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[Katsuun]

Yeah, I think that animals can't breed in cages. I remember reading that in a previous post, but I can't recall.

[Albedo]

That's what's been written in the wiki and elsewhere.  But some players are stating they've flat seen otherwise.

Could be a bug, could be a version change, could just be very difficult (lower % chance), could be honest confusion, could be an elaborate conspiracy, could be... almost anything.

[schm0]

The only thing I can think of even being remotely possible is that all of my animals somehow get pregnant in the short time it takes before being caged, or going from being tamed to being caged. Seems like a very small window of opportunity to get knocked up...

[IceShade]

The only thing I can think of even being remotely possible is that all of my animals somehow get pregnant in the short time it takes before being caged, or going from being tamed to being caged. Seems like a very small window of opportunity to get knocked up...

Well, it is possible, considering they can get pregnant from anywhere, anyone (which is quite funny). I've had kittens adopt someone in the time they went from the cage to the butcher (which is about 5 tiles), so I wouldn't rule a pregnancy like that out.

[Albedo]

I would say that the jury is out, since I've experience precisely the opposite on every fort I've ever built.

Now, wait a minute.  There's a huge diff between saying that animals don't breed in cages, and they don't give birth in cages. 

We all agree the latter is possible, and common. 

Does anyone claim that they've seen animals that were born in cages (or caged as adolescents) then grow to maturity and get pregnant without ever being out of the cage?  Because that's the issue.

On a side note, is there a way to mod DF so I can zoom through several seasons quickly? Maybe the frame speed for the dwarves?

There's a framerate limiter in init.txt - explanation is in the wiki under that file name.  Won't speed you up if your computer's already at max capacity, but you could embark on a 1x1 tile with a variety of bought animals, food, maybe 5 wood, drink and one pick, and set up a testing station. (Dwarves will tend to go insane if they stand out in the rain for a year or so, so some minimal effort must be made.)  Dive into some soil and plant a garden of brewables/edibles, wall yourself in from danger.  Deconstruct the wagon for 3 wood.  A table and 4 beds are all you really need - that's about it...

Gestation periods are, afaik, not in the raw's, but deeper in the code somewhere.  As are # of offspring.

[schm0]

Does anyone claim that they've seen animals that were born in cages (or caged as adolescents) then grow to maturity and get pregnant without ever being out of the cage?  Because that's the issue.

I don't have screenshots yet, but yes. All the time. Of course, when they are born, they have to be caged immediately, or else they begin to wander around your fort aimlessly looking to distract a miner with their cuteness. So technically, not a single beast ever spends it entire life inside a cage, however an animal can't reproduce until it's an adult, unless I'm missing something. I specifically recall in one of the very first 3D releases capturing deer and mountain goats, caging them, and having several offspring in just a few seasons, with each litter having a random chance to reproduce more.

Again, I'm not saying that hasn't changed since then, all I know is that every tame beast I've caged has been able to reproduce. Either way, I suppose I will stand corrected until I can provide more evidence to the contrary.

[Albedo]

So technically, not a single beast ever spends it entire life inside a cage

- That's simply not true.  Any beast born in a cage and kept there will, obviously, spend it's entire life in a cage. End of discussion.

And while everyone might ~assume~ that no adolescent animal ever gets preggers, it's quite possible that the game code attaches some "done the nasty" tag to an animal at any age, even if it can't ~bear~ the whelps until maturity. 

We really don't know.

The test is if an animal born in a cage and kept there ~ever~ has young'uns - or, if a female put permanently into a cage and then whelps ever does so a second time (giving birth being a fairly convincing argument that the animal is no longer pregnant.)

[schm0]

- That's simply not true.  Any beast born in a cage and kept there will, obviously, spend it's entire life in a cage. End of discussion.

This is what I meant by "technically":

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The dog was born by parents in the cage, but as you can see from the picture above, the puppy is not caged. I had to manually place the puppy in the cage again, which means "technically" they don't spend their entire lives in a cage.

Either way, it's a moot point, as I've given up arguing the issue until I can prove it across multiple generations.