"Featuring Mama -- yours truly -- and Dad Bane.""'Cause if she don't know her own biology, how can ya expect 'er t' know mine-- back up. What'd ya call me?""Nothing, dear."
Mothers are ovoviviparous, meaning they incubate the eggs internally and birth live young.
"Not Cad. He crawled out of a hole in the ground fully-formed."
"Wasn't a hole, it was a trash compactor."
"My mistake."
Back when they lived in caves, mothers would leave immediately after birth to hunt, leaving the babies in the care of the father. Fussy babies attract predators, so males developed a response to soothe their infants in the form of purring--
"It ain't purrin'! It's rumblin'! We ain't cats!"
--rumbling deep in the chest. It's a hardwired instinct and fathers often don't realize it's happening until it's pointed out.
"I still can't get him to admit he does it."
Newborns feed on an egg yolk reserve and don't need to eat for about a week after birth, which is when their teeth start coming in. Tiny widdle needle teefs that are incredibly sharp -- scratch fever is a fairly common occurrence among new parents, and disinfectant is an essential part of the nursery.
"Dem teeth ain't a joke. Had t' get a stitch on my trigger finger, de li'l jerk."
When they do start eating, it's on semisolid meats. They're purely carnivorous at this stage and later graduate to include plants. Unfortunately, that means that baby food bears an unfortunate resemblance to wet cat food.
"Smells like it, too."
"Don't smell dat bad. Yer jus' delicate."
"You don't have a nose. Stay out of this."
Unlike mammals, babies don't have a sucking instinct. Instead, they chew, and a Duros pacifier is just a teether. Tooth cutting is painful for them, but it lasts a very short amount of time.
"The treatment is the same on Duros and Zeltros, believe it or not."
"Li'l dab o' whiskey swiped on de gums."
Relatedly, instead of thumb sucking, they chew the web between their thumb and forefinger.
"The way to get 'em to stop dat is de same too."
"Pepper oil!"
They make a lot of noises, including trilling for attention, chittering when they see something that arouses their predation instinct, and a purr-like sound they'll make in response to their parents.
"I just about melted the first time she mrrrr-ed when I was holding her."
"Ya did melt. Crumpled right t' de floor an' I had t' pry 'er outta yer hands."
"And you went on to stare at her for a good hour."
Like ducklings, they tend to follow around anything vaguely Mom-shaped. Carrying infants until they know not to run off is common.
"De li'l lady almost followed another Duros home once. And another Zeltron. And a Twi'lek. And an astromech... Startin' t' think she might need glasses..."
Co-sleeping is recommended to keep them warm, but if that's not possible, special heating pads are available for cradles that give off heat and imitate purring--
"RUMBLIN'!"
--rumbling. Cute li'l beanies to keep their noggins warm are recommended as well.
"Are you guys done yet? I'm gettin' tired."
"Just finished up, pumpkin. Go get ready for bed and we'll come tuck you in."
"...Can I have a story first?"
"Go hop in bed, li'l lady. Daddy'll tell ya 'bout de time he fought an Acklay."
"A what?!"
"Acklay. Big ugly thing wit' nine legs 'n' big ol' claws. Nasty teeth, too.""...hang on, Acklay only have four legs--"
"Nine. Legs. An' a stinger. An' fire breath."
"Did you die?!"
"Better go brush yer teeth or else you'll never find out."
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