How much weight should she gain?

[Chewy]

Hey everyone!!! Adrian is hopefully pregnant and I'm trying to make sure that she is actually pregnant this time. The last attempt to get her pregnant failed and I had people waiting for babies. Now I have bought a scale and am trying to record her weight gains and loses in a weight chart/time graph. So, my question is, how much weight should she gain that would signal to me that she is indeed pregnant? Also how quick should she gain this weight. I know that there are other ways to tell if she is pregnant but from my understanding this is the easiest (simple) way to tell.

[Nancy]

Didn't Adrian just wean babies in the summer? She should not be re-bred sooner than 6 months from the birth date of the previous litter (or 4 months from weaning). It's not healthy for her to be pregnant sooner than that as her body hasn't had a chance to recover from raising the previous litter.

[Chewy]

Originally Posted by Nancy

She should not be re-bred sooner than 6 months from the birth date of the previous litter (or 4 months from weaning).

Really? When I was doing my research on breeding Ifound that you can breed them as long as its at least three months from the previous litter? I'm pretty sure one of the sites I got that info from was HHC but I just tried to find where that was located and now I can't find it. Truthfully, 3 months was what I had found and from what was told to me from other breeders on the breeders list.

[nikki]

Is it possible that what you read meant 3 months from when the litter is weaned?..I know I would never consider breeding my girls more than 2 times per year...every 6 months..and I actually let it go a bit longer for them. Its like with alot of animals, they can have babies more often...but its not healthy for them, think of people...its possible to have a baby...and then have a second baby 10 months later...and again 10 months later..but would be very very hard on the mother.

[Nancy]

The only time you would breed within 3 months would be if the litter was cannibalized or dead at birth.

My girls get twice a year. I re-bred 6 months from birth date of the previous litter. Depending on litter size, sometimes I wait 7 months.

[Chewy]

No, I knew it was no more than twice a year. I'm going to have a talk with the breeder I spoke to. I'm not going to give any names (or at least yet). Now I feel really bad about it because shes already done with the mating phase. I guess now all I can do is hope and pray nothing goes wronge. Sorry if I sound uneducated about breeding (I'm not) thats just what I was told.

[nikki]

its good to hear that you're concerned shows that you care about your girl. I think that some breeders feel its ok to breed more often because they are more concerned about the financial aspect then about the health aspect. I'm not saying its like that with the breeder you spoke with..just that it could be the reason you heard that.

[Hedgiepets]

I have known of females gaining 10 grams up to 200 grams and having babies.

[Chewy]

Ok thanks HedgiePets!!! And thank you Nikki! I really didn't want anyone to think I was an irresponcible owner/breeder. And being a new breeder and a young breeder at that, I'm really trying to gain credibility and I don't want this incident to change anything.

[AllQuills]

I read you can breed them no more than three times a year...which I took to mean every 4 months.