Please tell me there are experienced gerbil owners here.

newfosterparent

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I'm specifically looking for owners of breeding pairs, or gerbils that have had litters in the past.

My Gerri had her first litter on June 20th. This litter isn't fully weaned yet.

I came home from work today to find that she'd already had her second litter, judging by their color, not too long ago.

It looks like there are 6 of them, but it's really hard to tell since they're all over each other.

The problem is the first litter, not fully weaned yet. I'm worried for them, and I'm trying to find homes for 4 of them. I'm keeping 2 in the hopes that they're opposite sexes and I can finally split the parents up before yet another litter shows up.

Advice is greatly appreciated.
 

Willowy

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I think they're usually OK once they're a month old. Even if they still nurse they don't HAVE to. I found this FAQ site. . .it says that gerbils mate within hours of giving birth, so there will be a litter next month, too, if you haven't separated the male yet. I thought it was useful, hopefully it can answer some of your questions: http://members.nanc.com/~mhaines/gerbil.html
 

badkelpie

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That's pretty much it. 3 - 4 weeks is fine to wean. Mom will likely have another litter after this one. Separate the babies by 6 weeks (or they could start to breed with each other).

You should be able to tell the genders apart by now.

This website explains it pretty well. http://www.thegerbils.com/breeding2sex.htm

Might be easier at this age to look for nipples. Girls have them, boys don't
 
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newfosterparent

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Things are really getting out of hand now, big problems.

I found today that Gerri had a litter of 8 and killed off 3 of them after they were born.

That left 5 of them.

The last litter was fine with the items that were in the tanks, but this time around, Gerri neglected one of them, it was trapped behind the small flowerpot, and it died.

Now she only has 4 of the new litter and they're struggling to survive because she's neglecting them.

So I pulled out the small tank and put her and the litter in there by themselves.

I have no idea if the previous litter is fully weaned yet, but I can't keep them all together anymore.

I've put up advertisements, but no one seems to want the babies, don't ask me why, so I'm having so much trouble trying to figure this one out.
 

badkelpie

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Sounds like she's not getting enough protein. Add some cat food to her food. Stress could be a factor too, all those babies, too much stress = not enough milk for the new ones. Have you tried a free ad on craigslist?
 

rafm

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Quite honestly if you didn't know how to breed them, why did you start? You have a mess on your hands and moving a mother gerbil and a litter may upset her enough to kill them all.

Please tell me you've separated the male/female and have enough containments that the litters won't start breeding as well.

If you are having problems getting rid of them, contact the local pet store and see if they buy directly from independent breeders.
 
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newfosterparent

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Breeding was not a plan we had. When we picked up our gerbils, we were told they were both male. The breeder was wrong.

As soon as I have the June litter genders determined they will all be split up in the 2 tanks.

I think in the next few days I'll be able to figure that out as I'm starting to get an idea of this now.

I will be removing the tunnels between the tanks to prevent them all from getting around.

I've posted ads a few times already, and will be going to the local pet store to post some there.

Our pet stores do not buy from private breeders, we've asked in the past about this.
 

Willowy

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Ah, the age-old story of getting "2 males". I swear, "male" rodents have more babies than the females do
. But it's pretty crummy that the breeder couldn't tell males from females.

They do start to kill their babies when they think the living arrangements are too crowded. And sometimes eat them for the protein. So hopefully putting her in a non-crowded tank and increasing her protein level will help.
 
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newfosterparent

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2 females from the first litter found a home last night, I'm happy about that, but found something shocking this morning that makes me glad that I split the parents up.

One of the gray babies from the new litter has a deformed front leg. I think it's a female as I think I see nipples, the babies are just under 2 weeks old.

I had wanted to breed the gray babies just once to see what kind of litter resulted, but after finding this, I am steering clear of this.

I don't know if this baby will survive or not, so I'm trying to keep a close eye on it.

If I can get a picture of the baby, I will post it up.
 

Willowy

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One of my friends had a hamster with a deformed front leg. He was fine, and was friendlier than most hamsters, LOL. But that probably didn't have anything to do with his leg. Anyway, if that's all that's wrong with her she should be OK.
 
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newfosterparent

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I took her out of the tank today and saw how small she was. She's a runt compared to the other 3 gerbils.

I'm trying to feed her KMR, but she's not taking much of it. Her eyes still aren't open, so she can't see it. She keeps sticking her nose into it.

I'll keep trying though.
 
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newfosterparent

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Is there a reason why I can't upload any more photos here? I had to delete 2 of them just to put this one in.

This is the gerbil pup that's deformed.
 

badkelpie

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Just drop the milk on her lips, she'll lick it off drop by drop. Don't get it in her nose. Up mom's protein too and make sure she's getting enough fluids, that'll help with milk supply.
 
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newfosterparent

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It's Monday morning and the little guy has survived through the weekend.

A few feedings of KMR and mom started feeding him herself. I guess she realized that he was too strong willed to let go.

I've got the perfect name for him as a result. Tuffy. The name to me has 2 meanings. It's a tribute to a horse I knew that died suddenly a couple of years ago, and to me it means strong willed and stubborn.

So he's doing alright now, thankfully.
 
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