Looks like she was pregnant!!

I just went to clean the cage and there are four new burns under their covers!

WHAT DO I DO?

Now I've calmed down and gone to Pets at home... here's my little story!

As some of you know, I posted a thread about a Degu of mine (NoName, and that is her name now! haha) who had gotten quite large. So large, in fact, that my boyfriend and I joked about finding babies in the cage one day.

Just before we go on, I also posted a thread about a nervous Degu who would not go near me. So I took the advice of a fellow poster and put a shirt of mine in there, so they could get used to my scent.

After a week or so in the cage, I worried it was starting to smell. So I opened the top section, chatting away to my boyfriend, and picked up the shirt (luckily, I did it slowly), and there, bald as the day they were born, were four baby Degu's! I couldn't believe it! I sat there, trying to get words out, pointing at them and looking at my boyfriend in absolute disbelief.

Four baby degu's!

The twist? It isn't No Name who gave birth - it was her mum, Phoebe! Looks like the woman who sold them to us told a few porkies - or was completely ignorant!

It's now very clear to us that No Name is definitely pregnant, and Phoebe (who we just thought was a tubby Degu) has dropped a few pounds!

We're shocked as now we have 8 degu's, although the cage is large enough, but when No Name drops her degu's, we may have to invest in an extension!

Naturally, I panicked, got Pets at Home on the blower and raced over there for advice. They assured me all was fine, not to disturb the nest and to clean around it for now, but that the mummy would do all she needs to and that when No Name gives birth, it's fine having two litters together.

They all seem to be getting along famously. While Phoebe is away chilling, the other degu's (particularly No Name) are cleaning and sitting with the babies, all now cuddled up in my shirt.

I'm thrilled if I'm honest. Shocked, but thrilled!

I've added another shirt in the cage, so now No Name can nest when it's time for her to pop, and by the advice of the Pets at Home staff, it seems like it's any day now.

They're all snuggled together and happy!

Looks like I'm a Grandparent?

Advice on names anyone?

well first off congratulations just dont wear the shirt again LOL. dont take much advice from pets at home as they are not very educated on goos. they told us they bred some degus from a professional worker at the store, they are inbred, one of them is blind and has bumblefoot :'( this is due to not cleaning the cage properly and not cleaning the shelves. the gestation period id 93 days roughly and remember to seperate them as they might be inbred already and you dont want them to breed!!! they will be very sick alot of them might not survive and if you have to sell them not many people would buy them sadly any questions you have PM me anytime

How are the babies doing?

I have two litters of degus from my original four (was told they were four females but they were three females and one male). I've kept them all and the first litter will be turning one-year old on the 13th. If you have any questions, I might be able to help.

As far as separating them goes: I took my degus' litters to the vet when they each were about 6-8 weeks old and got him to help determine the sexes of each of them. Boys were then put in with their father (after an introduction on neutral territory which went very smoothly). Girls remain with their mothers.

As far as inbred issues, so far only three of them seem to have some sort of vasculitis affecting the edges of their ears but, other than that, all are doing well.

Please keep us updated.

The babies are doing really well, we are sure they're not inbred as the younger one we have (who has now turned out to be male) is only able to start breeding as of...now!

The woman we got him off suggested we seperate as of tomorrow - I'm just hoping he hasn't managed to breed before then. But we are with them most of the time, and he hasn't been acting out of the ordinary, just a bit hyperactive when the babies were first born (I'm guessing because the females were most fertile during this point and the poor guy was probably confused!).

I'm considering seperating them, so the babies and females on the top floor and the male on the bottom floor. We've made the unfortunate decision to have him adopted as we simply don't have the money for another cage for him, and to keep him seperated from one floor to another is going to be tough as they scratch and try to get back down.

Do you think he would be able to breed so soon? The woman said 11 September, he's around 9 weeks old now. But he's so playful with his mum and sisters, he has a playful hump every now and again, but he's done that since he was 4 weeks old!

Advice?

(The above post is regarding one of the original degu's who is now 9 weeks, which is our main concern now he's just about reaching his breeding age)

I read that the average age of sexual maturity in a male degu is around 12 weeks but varies greatly. I think it is too risky to keep him with his mum and sisters. (Poor guy.)

It's such a shame.
I'm dreading when I have to give him away, I will be bawling my eyes out!