baby questions, if i may ;)

[nuttz]

im sure youve noticed (or maybe not as the case may be...lol) i havent been around for a while, this due to us moving house, a very very traumatic time for us all i must add , being as brief as possible, we told our landlady we were moving home in a couple of weeks and basically, one evening while we was all out at a friends for dinner, she came into our home, changed all locks, chained up the gate so we couldnt get in that evening, the next day we rang her and she told us we are not coming into the house but.........our animals were locked inside without being fed or watered for over 24 hours! we went to the police who gave us permission to knock the door down so we did and she soon turned up and attacked me and my hubby, we had to go to the hospital to get doctors reports and now we are awaiting a court case
the good news is, all the animals are ok, the kids are fine and our cuts and bruises are almost healed...lol what a nightmare aye and all because we were leaving!
anyway, that and the fact we havent had internet due to us moving plus the stress of trying to settle all our 4 children at new and all different schools/ universities this is the reason for my absence ;D

well, as the title suggests, i have a few baby questions to ask.....
willow, our baby girl is due her babies any day, by my calculations she is on day 84 and is due on the 8th october (my daughters 18th birthday) she is looking extremely huge, ive seen her babies kicking inside but i cant feel for any nipples due to her still not trusting me chocs has been making nests but TBH he loves making nests so im not sure if he is doing so due to knowing/ sensing the soon to be birth of his pups.
now, my main question is..........when should i separate chocs from willow? (i cant have another pregnancy!)
question 2.. i have a largish hamster type cage that he could use or................i can easily block the top and bottom off of the wooden cage that chocs and willow are sharing presently, what ever i do i want to avoid as much stress as possible for them both which was my reason for thinking that maybe giving chocs the top half and willow the bottom would be better for them both as they both have each others sent in the cage during and when the time comes when chocs can come meet his little babies, the only problem is that they wouldnt be able to see each other throughout the period of time that they are separated.
question 3.. when can i put chocs back in with willow and the babies after birth?
question 4.. is their any signs of labor that i should be aware of? for example, any strange noises etc
and lastly, question 5.. do the babies make any sounds after birth?
im sure i will have loads more questions to ask but if you can offer any advice or suggestions for things i havent yet asked please do, im on tender hooks and awaiting patiently..........no, actually im dead excited and cant wait...lol my only hope is that we have 3 babies, 2 boys and 1 girl so that chocs can have a friend, lonely little stumpy can have a friend and willow will have a friend, 3 cages and 3 happy pairs of goos. under no circumstances am i putting willow through another pregnancy so if the numbers and sexes dont work out to be what i wish for i may need to think hard as to what to do..possibly neutering chocs??? anyway, thats a hurdle that i hope i dont have to cross sooooooooooo fingers crossed for me and lets hope and prey that little willow is ok and that she and her babies do well during and after the birth..im sooo worried for her!!!
thanking you hugely in advance for all the help/ advice you can offer xxx

[Kins]

Hi Nuttz! Good to see you on here after so long ;D. I was wondering how you were only the other day.

What a dreadful time you've had, I can't quite believe your story , that is just awful, you poor things. I hope you and your family are settled in your new home now?! And that your animals are all ok, what a relief.

And that your old landlady gets her comeuppance, I believe in karma that's for sure!

On the baby front I can't help at all as I have zero experience there, but just wanted to say it's lovely to see you back and I'm sure there will be plenty of people happy to help you with advice from their experiences with little baby gooeys! I'm very jealous And hoe you post pictures when the time comes

[malteser60]

Hey Nuttz! Welcome back! I was also wondering where you got to the other day.

But OMG! That landlady is crazy! Unbelievable! You must have been really frantic for your animals, and then to have to go to hospital for the cuts and bruises (and report). I hope your new landlady/landlord is better!

As for the goos, hopefully somebody with lots more experience will come and give you advice.

I can answer one question - take dad out about a day to 2 days prior, if you are sure of the birth date. And keep him out for at least four days after.

