Today I felt Ebbies babies move, it's the most amazing thing to feel. She now weighs 1320g, a gain of 300g since conception. Considering her breed and past history I assumed she would give me maybe two babies. From her size I'm going to go with a large litter or some whopping big babies.
I'm working on the assumption that she conceived on the 24th of Feb because I was quite sure she was on heat and I witnessed the mating. Considering her size though it may possibly have been earlier. So when you take into account that gestation can be from 65 to 72 days that places her due date no earlier than the 19th of April and no later than the 6th of May. But I'm fairly certain she was mated on the 24th so I think she'll litter between the 30th of April and 6th of May.
But considering she's most likely only 44 days along (six weeks, two days) I have to say her litter is rather precocious to be moving already, as movement usually starts between 7-8 weeks so the babies are 5-12 days early. Oh well maybe it'll mean she'll litter sooner.
So Ebbie will start her pregnant lady regime tomorrow. Which consists of...
1. Continuing to spend eight hours a day on the floor of the animal room. She adores it and races around, I'm hoping constant exercise will help prevent toxaemia.
2. Dextrose in her water bottle. I will also offer plain water in case she doesn't like the taste but what animal doesn't like sugar water? This will also prevent toxaemia.
3. 0.5mL Calcium Sandoz daily to prevent both hypocalceamia and toxaemia.
She is also now living with Rosie who helps make sure Ebbie stays moving being a rather cheeky baby. I'm hoping that young as she is Rosie's maternal instincts will kick in and she'll help out if Ebbie has trouble.
No comments:
Post a Comment