Daddy and pups dead, leaving behind mommy. Help!

[MandyMarie]

Hello friends! I am waiting for a full account to be approved, but I need immediate assistance. Last night, our beagle somehow managed to get into our (LATCHED!) aquarium, and killed not only our male gerbil, but his five seven day old pups. Mommy (Daisy) managed to escape and hide until my dad and brothers got home and discovered the situation. So now we have one female gerbil, and knowing that they mate promptly after giving birth to a litter... its very possible she's pregnant again.

So now we're at a loss on what to do. Myself, my family, and our family friend all bought from the same store/litters. Family friend has the male's brother. I have the mother's two sisters. Daisy and her family reside(d) at my mom's house. We are more than willing to shift around ownership of a gerbil if it means making Daisy comfortable and helping her out with her next litter. But we know that trying to reintroduce could be difficult... so here are our questions.

• Will a new male be a threat to a different male's pups? Or will he adopt/take on responsibility?
  
• Would it be better for Daisy to have a female help her out?
  
• Should one of us give up one of our littermate gerbils to pair with Daisy? Or could a unrelated gerbil be brought in for her?

We are absolutely devastated by this. We know the dog (being a beagle) was only doing what instinct told her to do. But now we have to take action to figure out what to do for Daisy to ease her stress and situation. If anyone has ideas, suggestions, website links, ANYTHING, we will greatly appreciate the input. Thank you for your time!

[betty]

What a terrible situation you have found yourself in there.

I am not sure what would be the best answer to your problem, but I know for sure not to add another female - it is quite commonly discussed on here as a very bad idea where pups are involved.

I personally (if she was mine) I would leave her alone in a very quiet environment to raise the next litter alone - as she has already had one litter she might well cope just fine with this second one without any problems - as long as she isn't under any added stress. This would also eliminate any of the worries you have about mixing in another male.

If she doesn't have a litter in the next 2 months (they don't always have a second litter straight away) then you could consider matching her up with either another male for further litters or another female for companionship. Gerbils do not need to be related to pair up for companionship and ideally shouldn't be related for breeding. You won't be able to match her up with your other 2 females if they are currently in a bonded pair so that rules your other 2 girls out.

Wait for someone else to comment on another male if you don't want her alone for the second litter. I have never done that so I wouldn't want to comment.

There is plenty of advice on here about everything (use the search box or look through the relevant topics), but covering her tank with a towel and leaving it in a really unused part of your house will allow her to chill out after all this and hopefully settle down and focus on her second litter.

Good luck anyway...

[MoonstoneGerbils]

Females are fully capable of raising litters solo. If she is indeed pregnant.

I would not introduce her to any other gerbils until you are certain she is not pregnant (7 weeks after the birth of the first litter). At which time you could introduce her to another single adult or a pup(s). The very last thing you want to do right now is to introduce her to a female, two females do not raise litters well together, often it ends with death, the only exception to this is when the pregnant female is the mother all the gerbils in the cage (except her mate).

I would also keep your cage off the floor and well out of reach of any freeroaming pets in your home.