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Post by teamcocoandbuttercup on Oct 7, 2015 9:42:53 GMT -8
My gerbils had 2 pups yesterday, and they were fine (squeaking and all), but I just went to check on them, and one is completely still. I picked it up to see if I could get a reaction out of it, and nothing - it's dead. I'm not sure what to do. Do I leave it in the tank for the mother to eat it? I've read that would give her extra nutrients for the other baby... Also, I remember reading somewhere that just one pup can't stimulate enough milk production. There are no breeders in my area, so no other nursing gerbils that can foster it. The baby seems completely healthy as far as I can tell. This is my first litter ever, and I'm just unsure what to do. Any information from people with more experience would be greatly appreciated! Just some extra information: They are in a 20 gallon long tank with nothing in it except for bedding, water bottle and a food bowl (which is on the opposite side of the nest). Mom is probably a little over a year old, and Dad is a little under one. He's also in the tank with them. I saw them mating again last night too.
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Post by teamcocoandbuttercup on Oct 7, 2015 11:26:45 GMT -8
Update: I've removed the dead one. What can I do about the surviving one? It appears to have milk in its belly, and mom and dad are taking good care of it. Is there any hope for survival?
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Post by t1gg3er on Oct 7, 2015 12:49:13 GMT -8
Sorry you've had to experience this. I can't help unfortunately tho I've read of a couple of cases where a single pup has survived. I hope yours is one of the lucky ones x
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Post by teamcocoandbuttercup on Oct 7, 2015 18:39:02 GMT -8
Anyone? The baby is still hanging in there, but I don't see the white spot with milk on the belly anymore. That was several hours ago. I do have some kitten formula that I had frozen a few months ago and thawed a little bit of it, but I'm afraid of ending up doing more harm than good for the baby (I read that the risk of drowning the baby is high when hand feeding). I feel that at this time my best bet would be to just leave it to the parents and hope for the best. I just want to make sure that's the best decision for the baby. I'll be pretty devastated if this one dies too.
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Post by t1gg3er on Oct 7, 2015 23:22:05 GMT -8
I think it would be difficult if not almost impossible to hand rear a pup from 2 days old so you're probably doing the best thing. Have you looked on the Internet to see if there's anything that could be done to stimulate mums milk to keep coming? Good luck.
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Post by teamcocoandbuttercup on Oct 8, 2015 10:04:59 GMT -8
I'll check on that now. The baby is still alive today (I was dreading so much peaking in there), so I'm more hopeful now.
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Post by johanne on Oct 9, 2015 1:35:58 GMT -8
Singles do often survive. More often if this isn't mom's first litter but can anyway. Best thing is to let nature take its course. There isn't much you can do that doesn't have the risk of making things worse.
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Post by teamcocoandbuttercup on Oct 10, 2015 17:06:26 GMT -8
The baby seemed a bit weak last night before I went to bed, and this afternoon when the mom finally left the nest and I could peek in there, there was no baby at all. I moved all of the bedding, and the only clue there had ever been anything in there was a tiny sliver of toilet paper stained with blood. This was their first litter, so I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I put everything back in the parents' tank (wheel, sand bowl, etc), and mom especially seemed happy to have her wheel back. They were busy exploring the play area when I took them out of their tank too. I'm a little sad, but hopeful that next time they will have a bigger litter and things will be better. They seemed like such good parents (there was always at least one of them with the baby).
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Post by t1gg3er on Oct 11, 2015 0:43:47 GMT -8
That's a shame but as you say, it just wasn't meant to be. Hope you have better luck with the next litter xx
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