Advice needed......

[Dahlas]

I am nervous to do that but I am going to take her out and look and feel gently.....
I will let you know what I feel.....

 

[lilspaz68]

I had Bronwen on my lap and I would gently place my fingers on the spot after her ribcage before her pelvis and I would feel eepers squirming. It was the most fantastic feeling

 

[SQ]

I'm very excited!! and I'm not even involved ...
... waiting is sooo hard ...

 

[Dahlas]

This is killing me....here we are at 7:52 on the 22 day that I have had her and nothing yet!!!!! But she is now huge.. :shock: ..Two days ago I posted pictures and there was still a small doubt in my mind..... now she looks totally pregnant.......Her tummy is so big and round and I noticed her nipples are now bare. She looks even bigger this morning.... .....I think she is going to have lots of babies. I could feel wiggles and flutters last night when I had her and Sydney out for a play together....
Anybody want to guess how many? Boys? Girls?

Oh and SQ you are involved....lucky you will get to answer all my questions and concerns for the next couple of months.... :lol:

These pictures arn't great I just snapped them off while she was out last night but you can see her big belly.......

 

[raindrop]

If she has them today then they will share their birthday with my husband. His is today.

Ann

 

[user 78]

Oof! That poor dear looks like she's gonna pop! As Shelagh mentioned, her poor Bronny looked like a beached Beluga by the end of it all. Keep pushing those good foods! Even if it's not a very large litter, she's gonna need all the help she can get.

As a note, I don't think any of us went over socialization with the wee babies. I'm sure with your other experiences you know how important it is! If Piper will let you, you can start to handle them shortly after they're born. This is the most important time to start socializing them, and the easiest time. Being blind, deaf, and helpless, they'll associate your scent and touch with something very good. When their eyes open around 14 days, it'll just reinforce all the good care and love you gave them previously. You can let Piper run around and get some exercise while you handle the babies and take millions of pictures. To begin with, keep the sessions short, around 5-10min or so. They can't keep themselves warm at that point, and feed pretty regularly, so make sure to keep them toasty while mom's off doing her thing. As the babies develop, you can keep them away from mom for longer periods of time, and she'll sure appreciate the time off. After their eyes are opened, you can let Piper run around with Sydney for some playtime while you play with the bubs.

If for whatever reason Piper is a bitey mom, you can still do all of these things. You'll just have to get creative on how to get her out of the cage for cleanings and baby time.

You're doing a fantastic job! Just keep it together for another day, she won't disappoint ya! :wink:

 

[Dahlas]

Thank you so much javakittie.....I have been offering her all the good food everyone has suggested....she is not eating a lot at once but lots of little meals.....I went grocery shopping last night and stocked up. Hubby said we will be able to "milk" her if the amount of food I bought for her is any indication of the amount of milk she will be producing.....he is so funny.
I can't wait to handle the babies...I hope she won't mind but trust me I plan on kissing those babies all over so Piper will have to get used to the idea.....
I will keep everyone posted on today's adventure....

 

[Dahlas]

Oh and raindrop....That would be cute to share their birthday with your Hubby........what is his name? I am going to need lots of name suggestions.......kinda looking for a theme......

 

[raindrop]

His name is Dale.

Ann

 

[jorats]

Should we start guessing? I'm going to say 13 babies!

btw: Happy birthday Dale!!!

 

[lilspaz68]

Hmm...need a better belly pic but how about 12 babies as my first guess. 7 girls, 5 boys.

 

[Dahlas]

That would give me 15 ratties...still a lot less then some people on here...so I won't look to strange. :lol: I am hoping for.........10 max....hehehe
6 girls and 4 boys......Just because I will be getting the boys neutered so that will be a bit cheaper.....
Watch I will get 13 boys...... :lol:

 

[SQ]

I'll guess 11 little sweeties ...

 

[Dahlas]

Well we tried to take a few pictures but she is hard to get a hold of...She is wiggly and my daughter who is holding her is scared to hurt her in her delicate condition so this is what we have today.......

I will keep trying....

 

[lilspaz68]

She's round but not lumpy or bulgy, that was Bron's last stage before birth.

I wanna kiss that belly!!! :tumkiss:

 

[Dahlas]

She is lumpy and bumpy today...I can see flutters and kicking...it is so cute. She lets me kiss her belly. She isn't a bit nippy....... She is walking very slow today.....more like a waddle.....

She has to go today :? doesn't she ? I have had her 23 days today........I have a vet appointment for her tomorrow if she doesn't go today......

I took a few pictures......
You can see one lump there are two more on the other side......she looks to me like she is going to have 20 babies....I am getting a bit nervous.
I have been weighing her but my scale is not good at getting accurate weight but two days ago she was around 300 grams...now she is around 350 grams.......

 

[SQ]

Hang in there grandma :lol:

They can have up to 24 babies (tho I believe I heard 25 somewhere ... ) but the average size is about 12.

Who knows, maybe you will end up with more ratties than me!! lol

 

[Bronwyn]

It's hard to tell how many, haha, my Grace looked like she swallowed a couple of ping pong balls and came out with ten. :lol:

 

[user 78]

Since it's pretty obvious she's just very pregnant, don't worry too much about having to take her to the vet. The vet isn't going to be able to do a whole lot with her pregnancy, other than tell you to wait and watch.

 

[calicojenn]

any updates on that belly or babies?

heh never mind i just found the baby pics!