Confession Time - How likely is it Ökami is pregnant?

[NedIsNotOnFire]

Me and mum were cleaning out everyones cages when she had the idea to use the sand bath cage (the old split cage) and put all the gerbies in there so they could mess around in the sand for a bit. I did't see any problems with the idea as neither Giggle, Nezumi or Ökami had gotten over the top or managed to climb over the side. I was a little nervous, but i was certain that no one could escape as i had built the cage with my dad. 
So we put everyone in there and they kiss through the bars, there's lots of feet thumping and everyones rather exited. I take the cages downstairs and outside to empty the bedding into black bags. I push the gerbils to the back of my mind and focus on cleaning out the cages (hosing down, scrubbing, hoovering up the mess) I return about 20 mins later to see that Ökami had squeezed through the gap in the top of the split and was 'messing around' with the boys... I grabbed her immediately (ouch) and put her in her nice clean cage. I did see both boys mount her and her 'wave her butt around' so now i'm worried she's pregnant... I'm so glad nothing horrific happened (i.e. no fights or bites or even deaths) and that Nezumi went straight to grooming Okami. This led me to believe that she hadn't gotten pregnant as i thought Nezumi would be able to tell and wouldn't have invited her back so calmly. 
All this madness happened on the 1st of June, so it's 20 days later, and over the last week i've noticed Ökami looking a little big... How likely is it she's pregnant? Ökami is 4 and a bit months old and this happened around 8-9pm so in the late evening.
I feel so bad about it, like i ruined her little life. She is much calmer to hold, but what effect will this have on such a young gerbil body? 
And should i move Nezumi out? I think Nezumi is dominant so i would guess yes? 
I am never doing that again, back to cleaning everyone out at different times x 
I didn't post sooner as i hoped she was just getting fat and that the boys were just being dominant, but i think its in her better interest that i ask x

Any help would be really appreciated, i'll get some pics up as soon as possible! x Thanks in advance xx
Crystal You're knowledgable in this area x Any ideas?

[NedIsNotOnFire]

This is her 2 days ago: 


This is the split cage:



This is her today:



Sorry for the huge pics, sizing is a little beyond my computer capability xD x

[Crystal]

She was supposedly mated 20 days ago?
If she were pregnant, she would definitely be showing. Then again, if it's an incredibly small litter (2-3) then maybe I would suspect. But I've had females give birth to three pups and she still showed pretty big enough for me to determine she was really pregnant.

She looks normal sized to me xD Around 15-18 days of pregnancy, the female gets a pear shaped body.
I say keep a close eye on her, and be prepared for anything. If she does have pups, you need to separate her from her room mate immediately. No matter who is dominant, it's best that there isn't two females housed in the same habitat when pups arrive.

Good luck! Hope for the best

[NedIsNotOnFire]

Thank you x I'll keep you updated x I'll see if i can get some scales, even if it's a little late xD Whats a normal gerbil weight? x

[NedIsNotOnFire]

Will Okami be okay raising these pups alone? Is there anything i can do to help her? Like take her out for 10 mins and give her a break, or let her and the pups out for a while. Also, is it true that if you touch the babies Okami will eat them? I don't believe this myself, but everyone on Yahoo! seems adamant about it, to the point where they go on a 'capital letter rant'. It doesn't make sense as i read that ashtree93 handled them from the first day. Everyone is so contradictory xD Thanks again x

[ashtree93]

Lexi was a lone mother due to a similar situation. I kept her with her sisters until day 23. She put in about 25g total for the pregnancy. In the last couple of days, it was 2 a day gain.

I separated her as females can steal and kill pups. One of lexi's sisters escaped and got in to her sisters cage and killed a pup. So personally, I would divide them.

