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Post by Thelodar on Apr 15, 2020 12:26:00 GMT -8
I figured I would put together a thread to track the progress of the mom and the litter. This will be my first litter and I'm very excited, but a little nervous as well. Liam and Piper were in a split cage for 16 days and mated last Tuesday the 7th. She'll be due around May 1st or 2nd. Piper is a sapphire or dove, Liam is a dark tailed white. One week in and mom has not gained any weight yet. I've purchased a few emergency things (reptile heating pad, goat milk esbilac with a dropper) but would love advice on other "emergency kit" items I should buy. I have many extra tanks. I am planning on using Kaytee Clean and Cozy for substrate because the aspen brand I buy is fairly dusty. I purchased some protein rich items for Piper (freeze dried meal worms and crickets, bearded dragon bites that people recommend) but she's not into any of that, she's fairly picky about treats. She likes nuts and seeds so I'm offering more of those. I offered cuttlebone for calcium which she seemed to enjoy. I've ordered a nest box that I'd like to use, but we'll see how it's constructed (nails being a concern). I like the idea of a box with a lid that can be opened so I can peek at pups without messing up the nest. I know people have concerns about the box getting moved and squashing pups, so I was thinking about using some stick on velcro to hold it in place. I'd appreciate any advice people have to offer and look forward to sharing this journey with you all!
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Post by betty on Apr 21, 2020 5:27:24 GMT -8
There are some great slot-together chinchilla and/or guinea pig houses I buy that have the removeable lid so I can peer in to their nests if I need to. Solid houses are so frustrating when you REALLY want a peek and can't get insode without disturbing everything...
Food-wise - you may find that her diet changes once she has had the pups and she starts to crave different things - but nuts and seeds will certainly help out nutrition-wise but not so much that she stops eating all the normal stuff she needs like fibre and stuff.
Fresh food is still essential during this time - but I would be careful about volumes at this time and after the litter is born as often they will store this in stupid places and it can go mouldy in the nest box. So gerbil handfuls only are recommended.
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Post by betty on Apr 21, 2020 5:29:28 GMT -8
And I think that Piper is more likely to be a Sapphire - or a light Lilac at a stretch.
Doves are really much more pale than that usually, but her colour is quite strong.
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Post by Thelodar on Apr 24, 2020 8:39:31 GMT -8
Thanks Betty! I did get a nest box with an opening lid. There are screws that hold the hinges and little locking mechanism on but they are not in very easy to chew locations and so far there is no chewing near those spots so I'm not too concerned about them. Do you think the nest box needs to be velcroed down? It's sitting flat on the bottom of the tank so I can't imagine anyone getting under it, but I know a lot of people don't give them nest boxes for fear the babies could get crushed by them.
Today we are one week away from the probable due date. Starting yesterday she has been much more focused on staying in the nest box. I removed heavy toys and most of the extra substrate yesterday as I don't want to make major changes too close to the due date. The whole time I was messing around in the tank she didn't come out of the box at all, which is very unusual, so I think she's starting some maternal nesting. She's busy tearing up paper and tissue in there. At the start of the week I noticed she looked a little heavier to me (she's a very lean gerbil normally) so I weighed her and she was up 4 grams. I'll weigh her again this weekend.
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Post by betty on Apr 27, 2020 5:48:02 GMT -8
Yes, they do tend to put weight on just towards the end really - so fingers crossed she is starting to swell out a bit now. Bet way to see the tunny expanding is when they stretch up say into a bowl or something. So the tummy can be seen sort of 'hanging' there in mid stretch.
You'll know the day after she's had them as almost always that next morning you find the male sitting up on a ledge somewhere looking 'thrown out'.
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Post by Thelodar on Apr 28, 2020 10:04:55 GMT -8
Piper is up a total of 11 grams now, can't really see a belly though. I'm so excited!
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Post by Thelodar on May 2, 2020 14:52:20 GMT -8
Day 25 and no babies yet. Any time now Piper, any time.
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Post by Thelodar on May 4, 2020 7:59:25 GMT -8
She went into labor about an hour ago and we have at least two pups! She's in her nest box so I'm just catching glimpses through the hole. Unfortunately I haven't seen or heard anything to confirm they are alive, keeping my fingers crossed. Both appeared to have dark skin.
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Post by Thelodar on May 5, 2020 3:07:47 GMT -8
I was wrong. There ended up being just one pup and he passed away sometime through the night. I don't think mom fed him.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 7, 2020 14:26:53 GMT -8
I'm sorry to hear the litter didn't make it. Hopefully the second litter will do better.
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thejettgerbil
member
Jett's been chewing everything... EVERYTHING!
Posts: 28
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Post by thejettgerbil on May 8, 2020 10:57:26 GMT -8
Oh no... I’m so sorry to hear that!
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Post by Thelodar on Jun 4, 2020 9:57:31 GMT -8
Piper gave birth again this past Monday. She once again only had one pup, but so far so good. The male was removed about 2 weeks before the birth since I was concerned about their parenting skills and genetics after how badly the first litter went. Given that she only had one again I'm glad I separated him as clearly there is some reason she's not having normal sized litters, but it has made Piper more jumpy being alone. So I'm trying to stay as hands off as possible. I have read that singletons don't always stimulate mom enough to produce milk which has me worried. I want to regularly check pup for a milk bean but going into the nest freaks mom out and I'd rather not make things worse. So I'm hoping for the best at this point but can't get too excited yet. Anyone had success with a single pup?
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Post by betty on Jun 5, 2020 10:19:09 GMT -8
Oh dear - there isn't much comprehensive literature on singletons - but hopefully someone can chip in if they have? I had one single pup in Mongolians (born as a trio) but was left alone at about 3/4 days - but that was different circumstances and the mother wasn't nervous at all (infact she was very ill at the time hence the lost pups). I just made sure the pup stayed hydrated and it survived more by chance I think than anything I did.
With nervous mums I usually distract the mum with yummy treats and a fresh dustbath in a different enclosure - make sure that not only have I washed my hands in the sink, but that I also 'wash' my hands in the substrate before touching the pup too. Then add in some fresh food and a distraction (like a handful of hay or straw etc) so that the mum can't smell me specifically and then is too annoyed by the new 'thing' in the way that she soon just gets on with that.
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Post by Thelodar on Jun 18, 2020 6:24:52 GMT -8
Just wanted to update that my little guy is still going strong at 17 days old! Eyes are still closed but his little teeth are coming in and he motors around the tank like a champ. No supplemental feeding has been needed thus far, but I'll feel much better when he's on solid food. I love him! I'll try to get some pics up soon but my Flickr account is giving me trouble at the moment.
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Post by betty on Jun 19, 2020 19:10:29 GMT -8
That's great news for him - eyes will be opening shortly and then those first worrisome days as a bean will seem like such a long time ago.
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