UK's first giant panda birth could happen by middle of next month Over the past month the female panda has been showing nesting behaviour and has shown changes in mood. What should the baby panda be called? She is also now spending more time in a specially constructed cubbing pen in a private area of her enclosure, where keepers hope she will give birth. Extra sound insulation has also been installed to help prevent her from being disturbed by noise lights the area is kept in darkness. Iain Valentine, director of giant pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said: "Tian Tian is showing all the signs that she is pregnant. Her hormones are continuing to change in the way we would expect. However we won't know for certain until her waters break. Tian Tian's current routine is to spend a lot of her day sleeping in the cubbing box in her off show indoor enclosure, though she does tend to come outside for a stroll and stretch on her climbing frame in the afternoons. We are keeping the lights switched off for most of the day inside to help mimic the atmosphere of a den that she would seek in the wild. Tian Tian was artificially inseminated with semen from Yang Guang and another panda called Boa Boa, who died last year at Berlin Zoo, earlier this year. Attempts to get her and Yang Guang to mate naturally were unsuccessful so keepers decided to intervene to take advantage of the short period she was in season. Female pandas only come into season for 36 hours each year. Experts have since been monitoring her urine and blood samples for changes in levels of hormones and a protein called ceruloplamin. Earlier this month keepers said thought she was probably pregnant, but there was still a chance she could have phantom pregnancy. The pattern of hormone and ceruloplamin changes suggest it is likely to be a real pregnancy. However, keepers have been unable to perform an ultrasound scan on Tian Tian to look for signs of a foetus. Although they had been training her to allow keepers to get access to her abdomin area to perform a scan, changes in her mood means she is unwilling. Keepers must now keep 24 hour watch on the bear to look for signs of her going into labour. CCTV is being used to allow them to monitor her around the clock. They will also continue testing for ceruloplamin in the hope of developing better tests for panda pregnancy with the results. Due to way the artificial insemination was carried out, it will not be possible to immediately know who the father is of any cub or cubs. If Tian Tian has twins, they could both have different fathers. It means that the cubs will need to undergo paternity testing. If she has a single cub, provided Tian Tian accepts it, keepers will leave her to rear the youngster. However, if she rejects the cub or has twins then keepers will intervene to rear one of them by hand. Panda cubs are almost completely hairless and blind for the first few weeks of life. Two new incubators have been set up to help keep the cubs alive after they are born. A specially prepared nursery has been set up by the zoo in preparation for the cubs arrival. Keepers will sleep in a specially prepared room next door to the cub's nursery. Chinese panda keeper Haiping Hu, from the China Conservation and Research Centre (CCRCGP), arrived in Edinburgh on Saturday. Miss Hu has extensive experience in assisting with panda births, especially if twins are born and one cub needs to be removed. In the wild, the mother panda would also urinate in nest to raise the humidity.Keepers will attempt to replicate this if they hand rear any cubs, but will use water rather than urine. Scientists are also hoping to study how Tian Tian feeds her cubs. She will not eat for the first week or so after giving birth but then will start eating young sugar rich bamboo shoots. Edinburgh zoo has a supply of a number of different varieties to allow them to test which kind she prefers. Scientists also believe that female pandas produce different quality milk from different teats. At first they tend to use their upper teats to feed their cub before switching to lower teats later in the cubs development, suggesting the milk provides other nutrients from there. Mr Valentine added: "If indeed she is pregnant, this is an extremely risky time for panda pregnancies. Female giant pandas can actually reabsorb any foetuses or reject them if pregnant. If she is pregnant and carries to full term, we believe a cub or cubs could be born anytime over the next two weeks - although there are no certainties we must err on the side of caution and be on red alert from today.