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HELP!
Apr 20, 2004 14:39:55 GMT -8
Post by Victoria on Apr 20, 2004 14:39:55 GMT -8
Okay here is the deal. My mom is so attached to this one black baby gerbil. The whole litter is only 13 days old. Their eyes aren't even open! My mom insisits on holding this baby every 5 mintues. She claims shes her mom and she will keep her warm and feed her when the real mom doens a fine job of it. I can't get her ot put her back and I don't want her to die! Will she? I get her to put it back at leasst every 10 minutes. God knows what she does the 7 hourse im in school!
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HELP!
Apr 20, 2004 16:23:42 GMT -8
Post by floppy on Apr 20, 2004 16:23:42 GMT -8
Oh dear! We all feel like that when the pups are around this age! I would tell your mam to leave the pup with his natural mother as much as possible though, he needs her milk. He will get nutrients etc from it that she can't provide!!
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HELP!
Apr 20, 2004 16:53:52 GMT -8
Post by Victoria on Apr 20, 2004 16:53:52 GMT -8
That's what I told her! *lol* Well I got her to put it back and explained to her what said! Thanks!
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HELP!
Apr 23, 2004 3:26:28 GMT -8
Post by Ritzie/Admin on Apr 23, 2004 3:26:28 GMT -8
Sometimes a gerbil mother will reject a pup after handling when it smells strange (gerbils recognise each other by its smell and the taste of their saliva). So I recommend usually to wash your hands before handling very young pups, preferably first with water and than with their bedding.
However not all gerbils are like this! Some (and I think most of them) won't care if you handle them for a while. And because your mother is holding the black pup that much, and your gerbil mother has no problems with that, I think the pup will be fine!
But is the best to wait with handling the pups a lot until they are about 3 weeks old, the age when they stop drinking milk. Actually you should handle them than a lot, because that is a good way of taming them!
So try to explain to your mother that it is ok to hold the black pup once or twice a day, and that she can hold it very often when they are about 3 weeks old.
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