Pups expected next week, what do I need?

[sparkbubble]

I was recording the bonding process on my phone and have a pretty good Idea when the gerbils mated (march 11-12). have moved rio into a large, 60 gallon bin (with many holes drilled into the lid and upper sides). I Have about 2 inches of substrate and a box house for her to deliver. Here are my questions:
-can I give a pregnant gerbil a wheel? I gave it to her briefly yesterday, and she really loves it, but I don't like the idea of a bunch of gerbils jostling around inside her. 
-how much more food should I give her? I feed her vita prima, and since yesterday, I've upped her food intake to 2 tablespoons. 
- what water bottle is recommended for pups? My gerbils chewed through their plastic one, so I use a dahey drinking water feeder (looks like a toilet). I've been told that this may crush the pups or cause them to drown. is a plastic bottle ok temporarily or is their a secure glass one out there?
-how old are the pups when they are good to be handled?
-when can the pups eat the same things as the mother?
=Is TP ok for nesting material? I only use that and their bedding (currently, paper). 
any other advice or experience welcome (and needed). 

[LilyandDaisy]

I'd give her unlimited food (so replenish it every time it's gone). She won't overeat unless she has so much that she afford to be very picky with which parts she eats.

Those ceramic water feeders can be quite dangerous to some animals actually as small hamsters have been known to squeeze inside them and get trapped. An adult gerbil probably wouldn't fit but a pup definitely could.

I'll leave the other questions to those with breeding experience and knowledge.

[betty]

Sorry - I am late in on this one too - but here ae brief answers incase you still need them:

You can leave in the wheel unless you think she is obsessively using is both before and after the birth. Running in the wheel can help with giving her time to herself but if she is on it all the time she will be using up lots of energy on herself not on feeding her pups - so you need to get a decent balance for calories.

I answered the food query in the other post - but feed more overall - as dad will most likely eat loads of the best stuff like me at a free buffet (well pre-covid of course - not sure I'd be keen on seconds after it had been picked at by 30 other people?).

As above with the comment - avoid anything that is heavy or can fall over. In water dishes you can put a flat stone so even if a pup falls in they are only getting wet feet and faces. Rescues do this as a matter of course with any ground-dwelling animal - and of course we always have an escape route in outdoor ponds for the same reason. As for bottles, unless you get the Sippy-type bottles - pups usually can't drink from a ball-bearing bottle (especially a double one) until they are nearer 10+ weeks anyway - but offering hard fresh foods like brocolli and kale leaves can keep them hydrated outside of mums milk.

Gerbil pups leap quite some didstance - so I would start handling them inside their own enclosure - and always right down at ground level on a flat hand only. Just scoop on up and let it walk off you - over an over. It doesn't need to be every pup each time, but it can be the same one if they are still out and about. This can help let them accept you moving in the enclosure - they won't squeak any warnings to mum as they don't feel 'captured' and gradually the more cinfident ones become more confident. This way also avoids overhandling the ones who don't want to be handled anyway. Once they are fully weaned then you can up the effort level so you can do sexing and health checks and once old enough to leave mum you can handle more seriously and for longer. They can still jump though - so always low to the ground or in a safe space.

Pups will start eating mums food at around the eye-opening age - but they will still be feeding from mum - only after 4 weeks are they mainly feeding themselves - but watch them to see if they are able to crack the harder seed casing etc.

Is TP toilet paper? I avoid toilet paper as it easily dissolves when damp (it's main job in life) and so just like when you pup a toilet tissue to your lips it sticks to you - I worry this can happen to the pups. Also, a very absorbant bedding or substrate (like we found with corncob) can wick away moisture from the pups skin (before they fur up) and so I go for kitchen roll over toilet roll and tissues and use card/paper or normal unscented soft-flake wood shavings.

Do give us an update when you can - would be great to hear how they are getting along.

[sparkbubble]

The gerbils have fur now, but should I still remove the toilet paper? I don't want to disturb the nest as the mother gets extremely agitated when I do. Would an old (cleaned with unscented detergent) 100% cotton shirt be ok for the gerbils to rip up and use as bedding? otherwise,I'll just give them regular paper bedding. About the water, Could I soak a paper towel, lay it flat in a tin pickle-jar lid (cleaned, and I thought they were pretty light, yes??), and place it near the nest? that way, there's water, but no worry about drowning.

[betty]

I apologise again for being so behind with this - I have been so busy at work. How are they today?

If you haven't already - don't give the cotton clothing - threads from cotton and man-made fibres can be accidently dangerous to pups - and mum.

I didn't mean don't go digging out the old nest - just only offer better things going forward and mum can switchout what she doesn't want anymore.

The pups don't need water until they are weaned - so as I said in the other thread - you don't need to worry about giving them moisture - they have all they need in mum's milk. They can start to use a shallow bowl with a stone in it once they are 'eyes open' around 18-21 days and you see them outside of the nest more often.