[fuzzymum1]

Dorothy just delivered her second litter in the early hours yesterday. I had been able to see babies moving for a while before she gave birth. On the evening before she delivered she spent a lot of time just lying down and resting in the fabric cube nest I have in their cage. I was surprised to find she'd delivered already as there was no sign other than lots of resting the night before. She delivered on day 86 (well 86 days after Norman spent the whole morning barking anyway). The babies have been silent so far and unless I had looked in the nest I would have had no idea - like the first litter she had - I had no idea they were there (and the cage is right beside my desk where I spend a lot of time) until one strolled out of the nest a few days later!

I would remove Chocs fairly soon and leave him out until 4-5 days after the birth. I would then remove him again from around day 20 after the birth as I witnessed Norman and Nancy mating 21 days after giving birth to her litter. I'm fairly confident but not certain that she's not pregnant though.

I'm sorry you went through such a tough time with your crazy landlady, I can't believe anyone would behave so terribly! I hope you're all settled in and happy in your new place.

[deguconvert]

SO very glad to see you again, Nuttz! I've missed you! What a time you have had. . . as if the trauma of moving isn't enough in itself. Makes you wonder what is going on with your previous landlady . . . was she trying to prevent you from leaving and losing your rental income? She sounds rather desperate, and I am sure she will regret taking such violent and illadvised actions toward you. I'm glad you are now settled. Are you liking your new place? How are the kids adjusting? What about all the dogs and cats?

Sounds like you will be having all kinds of HAPPY excitement once the pups come. I look forward to hearing more once they are arrived. Any pictures of Willow being all round?

[fred]

Oct 2, 2011 21:55:58 GMT fuzzymum1 said:

I'm fairly confident but not certain that she's not pregnant though.

Sorry to go off topic, but that's very interesting. How far would Nancy be exactly? We haven't heard from Ady, so I presume Silver didn't have any babies. I am beginning to wonder whether they can mate but are not fertile three weeks after birth.

[Ady]

Oct 2, 2011 22:14:13 GMT @fred said:

.

We haven't heard from Ady, so I presume Silver didn't have any babies. I am beginning to wonder whether they can mate but are not fertile three weeks after birth.
[/quote]

She wasn't pregnant. It could be because she was lactating when they mated but also there could be other reasons (Eugene was already 18 days neutered, she was under stress with babies,..) so it didn't really prove or disprove the 6 weeks theory! Is there any experience with it on German forum Fred?

[fred]

No there was not any experience on the German forum or anywhere else I looked and asked. Silver's or Nancy's would have been the first documented cases of this.

[fuzzymum1]

At the moment she hasn't gained any weight - but as she wouldn't be due until early-mid november I won' be sure for a few more weeks.

[nuttz]

thank you kins, maltesser, DC and fuzzymum for your replys
fortunately, yes, weve settled quite nicely now, it took a little while due to many problems but the house is just amazing, all mod cons (my fav being the dishwasher...lol) its so much larger than the last house, when i find the time i shall take a couple of piccys if anyone is interested in having a peek?
the kids have all settled into their schools, my youngest boy is still at primary, my youngest daughter just started secondary, eldest daughter has just started a module (college type course) and my eldest boy has just started uni so its been all go for us all..
the animals are doing great, they seem to love it here, the garden is just huge so the dogs are loving it, the cats strangely are beginning to tolerate eachother, in our old house we had to keep them apart at all times due to them fighting but now, they can actually eat in the same room...lol
stumpy our lonely goo seems to love the hot spot in the kitchen, everyday evening he climbs up to take a bathe in the sun, something he wasnt able to do in the old house, hopefully he should be getting a new playmate shortly when the babies arrive and are old enough to join him. chocs and willow took a little while to settle, bless them..their trip here wasnt the best as the cage took a slight fall during the 30 min travel here but they are ok now, and me and hubby are just so exhausted but everyday we are feeling better, we are just glad we are out of the old house and away from the nutter landlady however, things aren't over yet and her being spanish, im sure she has something up her sleeve when we get to court, at the moment we are fighting to get back into the house as we have a few personal things left including family videos from when the children were small. thank you all for your kind words!!!

