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Post by J on Feb 20, 2004 13:34:54 GMT -8
I know I have at least 3 weeks before I have to deal with pups..if she's even pregnant. But I have a question - I know people don't like to use nesting boxes because of the pups possibly getting caught underneath. But I know some people do use them. My gerbil will NOT put up with having pups out in the open and burrying them, she herself won't even sleep out in the open. She goes crazy without any houses or anywhere to hide and dig in so I want to get her a nesting box of some sort. How could I give her one and still keep it safe for the pups? I was thinking of a bird house type thing, they have holes that pups wouldn't be able to climb out of (atleast not for a few weeks) and they have holes in the top..thought maybe I could hang it to the top of the tank somehow? Um. Or keep her habitrail tubes set up as long as the pups cant fall or go through the tubes?  |
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Post by queenofthenile on Feb 20, 2004 15:15:32 GMT -8
You could use half of a cardboard facial tissue or cereal box. Since they are quite lightweight, there is less chance of the babies getting squished. I've seen a few gerbils that will use one of these boxes as their nest and not completely chew it into smithereens. Worth a try anyway ;D.
What I do for my breeding pair is to cover half of the cage with a thin blanket so that it provides shade and privacy. Maybe you can see whether or not she still is upset if you place the blanket over the cage and remove her house.
Another thing might be to give her more nesting material - lots and lots of facial tissue! This might make her feel more secure.
I'm not sure if any of this will work for you, because I've never had this problem myself.
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Post by J on Feb 20, 2004 16:40:30 GMT -8
Hmm. Thanks, didn't really think of just doing that. That's basically how she sleeps anyways, underneath a pile of tissue and toilet paper ..but it's usually in a box or a small kritter keeper(tiny travel cage) Right now they've been in a small cage with just tissue and carboard, no bedding (trying to get rid of mites) and they haven't complained much, but they've had lots to do. Tissue box wouldn't work. I don't really give her much of those anymore, all she does is go in them and dig which drives me nuts. What I was looking at was something like this.. it's completely enclosed..pups can't fall out of it. I think the only thing she'd do is dig around it. I figured I'd put it on the bottom of the tank, so they can't dig underneath it. Or hang it, but don't think that would work.  Up to what age do you have to be careful about pups getting hurt or trapped underneath? Not like they could get out of something like that untill they started walking more. blah i can't decide. lol. |
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Post by queenofthenile on Feb 21, 2004 6:35:19 GMT -8
My question is, what if she decides not to have the pups in there? What if she wants to move her pups to a different spot? It looks like the lip on the house would make it hard for her to move the pups - but I'm not sure how tall the nesting box is. If the lip is really low, momma gerbil can still kick the babies out of the nest. If it is really high she may have difficulty moving her pups around. Also, you have to make sure that the opening is large enough for a very pregnant gerbil  . I'm not sure at what age you no longer have to worry. I think it would be when they are completely mobile and have their eyes open, maybe 3-4 weeks. But I don't know for sure. I always remove the large objects when my gerbil has babies. I would recommend just leaving the tank pretty empty, but if you find something else that works, that is great too ;D! |
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Feb 21, 2004 7:19:47 GMT -8
I use flower pots:  They don't have a floor, so the pups cannot get caught underneath, and it is easy to make, cheap and personally I find them very decorative! I've never had any problems with them during breeding. Such a bird nesting box is indeed difficult to leave for the pups! And they want to explore the cage as soon as they have opened their eyes (which is great to see). And after 3 weeks they won't be nursed anymore and start to eat solid food and drinking water fulltime. And as queen of the nile mention it is possible that she will have her pups somewhere else. Some gerbils of my had their pups in such a flower pot, bot others just in the bedding. Sometimes they even move the whole nest to another place! |
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Post by J on Feb 21, 2004 12:34:21 GMT -8
Weird. I thought a completely enclosed box like that, would be the better choice because pups can't slide out of it, and the edges possibly falling on them. I'd be scared to use something like a flowerpot, what if they caught a leg under the edge or something.. That's not the exact ones I were looking at, close though. But I Figured if the hole is in the middle, and a bit lower it would be good. They can't fall out, and as they get older they would be able to safely climb in and out. And not too high of an opening so she wouldn' thave trouble moving them if she wanted. (although knowing her, I think she would either have them in the house, or bring them in the box after she gives birth. She loves her nesting houses.) The one in the picture is actually sized for finches. Would any sort of wooden box be better if it didn't have a bottom? (but the legs getting caught underneath..no?) If I can't find one I like, guess I will try the tissue box thing and just toilet paper and tissue. =/ |
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Post by exatron on Feb 21, 2004 18:16:24 GMT -8
As long as the nesting box is at the very bottom of the cage, it shouldn't pose too much of a problem since it would be on a surface the gerbils can't dig under. Flowerpots would be well suited for this purpose since they would be too heavy for gerbils to move, too.
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Post by queenofthenile on Feb 21, 2004 19:23:58 GMT -8
I think I read somwhere about securing the nesting box to the tank / cage floor using velcro. If you used velcro on the entire bottom of the nesting box, this may be an option too.
As for the ease of moving baby gerbils, I've been impressed with how hard of a job it is! Mom often doesn't have a very secure grip on the babies because they are squirming. I just think that trying to manuever a squirmy baby through a small opening may be hard. But as I said before, I have no experience with this myself.
I think I would worry about the flower pots, too. I guess it would depend how large they are, but my gerbs seem to be able to knock over everything, or at least push it around. I would think it possible to get a baby's arm or leg stuck under the pot, but I have not tried this either.
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Feb 23, 2004 1:57:41 GMT -8
My experience with flowerpots is that they cause no problems and that they cannot or won't move them. Indeed probably too heavy. I've never had any pups that came underneed it or a gerbil who moved the flowerpot.
A nesting box with the hole lower than that in the picture is also suitable.
But if you want to be totally sure you can use a nesting box stuck on the floor of their tank. Or just leave the nesting box out!
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