gravid bluey updates

[Richard.C]

20140124_165347-1.jpg

Still no babies,got some vid of laboured breathing in the 2 fat blotchies,might see a bit in the eastern to,loading up on you tube now ,trying to get a vid of the western to,but every time i try she stops the breathing and trys to eat me,lol,may have to set up the go pro and leave her be

[Dakota]

Virginia today:

And she isn't basking at all in this photo, so it is her true size. This is the last photo I will post for a while. I definitely can notice her getting bigger and bigger by the day, but not sure if you guys can through pictures.

[Dakota]

She has started breathing heavier (like more so than before, which was due to her being overweight, I guess). She hasn't really been holding it in (AKA grunting), but it is definitely like she is doing push-ups. She is only a little over half way through gravidity. I didn't expect her to start showing all the signs until later on.

[Dakota]

Okay, THIS one is the last one.. got a good photo of her during the "back-end" basking behavior. Notice how she isn't flattened out like they typically do while basking.

[Richard.C]

Still early days for her but shes looking good dakota

[Richard.C]

20140130_104126-1.jpg

Still nothing yet,western lass is looking close,an eastern lass and vic alpine lass look ready to shed and getting more confident that old line aspera is carrying to but still a while for her

Whos going to pop first i do not know,in a patch of hot weather again here which is good,outdoors they usually drop on hotter days

[Dakota]

Still early days for her but shes looking good dakota

I agree. It is very odd. I "think" I seen ovulation, but it was subtle.. then all the sudden she started getting so FAT! I'm puzzled at the idea of her so big already. And you say you can feel the babies, or have never.. but I absolutely can. When I take her outside to get UV I can feel it.

If you guys remembered, she was already heavy breathing before mating, due to being so fat (I guess), and with her natural weight AND packing babies, the breathing easily becomes more heavily with just little change inside.. that is my theory.

[Richard.C]

Ive never felt babies per say,most females get kind of tight feeling when gravid,not soft like regular fatties if that makes sense

I say most as they dont all do the same,i get some that just looking at them you would swear theu arent gravid,some dont even do the laboured breathing,maybe because they arent so compacted inside

With the laboured breathing usually its a slow deep breath,like there sighing,rather than an unfit looking panting type, breathing

Blotchies are the oddest,lots of variety in signs with breathing,some breath fast and deep it almost looks like they will bounce off,lol,others more traditional laboured breathing and ive had some that dont do squat,one lowlands in particular never changed in behaviour,even weight wise but had equal sized litters to her fat cagemates including baby size,she did give one indication of being gravid though,she turned from a shy hider into a monster,and would chage over and attack my feet when i went into cage,no nipping,latch on and try to hurt my shoes,lol

Main point is,just like sexing,its not 100 percent reliable picking whos gravid or not gravid,some always keep you guessing,alot you can have a good educated guess at,but i always have some that hide it so well,one northern this season only gained ten grams for instance,was skinny as looking and i wasnt expecting anything

[Richard.C]

Added some video of old line aspera female doing the laboured breathing to you tube

Under aspera laboured breathing,shes looking good

[Richard.C]

Added another vid to u tube of laboured breathing in a late term eastern,shows another possable gravid bluemountains blotch to

Under laboured breathing of a late term eastern

This is now peak baby season for easterns here,shes fat and starting to lose condition in base of tail and close to going into shed,normally with a shed comes babies or slightly there after

[Dakota]

Wow, she's huge!

[Richard.C]

Shes one of the ones that shows it easily,theres a bigger eastern lass i thinks gravid to,but looks long and lean in comparison ,so hard to know if she is or isnt,i actually saw that one get mated,but not fat one,though fatty got quite scuffed up this season,long and lean barely has a mark on her,only odd behaviour in her is she goes after the fat one aggressivly when they cross paths,but shes a just wait and see type

[Dakota]

How is the typical appetite for them before they go off food completely?

[Richard.C]

That varies to,some are ravenous right through,last season one of the blotchies had her typical pig out on food,stopped eating then started pushing with in a minute,i was expecting poop but was a still born baby which is on my you tube page,once i saw the poop was a blotchie head i started filming,lol

Unless extremely fat and congested,majority of mine eat right through,though amounts can slow down towards the end,but again lots of variables,some slow to a slight nibble,some stop,some go gang busters right through

[Dakota]

Okay, that's good. Because Virginia just age 2 whole adult mice.. she never has ate that much before..

[Richard.C]

If there babies they have to feed them to during development

[Scotts1au]

A couple of my girls are ravenous now, coming to the outdoor enclosure door when they see me approaching with a can of DF after a very slow start to their feeding this year. Most really didn't start eating properly until the end of November. This is after they had mated. Very interesting year.

[Richard.C]

Small fat eastern is shedding so really close now

[Richard.C]

20140201_180939-1.jpg

After a hot day shes out shade basking now suns off cage,just a bit of shed on her hip area remains,first time ive seen the two females lay together for a while with no shenanigans,blotchies and other female eastern look close to shedding again to,so should start popping shortly

[Teacup]

Small fat eastern is shedding so really close now

Can't wait!!