Dying pups

[peschanka]

I have got two siamese gerbils. Older one is about 2 years old. Their last litters die. Pups and parents are healthy but... pups at 2- 3 week became thiner and more and more time look sleepy. And some dayse after that they dying.
What i can do to help pups? Maybe their mother hasn't got milk?

[pixytwinkle]

Do you ever see the pups feeding. When you hold the pups can you hear a faint clicking or does there breathing sound strange. They could have a respitory infection which means they are going to need antibiotics. Is there a vet you can take them too i think that would be the best thing.What bedding do you use?

[sweetie]

I am sorry to hear about the pups deaths.

Females usually stop breeding after 20 months. Pregnancy after that is complicated as well as the birth.

Have you seen them nursing? Are thier bellies white?

[peschanka]

Bedding in this family like in others but in other pups are not dying. And how i sad gerbils are healthy.
I saw gerbil nursing. And pups look normal about 1-2 week.

[doomgerbiluk]

I would suspect that either mums not producing enough milk, in which case you can supplement (I use lactol) or the parents are carriers of some disease which the pups immune systems are too immature to fight.
Was there any sign of respiratory distress (usually a clicking sound when they breathe) or of diorhoea???

[peschanka]

Ñlicking sound.... i heard it..

[doomgerbiluk]

Respiratory infection is likely then. The infection may be carried by the parent or their may be a genetic tendency towards it.
The correct treatment is baytril and the adults should not be bred form agian, neither should the pups be bred from. Avoiding breedign from pups that survive respiaratory illness appears to greatly reduce the incidence of respiratory problems with pups so it would appear that this is something we can almost eliminate with careful breeding.
As for your pups, a trip to the vets and a course of baytril (direct not in the bottle) should help the stronger pups.