Chipmunk pregnant or in pain?

[donnamt]

any little chippies yet?

[jennyb]

No 

I'm really worried now don't know what i should do theres no signs of them giving birth anytime soon, they were both active all day today. Should i be getting worried? I first noticed signs of pregnancy on the 30th June, it seems to me they have both gone over 35 days as much as a week over, they were separated from the male 19th june so mating couldn't be after that. Theres no signs that they are unwell, both look well and are active.

[jennyb]

There is something even more puzzling about this whole thing  i saw Abigail mate with Ginger on the 7th June before they even went in the aviary i doubted this was the successful mating as it doesn't fit in with the pregnancy which leaves Asriel as the father, Abi was due to come back into season on the 20th June, 13 days later which is her normal heat period but she was separated from the male before this on the 19th, could it be possible that they actually mated before she was due to call? This has never happened before she's only allowed the male to mate on the day she called and was aggressive to the male if he tried before, could she maybe have saved his sperm to keep to fertilise the eggs later, i know this sounds stupid but some animals can do that, theres nothing in any of my books, none of them give a longer gestation than 35 days.
All i know is Asriel didn't move into the aviary before the 11th and wasn't with Abigail at all before but he was with Pearl. This puts Asriel and Abigail's mating between the 11th and 19th not a big window of opportunity. Abigail had only moved into the avairy herself the day before. Pearl moved in with Ginger on the 9th. I think Asriel will be the father of Pearl's babies too if she is pregnant but again because of the 30 - 35 gestation she must have mated in the same time period as Abigail making her overdue too.

[donnamt]

maybe the move has caused hormones to go wild and they think they are preggers  do chipmunks get phantom pregnancies?  i wish i knew the answers for you, but im pretty in-experienced really.

Stella gave birth 31 days after mating so i dont know if they go over the 35 days.

[jennyb]

I don't know if they can have false pregnancies but this is what it must be, i have heard of it in dogs before, not only do they think they are pregnant they also try to nurse toys as if they have given birth.

[sarah-J]

hi Jen,

is it possible that they could of had them, I remember reading in one of your post that you heard squeaking noises.  Could they have been the babies/baby and poss mum ate them, I know that is not a nice thought but it does happen.  You did say that you could see the teats! can you still see them?

the only thing you can do is wait, if they are healthy and active, then i wouldn't worry, maybe they were never pregnant, I'd just sit this one out. and just watch and enjoy what they are up to now.

Sarah.   

[jennyb]

No they have not had them the squeaking sounds i heard were not baby squeaks, i remember baby squeaks from when i had babies before and it didn't sound like that, plus they both are still the same weight, haven't lost any i'd have thought if they had had them they would be much slimmer now and teats are still showing. I'll give it till this weekend and if they don't have any babies i'll just ashume they were not pregnant or something went wrong and they lost the babies durng pregnancy. I'll also reduce their food incase i've been feeding them too much. I've already put Pearl back in the avairy think theres no point keeping them separate now, although i've got Abi inside for this weekend just to keep an extra eye on her. She'll go back outside on monday and i'll also put Bailey back in and hopefully try to introduce Hermione as i want the colony reintroduced as soon as possible. If theres no babies it's not fair keeping the other chipmunks caged, hopefully it won't be too difficult to put Bailey and Hermione back in as they are in a cage inside the avairy so they can see and smell Pearl and Abigail, Abi was fine with Pearl moving back in, thos two get on well although she was abit angry at Pearl for going in her nest box and chased her away, Pearl then kept her distance. It's not a big loss, it is sad but we'll get babies eventually. Pearl is much happier now back outside.