The new mum, Phoebe, who has just had four pups, is pulling fur from her paws.

I'm worried that because the woman I got her from has now bred her (3 times in a year, that we know of) that she's become stressed. Of course I won't breed her at all, I never planned to, and learning that she's now been bred 3 times has put me off even more.

She isn't being aggressive, and she's still feeding her pups, but she seems subdued, quiet, almost as if she's sleepy.

I give her lots of attention, and treat her when she's good, she loves being out of the cage and my partner and I have even made a play pen for them, which they love.

Is this normal? Should I be treating her feet at all?

It doesn't look red, nor is it bleeding, but the fur is gone.

One of my degus, after giving birth, lost a dime-sized area of fur on her back. Degus can get alopecia like humans do as a result of hormone changes and stress (both of which can be caused by pregnancy/giving birth). I think this is what happened with my degu – her hair grew back within a few weeks without any treatment.

That said, loss of fur on paws can be caused by overgrooming or other issues. You might want to extend your research to degu-dedicated sites like the deguworld forum or degutopia.

As far as mom being sleepy, are you providing her with unlimited food? I fed my degu moms a few extra oats for extra energy. They have alot of little hungry mouths to feed and need the extra calories for that.