I could handle mine from day 1. Lexi liked the few minutes of peace and quiet. I washed my hands and picked them up then rubbed them with best material, just to be safe

[rennmaus]

Jun 20, 2014 8:55:58 GMT -8 NedIsNotOnFire said:

I'll see if i can get some scales, even if it's a little late xD Whats a normal gerbil weight? x

There's a thread on healthy gerbil weights here: gerbilforum.proboards.com/thread/11566/weigh-gerbil 

The thread above talks mainly about adult weights...You write that Ökami is about 4 months old? When Tillda and Graham were that age they weight 84g and 74g (they are both male though). 

Keep us posted x

[NedIsNotOnFire]

Thanks guys! x I'm off to Sainsbury's to get a scale and I'm also going to get something protein-full for Okami and i was wondering if anyone knows what i can get? The pet store does have snakes and lizards along with their food, so i though maybe i could get some live mealworms or crickets x Do you know which type of either is best? I would have thought black crickets and small mealworms, but i'd like a professional opinion x (i know this belongs in food area but i thought i'd try to keep all the 'Okamis pregnant?!' related questions in one thread incase anyone else has this problem x )

[NedIsNotOnFire]

I put some peanut butter on the end of my finger and got Ökami to stretch so you could see her stomach clearly x I'm not sure what to think because she looks so different compared to yesterday :/ x Any thoughts? x

[NedIsNotOnFire]

And if Ökami is pregnant, when should i separate her and Nezumi to make sure there is no chance Nezumi would be there for the birth? Like, is there a way to tell she is going to give birth the day before? x 

[crittercrazy]

In those last pictures she does look a little overweight. . . as already said though she would be pear-shaped if she's pregnant, and I can't tell if she is in that picture.
I don't know much about this sort of thing. . . I would assume it would be best to separate Nezumi and Okami now or pretty soon since if she is pregnant then she'll be having pups within a few days or a week. Like I said though, don't know for sure.
In case you're still wondering, I think mealworms and crickets are both fine. I've only ever given crickets and my girls loved them. Just get the small ones, since the big ones can be pretty big! But the peanut butter has protein too so that's good as well.
Good luck!

[ashtree93]

I separated mine on day 23. If you aren't sure about her being pregnant, put her in a split with her cage mate. That way you won't have to reintroduce them if there are no pups.

She does look pregnant to me and it may be because it's a small litter that she isn't pear shaped.

Good luck and keep us posted

[NedIsNotOnFire]

I've just weighed her, and it seems i don't have anything to worry about! x 

Levi weighs 61g
Nezumi is 67g
Kanato is 68g
Ökami is only *69g
I wonder why she looks so large then? Any ideas? x 
She eats the same as Nezumi, if a little less, and she isn't that big a gerbil... x I wonder whats caused the sudden weight gain :/ x
I'll put her and Nezumi in a split for a week or so to see if she does give birth, but i really don't think she is pregnant anymore x I'd researched loads into it as well xD Even got a spare cage xD

[NedIsNotOnFire]

She keeps stretching and grooming her 'gerbil bits'? God, this is all so confusing xD Is it possible i got the dates wrong? I know it was on the weekend before i had a math test/exam... But i had two over 2 weeks xD Well either way she barley weighs anymore than the other gerbils and she isn't looking pear-shaped x Maybe i just got off really lucky xD x

[rennmaus]

Jun 21, 2014 10:29:43 GMT -8 NedIsNotOnFire said:

I've just weighed her, and it seems i don't have anything to worry about! x 

Levi weighs 61g
Nezumi is 67g
Kanato is 68g
Ökami is only *69g
I wonder why she looks so large then? Any ideas? x 

So all four gerbs are in the same weight range, with Levi being a wee bit slimmer than the others... If Ökami is not pregnant but has started looking larger than the other three from one day to the next, maybe she is a little bloated?
On some days, Tillda looks larger than on others. When we first got him, we thought he was female (long story) and actually suspected he was pregnant because of this... however, it turned out that some fruit/veg can simply cause a wee bit of bloating for him.

That's just a thought though, Ökami appearing larger could have other reasons too. Maybe someone else has another idea?

How is Ökami doing today?