is she pregnant

[michael]

hi im new here,
i have a male and a female gerbil (cadbury & caramel) 4 the past 1/2 weeks she has made a nest in there tank. i think she has got bigger as when she is sitting she looks bigger than she did.
so i put tissue paper in with her and she and the male both pull it in to the nestis this normal behaviour for gerbils or is she pregnant? please help thankyou. from michael

[doomgerbiluk]

gerbils will nest anyway
but she may well be pregnant
so long as she is healthy and has a good balanced diet you need do nothing special
You may wish to add a few cat biscuits to their food to increase her protein a little. or mixed nuts (I buy whole ones, partially crack the shell and leave the rest to the gerbils)

[michael]

thanks for your reply, is there any ways of telling she is pregnant. will the male act any differnt?

[Ritzie/Admin]

The male will not try to mate with the female! When the birth will start, the male will sleep in another house corner, for a while.

[pixytwinkle]

when my gerbils pregnant she always seems to take small rests in between whats shes doing. Like if she digging or scratching she will stop and just lay completely still for a few seconds.

[callimico]

Genestation is 25 days (average) after the male mates with the female, for first time moms, the last week and a half she'll look bigger, hips wider, belly balloning out. I usually notice mine eating more, drinking more, and they just feel heavier. They do tend to make larger, puffier nests closer to birth. None of my females have booted dads out of the nest before, but that is normal for them. The furthest a dad was kicked out was about 2 inches away (they'd made a HUGE nest so he was still in it, but away from mom and pups), and that only lasted the rest of the night.

I've also noticed some of the males checking/sniffing mom's bottom frequently the last few days of her pregnancy. Peanuts, scrambled eggs, mealworms, other nuts can all be used to give mom the little extra protein. Post when the babies arrive ;D!!

[RitzieAnn]

queen put up some picts for someone else. Look at "what will she look like" in this section, and she's got some pictures of Indira. Also, the website link at the bottom (gerbil breeding and development) has more pictures of pregnancy. I learned most of my stuff from her site. It's got helpful day by day stuff. My momma gerbil didn't make a nest until the day she had her pups (after she had them)

[queenofthenile]

Here's the link to my site that Ritzie Ann is referring to:
www.gerbilbreeding.com/preg.htm

[michael]

thanks for all your replies this may help if not i will just have to wait and see.

thanks. michael

[sweetie]

It will be most noticeable a few days before the birth. I did not notice mine being pregnant until 5 or so days before the birth. Also Bear who had 8 pups was noticeably bigger and rounder than Bandit who only had 5.

They do eat and drink more. I try to make sure that they have more protien and chews. When it is birthing day, I noticed that the moms were in the nest laying down with thier eyes open and breathing heavier. My dad's were both kicked out of the nest on Birthing day. Also both of my females were pregnant again the same day they gave birth. the next litter will be born 30-40 days later depending on Mom and nursing.

Keep us posted!!