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On the 14th and 16th of August 2002 I was lucky enough to witness two of my females giving birth, it was truly amazing, the first twins and the second triplets.

Below is what happens when a female is in labour and the birth process, some tips on difficult births and pictures of what I saw.

A few days before a female is due to give birth, she will become very quite and a little withdrawn. Usually she will litter in the early hours in-between 4-10am, however virgin births can go through to the afternoon.

When the actual labour starts she will appear very quiet and often sit in a corner of the cage for some rest, she does this to gain some strength as the contraction will become stronger and her pain and discomfort is eased in this state.
You may hear sounds, like panting or chinny groaning, this is quite normal.
You may also see her rear up onto her hind legs and start cleaning below (see pic below), her Vagina will be open and often she will be cleaning up the birth fluid and blood, the news paper may appear wet where her waters have broken and her vagina area will be wet.

After a short while, the female will begin to push, she will either rear on her hind legs or have a arched stance, at this point she make more noise as it will be quite painful. The head will be visible after 2-3 pushes, the female will then clean away the birth sac enabling the baby to breathe by clearing it's airways. She will then tease it out with more pushing and by using her teeth.
Often breech birth babies are born with missing feet because of this.

Below is a picture taken seconds after it came out!

After the baby is born she will begin cleaning it and pushing it underneath her for warmth, once the baby has been cleaned, she will begin pulling away the remaining birth sac with her teeth, eating it at the same time as cleaning herself. It is as this point she will begin pushing again, either to deliver the afterbirth or another kit.

Below is a pic of a kit 3 seconds old!

This is the stance mine took when pushing for her second

After she has delivered the afterbirth she will tend to herself and her kits. It is very important she eats her afterbirth, as it is full of minerals to help build her strength up.

When a female is in labour, if she looks to be having no difficulties; she should be left alone quietly for a few hours. After she has eaten her after birth and cleaned herself and her babies, she should be gently inspected, checking her nipples and genitals for a tears, sores and discomfort. If all appears well you should give mother and kit(s) a little time to settle.

Below was after the triplets were born, mum has pushed them all underneath her to keep the warm and dry

Below shows a picture of the family, just one hour after the birth the kits are now dry and exploring the world! Remember for the first few weeks the kit(s) will spend alot of time under mum keeping warm and suckling, this is quite normal.

Difficult Births
If the female is experiencing difficulties during birth there are unfortunately few things you can do to help. If you feel a caesarean is needed then she should be taken immediately to a vet.

If a breach birth occurs (tail and back feet out first) and the female is having difficulty pushing, you can help her by using a small pipette full off warm water for lubrication and very gently pulling the babies base of the tail towards the mothers nose in an upwards movement, ONLY do this when the mother pushes.

Don't worry if she looks all wet and tired she will be (see pic below) but after an hour or so she will perk up and begin to gain her strength back.

Hope some of this may be useful to you and hope you don't mind me sharing my experience with you? Please see Breeding and Hand Rearing for more information on this topic.

Below is a Picture of some babies a day old!