boggy's babies 1999

Chipmunks have a gestation period of 29 - 35 days, and 16th May 1999 was the 35th day of Boggy's pregnancy. She spent the whole afternoon in her nestbox, and I hoped that she was having her litter there. Unfortunately, though, Boggy came out of her nestbox in the late afternoon - she was scampering all about the cage whilst in the process of giving birth....a tiny head could be seen emerging from her birth canal. This was extremely unusual behaviour - shocked by it, I telephoned the Vet.

Following his advice, we left Boggy alone for twenty minutes, returning to check her. The baby appeared to be stuck half in and half out of Boggy, as it had not moved since the last time we checked her. So we took her straight to the Vet. He skilfully removed the stuck baby, which was dead. He then gave Boggy an injection of oxytocin to induce labour, and hopefully she would pass the babies within the next few hours. If she did not, she would need a caesarian section to remove the other babies in her womb, and she may also have to be spayed. The only other option would be to give poor Boggy euthanasia.

We left Boggy to it for the night, hoping that the drug would work. However, on the next morning Boggy had another stuck baby. I checked her nestboxes to see if she had produced any more babies during the night, but there were none. She was distressed, and was very difficult to catch as she showed no interest in her favourite food. I took her to the Vet immediately - and Boggy was then taken into the Veterinary Hospital for her caesarian. I was warned that Boggy may not survive the operation or anaesthetic, and prepared myself for the worst.....

Five hours later I was relieved to hear that Boggy had survived, and that I could go and collect her immediately. She had had four dead babies inside her as well as the stuck one, making a total of six (including the previous day's stuck baby) - a large litter by chipmunk standards! She had also been spayed. I was given more drugs to give to Boggy to aid her recovery from the ordeal and operation.

As soon as she was back home and in familiar surroundings, Boggy was back to her old self. She was a great deal smaller now that the dead babies had been removed, her stomach was shaved and she had a neat little sewn-up incision about half an inch long on her belly.

Below and left: Boggy after her caesarian operation. The shaved patch on her stomach can clearly be seen. These pictures were taken on 23rd May, six days after Boggy's operation.

By the beginning of July 1999 all the fur had grown back on Boggy's belly, and she looked completely normal again, none the worse for her ordeal.