PUPS ARE HERE!!!!

[gerbiltab]

well my first litter has arrived.
Maple kicked Birch out of the nest sometime after 5 pm.
Sis has been in there and seen nothing of Birch going after her trying to mate. how long after can this be expected?
I cant tell for sure how many are in there right now. but i am guessing 4-6 just from looks.
I was gonna peak but she ran back in so i dont want to bother her for fear she will reject them.
Im so happy.
Cant wait to see them all.
How long should i wait to put extra bedding in? She hogged it all and now Birch is sitting there with nothing cozy to sleep in.

[j]

Congrats. ;D

Depends on your gerbil if you should put more bedding in or not. If she's really tame or used to you, then you probably can right away. Or at least quickly and quietly throw some toilet paper in there so he can make his own nest. Although this post is kind of old so by now the father is probably in the nest with her anyway..

[gerbiltab]

nah actually i didnt post all that long ago, he is off to the side, hes been in and out of the nest but sleeping alone, she is tame and used to me, i did reach in for a sec for her to climb on my hand.
I sadly found one baby gone, hopefully thats a 1 in all sorta thing.
Being first time parents and all i dont know what to expect from them.
But im happy all is semi ok for now, i will check them out better tommorow.

[gerbiltab]

well the babies are in a new nest this am, Mom and dad are taking care of them, we went from 4 to 2. Will 2 be able to keep her milk supply going?

[sweetie]

Hey gerbiltab,

I am not sure but one way to check is to see if the pups bellies are white. That means that there is milk in thier little tummies.

[gerbiltab]

well here we are a few days later and no babies.
i changed nothing in the tank, added nothing to the tank took nothing away.
they moved the nest and we were down to 2 that i could see just as mom and dad left the nest.
by last night, no babies left.

did i do something wrong?
was it a first time parenting thing?
i didnt see them mate, will they ever again?
when is it safe to clean the cage, there was some blood spattered toilet paper in there i dont wanna leave too long.

ps they are in my bedroom which is the quietest room in the house.

i hate thinking i did something wrong:(

[sweetie]

Hey there Gerb,

I am sorry to hear about the pups. I sense that you are hurt and confused. I don't think there was anything you could have done to change the outcome.

It may just be the first time Mom thing. There is no way to know for sure. I imagine that your Mom may be pregnant as we speak. They tend to mate right after birth and have another litter in 24-28 days.

Try going to this website www.gerbilbreeding.com. It is Queenie's site and it is very informative. I don't think that what happened was any thing you did or did not do.

[lydia]

I am so sorry,what a shame with your first gerbil pups.
Doesn't sound as if you did anything wrong,sometimes baby gerbils do die.There is nothing you could have done to prevent it.

I would clean their cage,give it a good scrub out.Your female will definitely have been ready for mating, as soon as she'd birthed that litter.So it would be very unlikely,that she isn't pregnant again.

Good luck with your next babies.

Lyd

[doomgerbiluk]

were there no bodies?
I would be wary of breeding from those gerbils again
Mother gerbils tend to eat the pups only after they are dead but these deaths mean something was very wrong
1)the pups were ill which would mean mum was a carrier
2) mum didnt produce milk/enough milk
3) mum or dad killed the pups (very rare)
4) soething in the envrionemt around your tank killed them, a chemical, temperature etc?

All of the 1st 3 are reasons NOT to breed these gerbils.
If they are special and you really want pups from them watch carefully. If the same thing happens again seperate the pair and do not breed from them again.
If they have another litter and alls well then it may be a 1st time mum thing, but it does seem unlikely

[queenofthenile]

I would give mom one more chance. Sometimes 1st-time moms don't know what their doing and neglect the babies. If this happens to the next litter, these two gerbs aren't suitable for breeding.

[gerbiltab]

well as far as i know this boy is not the father to this litter.
the mom was laying with them feeding etc
i found 2 bodies..... the last 2
the other 2 were gone
they are a young couple, so it may have been that
the temp was good in the room, no chemicals near by.
mom and dad cuddled the babies
they both were doing a nutty search when i took the last babies.
i will let them go one more time, if it doesnt work ill seperate
thanks for the advice, im just kind of lost.

[doomgerbiluk]

understnadably
the fathers not being the pups dad is not an issue in behaviour terms BUt if there was a genetic reason through the male line then I guess it has an impact
I would seperate them just before the next litter is born for a couple of days (use a split cage) to prevent him mating and then see how wellt ehy raise litter 2
if litter 2 has similar problems seperate them BEFORE any subsequent litters are produced (remember female gerbils come on heat every 6/8 days)
good luck

[moghedien]

Just to add a few words of sympathy, I've been there! I bought a couple of females from a pet store (no breeders in my area) several months ago, and one of them was pregnant when I got her.

When she had her pups, it seemed like everything was going well, but when I came back to check on them a couple had gotten killed. Ended up losing them all. No idea why! She was a very young mother, though I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

So I've been there. Good luck on future pups!