ok...trying to get back on track as to what this thread is about...lol
today is day 85, willow seems to be fine, i havent noticed her resting too much but i believe the reason is because everytime i get close to the cage she legs it away from me squeaking at me to back off from her, im not sure why she is so scared of me?
so, when should i separate chocs? would it be better to do it today, or maybe in a day or two? and would it be better if i kept him in the current cage or should i put him in a cage of his own? i dont want to stress him out any more than i have to, he loves willow and his cage.
would their be any problems when i put him back in with willow???
basically its the waiting game, i wish there was some way of telling when the big day will come, it would make things easier...lol
DC, i shall try and get a couple of pics of rounded willow but as i said, she tends to scarper as soon as she sees me
fuzzymum.. you dont hear the babies cry? hmm are they easily found, how big are they, and is there lots of blood after birth or not?
does the mother stay with her babies?
thanks again, ive got to say... its nice to be back, especially after the lovely welcome i got ;D

[fuzzymum1]

Oct 3, 2011 7:28:14 GMT nuttz said:

fuzzymum.. you dont hear the babies cry? hmm are they easily found, how big are they, and is there lots of blood after birth or not?
does the mother stay with her babies?
thanks again, ive got to say... its nice to be back, especially after the lovely welcome i got ;D

I haven't heard a single squeak from them. They're about 1.5-2" long plus the tail. They do stay in the nest for the first few days. I would say mum is in with them about 80% of the time but one of the other girls is in with them some of that time.

They are fairly easy to spot, quite often when Mum leaves the nest they are in a mini-goopile

There was very little blood, Dorothy pushed a few little bits of bloody tissue out of the nest on saturday which I took away but there was very little mess.

It's really fun watching the babies grow up. I think I'm going to take a daily picture of Pedro (the little boy we're keeping) from today so we can see the progress over the next few weeks - it should be interesting to see.

[nuttz]

aww, i think thats a great idea about keeping a daily photo diary, i cant wait to see our new babies, ive seen lots of photos and videos (including yours) but its kinda weird trying to imagine how small they actually are, im looking forward to watching them run about, i just hope that willow will allow me to get a little hands on with them, she really doesnt like me all that much......lol
ive just tried taking a photo of willow, i had her in a great pose too and as i clicked the camera....................................the batteries went...lol typical, so i shall try again once the battery's charge up
just another quick question in regards to bedding / nesting material.. is there anything other than tissue that i can put into the cage? i thought about cutting up an old t-shirt but worried that the loose cotton could get caught and could be dangerous?! ive put lots of tissue into the cage but for some reason it seems to be disintegrating, im sure they are eating it...lol possibly i could use an old fleece scarf of the kids, thats if i can find the box that i packed them into... ;D

thanks again fuzzymum, im looking forward to seeing some pictures of your newly born, i know you always seem to take fab piccys!!!

[nuttz]

aww, i think thats a great idea about keeping a daily photo diary, i cant wait to see our new babies, ive seen lots of photos and videos (including yours) but its kinda weird trying to imagine how small they actually are, im looking forward to watching them run about, i just hope that willow will allow me to get a little hands on with them, she really doesnt like me all that much......lol
ive just tried taking a photo of willow, i had her in a great pose too and as i clicked the camera....................................the batteries went...lol typical, so i shall try again once the battery's charge up
just another quick question in regards to bedding / nesting material.. is there anything other than tissue that i can put into the cage? i thought about cutting up an old t-shirt but worried that the loose cotton could get caught and could be dangerous?! ive put lots of tissue into the cage but for some reason it seems to be disintegrating, im sure they are eating it...lol possibly i could use an old fleece scarf of the kids, thats if i can find the box that i packed them into... ;D

thanks again fuzzymum, im looking forward to seeing some pictures of your newly born, i know you always seem to take fab piccys!!!

[nuttz]

i cant believe that i posted twice...........lol
this stupid computer connection is sooooooooooo slooooooooooow it wouldnt post my reply and i lost everything i typed sooooooooo i had to retype and send only to realize that ive sent both ;D

sorry! lololol

[malteser60]

I think tissues would be fine, or even fleece. I know what you mean about the goos eating their bedding. Mine would rather eat the finacard (cardboard) rather than fresh vegetables, sigh!