Finally got a litter, need help with bedding though.

[Jinxxy]

I have been trying to breed my black and nutmeg since april. today, Sammi had just given birth to her first litter of four!

The thing i'm concerned about is the bedding. I was on a three week trip to europe which meant i obviously couldnt tend to my three gerbils. my mom did. so today i decided to clean the tanks but i heard a lot of squeaking that sounded very different. when i poked around the nest, there was the litter. i quickly put the parents in a rodent ball and held the babies while i put in the split(its a 20 gall tank)  and removed a majority of the bedding and chew fodder. then i put them back together. so what i'm asking, should i still continue to clean the bedding? its three weeks old, so it needs to be changed. but i'm afraid if i do change it, they wont recognize the litter anymore/obvious worries about it. 

i know, gerbil babies are tough and can stand being away from their parents for a while etc. ive had the experience from when Jinxx was a baby(the father). but what if the new smells and slightly new sights scare them and they end up eating the babies? i would use the idea where i would still keep the old bedding and lay the babies in it while the parents get used to the new bedding. would that work?


also, i added in the split because its a big tank and i don't want the babies being separated too much until they've at least opened their eyes. the amount of bedding the tank had was about half way full, so you can hopefully see why i removed most of it. i prefer to have about 3-5 inches when theres a litter, so the babies can be easily found and the parents can still have bedding to burrow. its also just a personal preference with the split.

also, moving them to the smaller tank would be way too much. Sammi's brother is in there and I dont want them to catch his scent and eat the babies or anything. Would be kind of difficult and time consuming for me anyway.

[fysha]

Congrats on the babies. Can't wait to see pictures. Any idea on what colours you could get?

If you are concerned about the bedding and the babies, I would take out about half of what is left, leaving the nest and surrounding area, then add some new stuff in. Or if it can wait, wait about five to seven days before doing what I just posted. In some cases the parents don't care about new bedding and look after the pups fine, but in other cases the parents move the pups around a lot because nothing smells the same.

[betty]

It all depends on the mother, but I have accidentally cleaned a tank with newborns in it - I gradually took out all hte bedding like I normally do - checking for anything hidden and left the house until last, and when I lifted the house up - 3 babies! I then couldn't risk putting the same house back on the nest s it had all fallen apart, so I had to get a new bigger house, shove the nest and babies in it and fill the tank with all new bedding. They were fine (after a bit of sniffing and moving by the parents).

I do usually try and leave the bedding for as long as I can when there are pinkies in the nest, but I understand yours is already 3 weeks old and that you might want to change it. So do as fysha suggested - take out handfuls from the opposite end to the nest and replace with clean. Leave for another week and repeat. If you put in clean bedding and some fresh nesting tissue, they will come and get it if they want their nest clean. Most mums like to fuss.

Also, I have had litters born and raised in a 3ft tank with shelves, they don't really wander out of the nest box until about 2-3 weeks anyway and if they don't find their own way back (which they usually do) mum or dad come get them. No harm in a smaller space though, just need to put enough stuff in it to keep the parents occupied and some shelves/ledges/roof for them to rest where the pups can't go - who would want to be stuck in a room for 3 weeks with 4 kids with no 'own space'...

[betty]

How did it all go this past week? Everyone still ok?