Reproduction
During the summer mating season, both sexes drum on the sides of their tunnels with their hind feet, using a different signal than when warning off potential intruders at other times of the year. The drumming is loud enough to be heard above ground at a distance of up to 10 metres (33 ft) away. Once the male finds a partner, courtship and mating are brief, and interspersed with bouts of grooming.
Gestation lasts 44 to 48 days, and a litter of three to ten young are born between August and December. The young are born hairless and blind, weighing only 5 to 12 grams (0.18 to 0.42 oz), and 3 to 4 centimetres (1.2 to 1.6 in) in length. The fur begins to grow on day seven, and the eyes open on day nine. The young grow rapidly, and begin to take solid food around day seventeen, being fully weaned at four weeks of age. By five weeks, siblings begin to show aggression towards one another, and they leave to establish their own burrows at around seven weeks.
Cape mole rats reach sexual maturity at eighteen months of age, and live up to five years.
Read more about this topic: Cape Mole Rat
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