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Post by t1gg3er on Jun 3, 2015 10:15:43 GMT -8
Gizzy has had her second litter today  We're currently 130 miles away on the Welsh Coast (scouring the beaches & gathering tons of driftwood for the gerbils). Our 19yr old son is in charge at home & has said he turned the tank around briefly this afternoon & could see 3 pinkies in the nest at the back. We don't know if there were any more hidden behind them. Mum has her 2 daughters from the 1st litter with her to help with the new arrivals (we finally figured out the 1st litter was 2 boys who are now in with dad & 2 girls). We've told our son not to disturb them other than to put food & water in and to give her extra sunflower hearts. We've also told him to make sure the water bottle is always full. Is there anything else he should do or watch for in the next couple of days before we get home? The 1st litter were around 2 weeks old before we saw them as mum & dad were sold to us as 2 boys so we weren't looking out for any signs & she'd had the babies well tucked away in the burrow. We only saw them when they started venturing out so we completely missed the early days. |
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Post by crittercrazy on Jun 3, 2015 12:35:13 GMT -8
For the first week, I would pretty much leave it all to mom. Just food and water, maybe half a cardboard tube every once and awhile. You can start holding the pups at 5-7 days though. Will look forward to pictures!! |
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Post by t1gg3er on Jun 3, 2015 13:15:38 GMT -8
Thanks for the advice. It's amazing how these tiny creatures take over your life. We've spent ages gathering good pieces of driftwood from the beaches. Our 10 year old & his friend think we've gone bonkers And I'm so proud of little Gizzy. Just over 3 weeks ago I was worried sick about her due to the injury she had to her leg. Yet she carried on raising her babies while it healed & now it seems she's going to be just as great a mum to her new pups <3 |
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Post by Shooting Star on Jun 3, 2015 16:28:27 GMT -8
Congrats!
Careful with the driftwood-- I don't know of any way to fully sanitize wood that's been submerged for long periods.
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Post by t1gg3er on Jun 3, 2015 23:58:30 GMT -8
Ah, ok - thank you. I'll start another thread about safe wood in the relevant section |
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Post by Pollyblue on Jun 4, 2015 4:45:03 GMT -8
That is exciting T1gg3er! I don't know about our second litter yet, Stella (I think we have finally settled on a name) has been out once this AM, but it was too dark to see if she still had her belly. Yesterday evening, she was the most active I have seen her in days. I hope she has them soon, so we can start figuring out the logistics of how many there are and genders for re-homing and such. Stella is all alone, so hopefully she will manage well with her second litter. Our first seven pups are 5 weeks now, they are happy little things tunneling and scurrying around together all the time :)
These gerbils have sure won over our hearts :) Our dog, who we have had for 6 years is so jealous of all the attention the gerbils get! It is hilarious...
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Post by t1gg3er on Jun 4, 2015 13:35:17 GMT -8
Does mum usually move the pups around much? Our son had a sneaky peek at the back of the tank & could only see 2 tonight, both curled up in the nest in the same place he thought he saw 3 yesterday...
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Post by betty on Jun 5, 2015 0:46:30 GMT -8
Some mums are great movers, others don't ever move them. Sometimes the dad or other tank-mate can 'borrow' them in a different nest before the mum finds them and brings them back to hers.
As they age, (and in the larger litters) I often see them in 2 nest and the mum flits between the two.
I suppose other than going hunting for it - you won't know where the third one went? Mind you three times now I have seen 3 in a nest for AGES, but when they all started running around - there were actually 5 in there... (this was due to them being the same colours...)
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Post by t1gg3er on Jun 5, 2015 8:26:23 GMT -8
Thanks Betty. We've come home a day early as the weather wasn't great today and to be honest I think we were glad of an excuse to come home & see the gang (gerbils, canary & dogs).
I've had a little peek & can definitely see 3, possibly 4. The 2 older girls (Fizzy & Dizzy) have a separate nest in another corner but Gizzy is happy to let them in with her & the new pups for a cuddle too & they seem to take turns sitting with the newbies when mum leaves the nest. It's amazing that at less than 6 weeks old they instinctively know what to do.
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