switching babies

[crwded howse]

so i have two tanks of gerbils as of now, one with 4 younger gerbils who are now on thier 4th litter, and are yet to raise any pups successfully, they just had 5 this time... in the other tank are a parent couple, one pup that is as old as the other 4, plus 4 10 day old pups they had a week ago, the births were about 10 days apart, the litter of 5 was just born last night and still very small, now my question is can i switch the pups from one take to the other and expect them to be raised successfully? i tried this once before with the younger gerbils litters into the experienced mothers tank when she did not have any kids, and she started eating one of them right then and there, why i really want to do this is because there is only one white pup in the 10 day old litter and i like to have them color coated because in my tank of 4, there is one gold one who is like rudolf the rednoise reinedeer who never gets to join in on any reindeer games but yeah if i were to move some of the babies, would i want to move the 10 day olds or the new borns? do it when they are sleeping and feeding or anytime or what??

[sandy]

Hi, this is called fostering and it has to be done very carefully. If I get you right, you have 5 newborns in a communal tank in which pups have not survived in, and a pair with an experienced older pup plus 4 10 day old pups.

What I'd do is take the 10 day old pups and put them in a small container, like a mug, with 2 of the newborns and "mix" them carefully but thoroughly so the scent of the older pups goes onto the newborns. Then put all 6 pups in the tank with the pair, right in the nest with the newborns underneath the other pups. This should only take a minute to do. Now you need to watch very carefully for about 1/2 an hour to make sure the mom and dad do not eat the newborn pups. This should be successful, because a mom of 10 day old pups is already producing milk and her pups are not too big.

Then, after 24 to 48 hours, if your other three newborns have lived that long, do it again, adding them to the 6 pups in the pairs' tank, again by taking them all out and mixing them up then putting them in with the pair with the new pups underneath. Again watch for 1/2 hour.

The reason I'd do it in 2 steps is because of milk supply.

If you think the mom's milk supply can handle it (because the 4 10 day old pups are little butter balls), you could try mixing all 5 of the newborns and the 10 day olds in the mug, then make 2 nests in the pairs' tank of a mixture each of newborns and 10 day olds. This is a bit more risky but if you really want the newborns to survive you can try it.

I would then watch them all carefully and if any pups start looking too thin, supplement feed them with a dropper and either kitten replacement formula or, alternately, if you can't find that, undiluted canned soy baby formula 2 times a day (morning and evening).

[sandy]

Oh, and by the way, I would really recommend you split up your communal tank into same sex groups to prevent more pups from arriving and this happening again. Gerbils usually do not breed well in communal groups as you have found out the hard way!

[sweetie]

Wow,
Excellent advice Sandy. I am confused on the dynamics of what you currently have crowded. If Sandy answered it Great if not please clarify and we can try to help.