Baby gerbils ok in this big of a cage?

[Kenshin]

Ok well it may not sound big but for a baby the size of your fingernail I was curious if it's ok for them <I haven't had them yet but I got a male and female so I'm curious if it's ok> The aquarium is 20 gal's with lots and lots of aspen bedding for digging, waterbottle *only put it in every two days for 3 hrs because they alway's bury it* food of course I just sprinkled that in there because they bury the food bowl they also have chopped up log, a timber wood large house and a little wooden hover over type thing.... lol does it sound ok? I mainly wanna make sure the mamma won't forget where they are and they won't get stuffed under lots of bedding and killed :-\

[j]

Don't worry. The mother won't lose her pups and let them die.


Instead, they'll die from dehydration.

[callimico]

20 gallons is probably the best size to breed in, it's what I've always used, some people use even bigger tanks.

J's 100% right, they need access to fresh water every day, all day. If mom is pregnant it's especially imparative because if she can't get all the fluids she needs she will be forced to consume one of the pups.

Try using a shorter water bottle, and btw 2 inches of bedding is usual for a breeding pair, so there shouldn't be enough bedding in a 20 gallon tank for them to bury the water bottle.

You should also give mom some kind of bedding for nesting material, like carefresh, shredded toilet paper or unscented tissues.

[sweetie]

I agree with both J and Cal!! Mom needs water every day all day.

I can relate to the wet bedding and although it is frustrating, you need to give Mom the proper amount of water so that the babies can develop with out birht defects.

Mine used to bury the tip and soak the bedding. I have tried putting a block in fornt of the tip so that they can not stuff the bedding in the tip. I ended up getting a different water bottle. One that will not leak even after it's burried. This one hangs straight down and the tip faces the floor. It is not tilted. There by making it hard to move the ball up and causeing a leak.

I would use toilet paper instead of Carefresh. 1) It's cheaper and 2) It is less dusty and less likely to cause respiratory infections.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Ritzie/Admin]

She needs water all the time! She needs a lot of water to produce enough milk for the pups!