when im around and know im getting litters ready to pop out i do seperate them only due to the fact that most moms tend to be a little to loving and want to steal the other litter from the other mom and possible fighting might ensue, but i have forgotten at times and find that 2 moms are nursing the litters together without a problem...eventually one mome gets all the males and the other all females when its time to seperate them. As for watering well i use a watering system which i fill each week and i can actually leave for a week without a problem