From:
shelterwoman@yahoo.com
Date: 2002-07-09 02:41:36 UTC
Subject: Re: Preggers jill-possible to tell when?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1029716.1026182496723.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Hello Pam,
Sorry to hear that the jill has been relocated at such a late date! It sounds from your description that the birth may be imminent. Will she let you handle her at all, as you should be able to feel the babies in the last stages? Usually you can see little 'sausage like appendages' thru the skin. Remember the babies will be the size of your pinkie when born.
Has she chosen a spot to sleep in, as it would be best to confine her to that area and leave her alone! As it is, being in a strange place is bad enough, but any extra excitement or strangers around, will increase the risk of her killing/eating her babies!
A quiet dark place is where she will feel secure and if there is no interference, she most likely will care for the kits. It is difficult to raise the kits without the mother's care, but I did it twice. Around the clock, feeding, keeping warm and helping the kits eliminate up until they are 3 weeks old, I wouldn't wish it on anyone!!!
Hopefully everything will go well, however if this is your first time, you will need to check on her very carefully to make sure all the kits are fine! If you could confine her in a pen with room to move around yet space for you to creep in and check on her without disturbing her would probably be the best thing. Since she doesn't know you well, she may bite you to keep you or anyone else at a distance, so it would be best to just take a quick peek and then leave the rest to her!
On two occasions we had to tie off umbilical cords and cut them to seperate the babies that had been born so rapidly that the mother was unable to do it herself, so this would be a reason to check, also to make sure that the mother delivers the kits without a problem.
I am sure others have suggestions, but since she has already blown her coat, which takes place about 2 weeks before delivery, then I would expect the time to be soooooon!!!---Angela.