Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Joyce]

Do pregnant females stop putting on weight as their due dates and/or time for delivery get closer?  I have weighed Mia every week from the beginning of her pregnancy.  She seemed to put all of her weight on at the start and during the middle of the pregnancy.  She is approaching her day 111 which is July 27th, about 2 weeks away.  This past week she seems to have gained nothing!  Now I am concerned.  I was holding her on my lap last night and did feel kit movement inside of her.  Why would she have stopped gaining?  She had been putting on a lot of weight weekly before and went from 770 grams to 1,050 grams. 
  Is there any reason for concern here? 

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes

Won't be long now

[Joyce]

Hi Debbie,  Thank you for your help!

Yes, meaning she will probably have them  before her due date on July 27th?  And chins can stop gaining as much weight nearer to delivery?   
Or, yes meaning I should be concerned.

Funny thing is her mate has been obsessively cleaning up one side of their cage bottom for days now!  I need to get a video of this, it cracks me up.  He must be exhausted.  I'm telling ya, this is all he does.  He sweeps up all bedding & debris from the one side of their cage and has made a huge pile on the other side of the cage now!  He digs and uses his front and back feet to do so.  Litter flies everywhere in the process!  Have your chins ever done this?  Are they making the Mrs. a place to sleep and be cooler or for her to deliver?

I did weigh Mia today and she has put on another 20 grams this week.  She now weighs 1,071 grams.  I could feel the babies kicking away much stronger than ever today!

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes I do have a hetero beige male that does that.
He sweeps all the shavings away from the door and piles them up in the back corner.
He did it all the time though, and only stops when a house goes back there for the kits.
I put him back after the kits are 7-10 days with the house in the corner and he doesn't do it.
Take the house out and all the shaving get swept back into the corner.
I was thinking he was just trying to get out, like if he moves them away from the door, maybe he can get out by digging under it.
Funny critters

[Joyce]

They really are funny aren't they!  Always doing something entertaining.
Well Mia has gained another 20grams, weighed her yesterday and she is now 1,071 grams.  Today I could actually see the babies moving while she was asleep on her side.  It was so sweet, for me to see anyway.....probably not for her!  I remember a couple weeks before I was due with the girls!  Yikes!!!!!!!!!
I think she may go into her whelping cage next Tuesday.  That would be day 102.  Do you think that'll be OK?  I was going to wait until one week before day 111 but something tells me these kits may come sooner.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

I play each pair & birth by ear.
Some I leave until the birth,some dames just won't let the males handy anyway, while some Dads seem help keep her calm.Some hate to be separated.
 If Dad is getting antsy as Mom gets close to delivery I take him out. She needs her rest, and having Dad chasing her around is to taxing.

First litters I take him out most always. Maybe a week before LOL Like I said play it by ear and do what ever you feel comfy with.
Some pop them out faster than I can get him out too. \

Another good point, I just had one go in heat and mate 6 weeks after delivery. They were all in the cage together from about day 10 after the birth. That's never happened to me before. :-[ If I'm keeping them together I just let the mate at the 8 week heat, but this one at 6 weeks. I'm still not sure she is pregnant again.

[Chins To Love]

Ours usually stop gaining the last week or so, and their appetite really goes down right before delivery....Sounds kinda like I was..appetite anyways, certainly not weight gain. :-[

[Jo Ann]

What was the date of the first time you felt them move, Joyce?

     Usually, if it is 1 or 2 kits, you can almost count on two weeks from the day, for them to deliver.

     If it is 3 or 4, you can usually count on 3 weeks +.  Note I said USUALLY.   

     Like Debbie said ... What you feel most comfortable with.  And how Oki and Mia act and react to moving her.

 
Jo Ann

[Joyce]

  Hi All,  Thank you so much for your replies, I really appreciate it so much!  Every little bit helps a first time chin granny!

Let me see here.......the first time I felt the babies move was Friday June 30th.  I have kept a diary.  So 3 weeks from that day would put her at July 21st which would be this coming Friday.  So it's leaning towards 3-4 kits!  Two weeks after I felt them move would have been 2 days ago Friday the 14th of July.  So we'll see.
She is not eating as much of her hay & pellets.  But she loves to be hand fed alfalfa and still takes it gladly.  She also never refuses a raisin or papaya cube!  I am watching for her to start drinking water like crazy, this is what I have heard now from others.  Apparently right about a day before they deliver they drink like crazy.
She has not gained any more weight since I last posted it at 1,071 last week.  Matter of fact she was 1,060 yesterday.

[Jo Ann]

Hi Joyce,

     Remember, a small kit can vary it's weight as much as 3 to 5 grams (about 5 to 10% of their wight the first 50 to 100 grams)  just by peeing and pooping and/or just finishing nursing or needing to nurse. As long as it does not continue to go down for a couple of days, I would not be concerned.   A variance of weight of 10 to 15 grams on an adult weighing over 1,000 grams would not be that bad, percentage wise, when you compare it to the kit's doing the same. 

    Why should she refuse to be hand fed hay and treats? ... you have your little queen on a pedestal and she is going to enjoy every minute of it she can!      Once the kits arrive, there will be no rest for her.    Pamper her well!   

      Watching the water consumption increasing by 2 or 3 times the normal amount the last 24 hours has almost always been the "get ready, here we come" alarm for me.  Her body tells her she needs it to start produce milk for her kits.   With the food ... it varies ... more or less, depending on the chin, but it will usually change the last few days. (Maybe she "feels" to "full" to eat. )

     

[Debbie.nl.ca]

geez  Granny Joyce,
The waiting is driving me
She sounds so close, don't blink.

[Joyce]

 :-[ Debbie,  I know, the wait is killing me too but it's very exciting!  Mia continues to do well, no changes.  I am tip toeing in to check her continuosly and I don't leave the house for a long period of time now.  My kids think I am nuts, we always have to come home to check on Mia!!!  Today I am going to pick up a baby monitor, it'll help when we are around here at home and especially at night when we are not right there with her.  I plan to start sleeping on the couch near her cage soon.  Today is day 103.  She has to have them soon she is going to explode! 

[Jo Ann]

Joyce,

      Remember I said you need your rest, too! (I'm in my Mommy mode now.)   A baby monitor is great, that way you and your hubby can still cuddle  ... at least till the kits are born.  After then is when you may be sleeping on the couch between feedings if she has 4 or 5.

     How does that ole saying go "a watched pot never boils"       

     Just kidding ... been there done that a few times!   

 
Jo Ann