mixing litters of gerbils?????

[monk444]

I have three sets of baby gerbils. Can I mix the males from all litters and the females from all litters. Also , can I put the dad in with some of the boys. Please help we have too many gerbils

[thumpity]

How many gerbils do you have of each sex and how old? How long are you planning on keeping them, as pets, or until you find them homes? Both of those questions may determine tank sizes needed and how well the clans would work. Check introducing section of forum for more information, always watch introductions for problems, but generally, Dad and boy pups can be kept together, and while you find homes, the younger females can be kept together. Once again, read through the introduction section for a lot of great info and tips.
-Kaye

[monk444]

I will try to break it down so it is easier to understand. We got the pair around august 8th. We had babies around sept. 10th. We left the babies in the original tank until the next batch of babies were born. We left the 2nd batch of babies in the orginal tank until the third batch was born. The third batch of babies is still with mom and dad in the original tank. The first and second batch of babies are both in there own seperate tanks. We can't have any more babies. Here is a diagram.

[monk444]

p.s. we put a boy from the first litter, with a boy from the second litter and it looked like they were going to fight so we seperated them again. thanks.

[lizzy]

Your mum gerbil is probably pregnant again as the dad is still in with them so there is no point in seperating the dad just yet. Wait until the third litter is old enough to leave mum (5 weeks), and seperate any boys and the dad immediately (keep them together) as soon as they get to 5 weeks old. You need to do this before the next litter comes along otherwise you risk the mother gerbil becoming pregnant with a 5th litter. The girls can stay in with mum.

You also need to seperate both litter 1 & 2, the boys from the girls as otherwise you will have more litters.

I reccommend you try introducing the same sexed gerbils from different litters. Don't throw them in the same cage together, try introducing them on neutral territory such as a bathtub. Bear in mind this might not work.

www.gerbilbreeding.com should help you. There are many posts on this forum that will help you also. In the meantime I reccommend you try finding your surplus gerbils homes, assuming you do not want to keep all 17+ gerbils! Good luck.

[Vixen]

from the diagram, the 3 month old girls could already be pregnant, and soon 2 month old will get pregnant. Lets say the they have 6 pups each thats 30 pups. even if they only have 4 pups each thats 20 pups. Not to mention the inbreeding and possible birth defects.

you need seperate the pups now.

[paws]

Yes, please separate pups! You have two choices, give away some, or get 6 cages.

Mum cage: Mum + girls from litter 3. If mum has a new litter, the girls will help her look after them.

Dad cage: Dad + boy from litter 1. Dad will accept pup in a split cage, or probably even through meeting in a cleaned cage.

Girl Cage 1: Three girls from litter 1

Girl Cage 2: Two girls in litter 2

Boy cage 1: Three boys in litter 2

Boy cage 2: Unknown amount of boys in litter 3 If only one, I would suggest pairing him up with a boy from litter 2.

Possible Boy Cage 3: Boys from likely litter number 4

Hope it helps, good luck. Maybe you should join the forum! You have so many gerbils, I am sure some people would be willing to take any for adoption, and you can get good advice from the member's boards.

HAYLEY

[monk444]

Thanks for the help. I would like to put all of these gerbils for adoption, except for the mom and dad and a couple others to keep them company since they will be seperated. Let us know if you are interested. We are in Pocatello, Idaho. Thanks.

[meganb52]

You can make a post in the "member gerbil adoption and breeders" section... That way all the members of the site will know you have gerbils for adoption. They also have a message board on www.agsgerbils.org/classifieds/ for rehoming pups. Good luck!! Sounds like you've had quite the gerbil explosion

-Megan

[sandy]

Oo. That is not good. You should seperate sexes of all pups over 7 weeks old (6 weeks, to be conservative and safe) RIGHT NOW. Yes, probably some or possibly all of your girl gerbils over 8 weeks old are pregnant if they have been with brothers of equal age. If you are lucky the ones in cage 3 might not be (some boys are sexually mature later), you will have to wait 4 weeks and see.

Use caution in combining gerbils from different tanks as they are different clans and might try to kill each other. Buy and convert plastic bins into cheap cages for your gerbils rather than crowding your gerbils together and forcing clashes to occur. Learn about split caging: here is a simple, fast way to make a split cage:



Note: the water tubes are on the outside of the cages, the bin has a hole drilled in the side for the spout to poke through--it keeps the gerbils off of it and allows easy access to it for quick refills. Holes are also drilled in the cover of the bin and a row on the sides just below the top for extra ventilation. A very easy way to make a gerbil cage! The gerbils you are introducing to each other need a couple of weeks in such a set up to get used to each other before they live together. Switch them back and forth in each other's areas about twice daily or as often as you can.

I'd recommend you split cage the boy from cage 2 with the three in cage 3 or with a young 4 week old male pup next week from the litter in the original tank, if you have some to spare. The girls in cage two will make a clan in one bin, the girls in tank three will make a clan in another bin. Because they are so young they should be ok raising their pups together, though there is a danger that some pups will be eaten by dominant sisters (I guess you won't cry too much if that happens, given your overpopulation problem).

Now you know in future. It will take time to rehome so many! Fingers crossed for you that all your females of reproductive age have small litters! And in one week you can take the dad out of the original tank and put him with the boys from the pups he is currently fathering. The girls in the current litter at 4 weeks old can form a new clan on their own. If there is only one, she can stay with mom to help with the next litter.

Yes, there will be another litter coming from the mom, by the way. She is now pregnant. When the next litter is 4 weeks old seperate out the boys into another clan.

I count seven cages/bins in total when you are done.

You might consider approaching some local pet stores to begin to sell your gerbil pups right away. I'd suggest you sell off your boys as the girls are possibly pregnant. It wouldn't be fair to move your problem on to someone else by selling them pregnant gerbils! Wait until you know for sure the girls over 7 weeks old are not pregnant (4 weeks without a male present) before selling them. The girls from the current young pups will be saleable after 6 weeks old--make sure they have no contact with brothers or dad after 6 weeks old, then you can sell them too right away.

Whew--I do not envy you.

[RitzieAnn]

LOL... I don't envy you either! And I wish you SUPER good luck to rehome your pups! I had 2 pairs of boys, and a group of 5 sisters to rehome, and it took me probably 3 months. I took them to my Agricutlure teacher at the high school I had just graduated from, and left them in her calss room for a day with notes on their cages. That's how Blitz and Gizmo got a new home... and my 2 black boys, their home was found by fluke, a friend who helped me move.... and the 5 girls, I suckered my boyfriend into keeping them (his mom was miffed- he still lives at home) LOL

Schools are a good place to look. Also you could track down some 4-H groups, or an FFA Chapter (I know we have both in the US) A pair of gerbils is an awesome little project.