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Post by lithium on Jun 13, 2022 6:49:48 GMT -8
Just like the title says, my gerbil had babies! I didn't even know she was pregnant & the pups (there seems to be 4) look like they're 4-5 weeks old. I don't have the space for them so I will be rehoming them. But in the meantime, what do I do? This is my first time having a gerbil as a pet so this is all a little overwhelming.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 13, 2022 10:34:06 GMT -8
Hello,
Are you able to post a photo of them? They may not be as old as 4-5 weeks, especially if you've only just noticed them.
Did you have a pair of gerbils that turned out to be opposite sexes, or did you get a female who turned out to already be pregnant? If you have a male in the cage, and the pups are already fully furred, with eyes open and running around, it's probably time to think about taking the dad out because otherwise he will impregnate the mum again as soon as she gives birth to the second litter (which will have been conceived immediately after the first litter are born). But try to post a photo here to clarify their ages first if you can.
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Post by lithium on Jun 13, 2022 11:30:35 GMT -8
I'll get a picture when I can. I recently became sick so I've been in bed. But it won't be to hard. The little buggers are already running around & burrowing so I should be able to snap a quick picture of one of them!
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Post by lithium on Jun 15, 2022 8:16:38 GMT -8
Okay so I was finally able to get a picture but where do I post it??
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 15, 2022 8:26:47 GMT -8
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Post by lithium on Jun 15, 2022 8:28:24 GMT -8
Thank you! I figured it out
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Post by lithium on Jun 15, 2022 8:28:43 GMT -8
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Post by lithium on Jun 15, 2022 8:29:24 GMT -8
Please excuse the mess in the bg lol but that's one pic! The bigger head in the bottom corner is the mom Camila
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Post by lithium on Jun 15, 2022 8:29:39 GMT -8
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Post by lithium on Jun 15, 2022 8:30:20 GMT -8
This is another pic I got! I followed your advice & separated the dad Paco, he's not to happy about that lol
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 15, 2022 9:04:21 GMT -8
Yes, they look about 4 weeks-ish so it was the right time to take the dad out. In another week or two you can put the male pups with Paco.
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Post by lithium on Jun 15, 2022 9:50:12 GMT -8
They won't fight or anything tho right? Also Paco's cag is temp, is there any way I could put them back together or would I have to rehome the pups yo avoid any relations between family lol?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jun 15, 2022 10:02:39 GMT -8
I'm not sure how to go about introducing the pups back to Paco. Hopefully betty or someone else can advise on that. It's quite unlikely there would be any issues between a male gerbil and his own young pups anyway. Gerbils will mate with their opposite sex siblings, parents, children etc once they reach maturity (about 8 weeks). Paco and Camila will also mate again if reintroduced.
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Post by betty on Jun 17, 2022 2:03:06 GMT -8
Hello - and yes - you can very easy reintroduce young male pups back to Paco (the dad) - and female pups temporarily too if the mum has a larger second litter. the key thing though is to work out in advance whoe you are planning on keeping and who you are planning on homing out to other people - as this makes all the reintroductions run more smoothly as you can get all the timings right in advance without too much chopping and changing. How many did you say/think are in this first litter - and if you need help sexing them you can just post pictures here. Most often with the second litter you owuld leave at least one female pups - but it depends if you have an odd number of females in the first place. In terms of sorting out the first litter - you have to assume that mum has already had a her second litter - this way you won't accidently disturb her nest or trap any pups anywhere by moving stuff around in the family enclosure (which is very easily done when you aren't expecting it). Also - and not to panic you at all - if mum has already given birth to the second litter - she may well already be pregnant with a third litter so we can certainly help you plan ahead for all sorts of eventualitiies. Certainly raise up the feeding amounts for everyone and to re-nourish the mum - and make sure that there is always fresh water - ideally in more than one source for everyone to stay healthy - especially in this current hot weather. Can't wait to hear an update on everyone when you have time lithium.
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Post by lithium on Jun 19, 2022 23:17:00 GMT -8
I hopefully separated Paco & Camila in time before he had a chance to do anything but how do I separate the babies if I can't be moving things around? I'd assume she had about 4-5 babies. I'm talking to a few people already about rehoming some of the babies, they're just waiting on me to get back to them about the current babies!
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