Please help me. Its urgent

[andrea]

Gerbils mate immediately after birth, so she would become pregnant again straight away.

Do you think you definately have a male and female?.

There is one possibility but you will need to speak to you dad. You could let them have one litter, allow the father to stay with her and help her raise the first litter, once these pups are weaned seperate the father with the sons. The female pups could stay with the mum to help raise the new litter, you will then need to remove the male pups and probably some females depending on how big the litters are. To many females in a colony can be a problem. You can then re home all excess pups and keep however many you want to.

I think queenofthnile has a very good write up about it on her website. I assume you live with your dad?. you must speak to him about it.

Thats my suggestion. I believe neutering the male maybe very costly. I also think queenofthenile has had some experiance in neutering also.

Good Luck
Andrea

[paws]

Yes, it is true that it will be expensive. Once the litter is born, you COULD have the male split into another cage. Tell your father though. He will prob not be angry, as it wasn't your fault.

[doomgerbiluk]

gerbils mate after birth and usually becoem pregnant immediately
therefore that plan WILL NOT work
to prevent further pregnancies the male (if it is) must be removed.

[pixytwinkle]

ok i suppose ur right. I will seperate them. If the gerbils do have babies my dad will definatly not let me have any. My mum would but she cant persuade my dad he thinks there vermin and disgusting dont know why. I was lucky he let me get misty! will my gerbil already be pregnant or is there a chance it might not?
If it is i will wait till nearer the birth and then tell my dad and explain i have homes for them. I am going to seperate them tonight i feel so sorry for them though and they seem really happy together.

[doomgerbiluk]

We understand Pixie
What you have to understand is tha tultimately your gerbils are your parents responsibility as long as you are still a child.
therefore it is their decision ultimately.
Seperating them is heartbreaking I know but far better than lots of unwanted pups and a row with your dad. It is not by any stretch of the imagination yoru fault.
Maybe you can get your dad more involved in tiem and help him to understnad that gerbils are not vermin but wonderful intelligent pets, but honesty and responsibility on your part now will go a long way tp convincing him, lies and irresponsible behaviour will not help.
Why not speak to him and ask him to check out the pictures onlin of male and female gerbils to give his opinion. Then maybe expand it to show him some other aspect of gerbil keeping etc.
Maybe one day you can get him to a show to meet other gerbil owners.
Remember you need to educate him

[pixytwinkle]

yeah your right i have seperated them this evening they are realy sad and jut sit at the divider looking at each other
If she does have babies i dont know what to do is there anything i need to do or will the mother take care of them by herself?

[doomgerbiluk]

Gerbil mothers are very good and yes she should manage fine
a little dried cat food will increase her protein intake (go-cat or similar is fine).
Read the posts here and elsewhere
gp to www.gerbilshows.co.uk for links to other forums and try sites like Peters and www.gerbilshowsuk.org and www.gerbils.co.uk for more info on raising baby

[pixytwinkle]

ok thanx alot. Today when i got in my gerbils had chewed a hole in the wire divider and goten through is this normal it was fine when i was using it to introduce them with. I am going to have to get some new wire tomorrow will it be ok to leave them together for this night as i cant think of anything else to seperae them with. I will take a look at all your reccommended sites i looked at queen of the niles and it was really useful
Do any one know th price of getting a male gerbil neutered in the uk?

[sweetie]

Hey Pixy,

I think you are on the right track. It is important to prevent unwanted babies. I hear that it is hard for you to keep your Dad's wishes a priority since they don't match yours . You are doing a great job respecting his wishes!!

It may be possible for you to "educte" your Dad on gerbils like Doom said. Most often, people tend to care less about things they don't know. Once you Dad gets a chance to learn about them and interact with them, he may decide that they aren't so bad after all.

The wire used to separate them at first might have been good for the introduction. It is not and was not strong enough to keep them separated now that they are buddies.

Like every one else said, gerbils will mate right after birth so since your Dad does not want any more, you should separate them. Gerbils usually have babies 24-28 days after mating. Count the days from today forward and see if she "gets a big tummy" in 2 weeks. Mom should be able to take care of the little guys after birth. You only have to take care of mom. Make sure she has plenty of water and protien. Mine don't like cat food so I need to suppliment with crickets or grasshoppers (you could also go to the store to get mealworms YUCK!).

I noticed that you wanted to nueter the male. If she is pregnant, you could keep a girl pup and then adopt out the other girls (in pairs of course) and then adopt out the males (again in pairs). If you can't find a vet, or if it cost too much, this is an option. If she is not pregnant, the best bet might be to have the male nuetered - the alternative if there are no vets available or if it cost too much is to ask the store where you bought it to return it for a female. They should do that since it was their mix up in the first place!!

Good luck pixy . I recognize that you are struggling with this and all of the possibilities. Know that you will do what is right for you, your family, and the gerbils!! Have faith in your ability . For some strange reason....... things always seem to work out for the best.

PS. How old are you any way?

[pixytwinkle]

thanx thats really made me feel better about the whole situaution. The one thing i couldnt do though is return misty to the shop i would miss him/her so much. Since i can only seperate them tomorrow as i have no more wire do you think it would be ok if i count the days from today and seperate them on the 20th day? Or a bit sooner this would give them a little longer together. Im sixteen by the way.

[sweetie]

Hey pixy,

It is best to separate them now. This way you can prevent her from getting pregnant if she is not already!! It may help solve your problems. That way, all you would have to do is nueter the male and then re-introduce. Or you could do what I did (I don't think your dad will go for it though) read on...........


My story:
This happened to me when I got mine. I got what I thought was 2 girls and ended up being a boy and a girl. I had to separate them as soon as I realized they where not. I then went out and got another boy and another girl *pup* (under 10 weeks old) so that they could each have a buddy. I did not want any babies in the beginning either. I have since changed my mind . What started out as 2 on June 22nd is now 8 and one is pregnant. The more I learned about them, the more I fell in love.

You are a mature 16 year old and should be very proud of yourself!! Good luck and keep posting !

[pixytwinkle]

thanx sweetie but i dont think my dad would let me though. I have spoken to him about my little.....problem and at first he was quite annoyed but after a while he seemed to calm down. He hasnt mentioned it since though. If she is pregnant is there anything i would need to do differently like different food or bedding etc? Thanx for ur help sweetie youve been great ;D

[doomgerbiluk]

a few extra nuts, some dried cat food etc are good

[pixytwinkle]

I have been giving my gerbils some extra vitamins you know the ones you add to their water as one of there coats was looking shabby will this have to stop if she is pregnant?

[pixytwinkle]

oh yeah and can she still have vegetables once in a while and does she need different bedding material?