Serval litters are usually born during the wet season on grassy ground.
The serval, a native African cat, has a slender body with long legs and a long neck. When fully grown, a serval can reach a height of two feet and a weight of over 20 lbs. Servals have distinctive tan coats with black spots and stripes. Servals are solitary hunters that mostly prey on small animals such as rodents, birds, frogs and lizards.
Birth
Servals, solitary animals, only pair up for a few days when they mate. After gestating for 68 to 72 days, a litter is born, usually in the warm, wet season when there is abundant high grass and thick scrub to provide cover. A litter consists of one to four kittens that the mother moves frequently from one hiding place to another.
Newborns
A newborn serval kitten is blind and tiny, weighing only 1/2 lb. or one-fortieth of its adult size. The eyes open at about nine days after birth. The coat, soft and woolly, appears rather gray compared to that of an adult serval. The black markings can already be recognized, although they are still indistinct.
Weaning
Serval kittens feed on a diet of the mother's milk and start eating meat provided by their mother at about one month old. Older kittens often try to join their mother on hunting trips and the mother might spend more than one hour persuading her vulnerable kittens to stay behind. A serval gets its permanent teeth at six months of age and can hunt on its own shortly after. Young servals have been known to follow their mother until they grow rather large, up to 7.5 lbs.
Leaving the Nest
When a serval reaches one year of age, the mother begins to chase it away to be on its own. Male servals usually leave the nest earlier, while female servals might be allowed to stay longer.
In Captivity
A captive female serval can give birth twice a year, with an interval of at least 184 days between two births. The birth of litters in captivity also tend to be more random in timing. Serval kittens bred to be pets might be fed on their mother's milk for only three to five days and then be given formula milk from bottles. Breeders may wean serval kittens at about five weeks and send them to their new owners at about eight weeks. In captivity, female servals reach sexual maturity at 15 to 16 months of age, while male servals become sexually mature when they are 17 to 26 months of age.
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