Reproduction

Females become sexually mature at 7 to 10 months of age. In the wild, they have two birth seasons each year: at the beginning of the rains (November) and the end (February).  In captivity births can occur in any month (two births a year).

The gestation is appr 124 days.

Most of the births take place during the day. The first 10 days the babies remain in the nest. The mother often carries the babies in her mouth. The eyes of the infants are open at birth and they are covered with grey fur.  At birth they are unable to move about independently but at the age of 2 weeks they can jump and run fast.  After 3 weeks they can already begin climbing branches!

They usually give birth to twins. Sometimes 1 or 3 monkeys are born. When more than 2 monkeys are born it may be necessary to remove some infants for hand-rearing.

The weight of the infant is appr 8.6-15.5g. After 30 days the weight of the young is appr 45g.

After 17-20 days the babies start to take some solid food. After a period of 70 to 80 days the infants are largely weaned.

Lesser bushbabies can live up to 16 years in captivity.

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