shelves for sitting on and gnawing, a large rounded rock on the bottom, a tree branch for climbing etc.. etc.. She has a nice 'pad' to hang out in.

vic

[Sasami]

I wouldn't suggest seperating them. The male helps out alot in raising the babies and they are probably bonded.

[Runt]

Quote: I wouldn't suggest seperating them. The male helps out alot in raising the babies and they are probably bonded.

I have to disagree on this one.They need to be seperated asap.They came from the same petshop and were living together thus they could be brother/sister.I wouldn't want to take the risk of health problems to the babies due to inbreeding.Just my opinion

[Sassy]

I have to agree with Runt, there is a big possibility that they are brother and sister. Unless you have the male nuetered I wouldnt leave them together.

[Sasami]

I suppose they have to then, but maybe they could get the male fixed? I just don't want the mother to be stressed out.

[Purplebunny]

They do need to be separated, and the male one needs to be neutered ASAP.. Maybe put them in separate cages next to each other, so that they can still see/smell each other.. The operation to neuter the male is not one of the easiest, but is worthwhile so that they can live together in the future.. Good luck, keep us informed.. If you want to ask me any questions, just PM me, as I had my male degu done!