# 2 gerbils New Parents - need help



## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

I have 2 gerbils they just habd their first litter of pups April 2nd.

However I notice in the past 3 days she has nested them by herself for 1 day, shared a nest with the father for 2 days. Made a completely new nest this morning and left the babies in the old nest, and didnt move them over until later that morning.

She also will at random move 1 baby out of the nest, never the same one always just a random one and puts them on the other side of the cage.

Is this typical gerbil behavior or should I be preparing to bottle feed these babies?


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

you do realise that shes probably pregnant again
rodents become receptive again as soon as they give birth ( as do some other animals)
mixed sex groups are never a good idea


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

Having never bred gerbils I couldn't say for sure, but I'm wondering if she could be feeling stressed. Has she been disturbed? Nursing animals, like rodents, need to be left in peace when the babies are in the nest. When the babies are weaned, it would be a good idea to separate the sexes so they dont keep breeding. And as gerbils need company of their own kind keep a female baby with the mother & a male baby with the father.


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

mrs phas said:


> you do realise that shes probably pregnant again
> rodents become receptive again as soon as they give birth ( as do some other animals)
> mixed sex groups are never a good idea


Yes I do realize that, I didnt know I bought "mixed sex groups" i saw baby gerbils at the local pet store the lady said it was a litter of all males once they fully matured I realized she was absolutely wrong. I read online that to decrease mother stress the male needs to be there to help raise the litter. He has since went to a small animal specialist and has been neutered. As gerbilsnare social animals I just didn't want them to be lonely. So please dont get snippy with me all i asked was a simple question.


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

noushka05 said:


> Having never bred gerbils I couldn't say for sure, but I'm wondering if she could be feeling stressed. Has she been disturbed? Nursing animals, like rodents, need to be left in peace when the babies are in the nest. When the babies are weaned, it would be a good idea to separate the sexes so they dont keep breeding. And as gerbils need company of their own kind keep a female baby with the mother & a male baby with the father.


I have not messed with her or her cage. There is absolutely nothing in her location that could stress her out. It is the quietest room in the house, and nothing else goes into that room. Her litter was only a litter of 4 pups, the only thing that happens in her cage is food refills and I remove the water bottle for fresh water. I however I just wanted to see if this was normal or abnormal behavior. Thats all. I had a gerbil before but his friend died relatively young, and he lived a healthy 5 years by himself afterwards, this is my first time with a litter of gerbil pups.

My hamster had a litter and she killed all of them and I have since not had a rodent litter so I juat wanted to make sure i am not doing anything wrong on my part I want to do right by her and her family.


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## PepaCub (Sep 26, 2013)

How are things going with your mum now - has she settled down a bit or is she still messing about with the pups?


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

PepaCub said:


> How are things going with your mum now - has she settled down a bit or is she still messing about with the pups?


She seems like she has calmed down, she did move her nest again however I did give hee complete privacy and wrapped the cage in a towel so it's not see through.

The only time the cage is disturbed is to give fresh food and water.

And I did remove stuff that seemed like it bothered her like the wooden hideout hut, and the gerbil wheel.

Both of which she was kicked and having a fit over.


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## PepaCub (Sep 26, 2013)

Great news.

So all the pups are still ok and the dad is helping out?


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

PepaCub said:


> Great news.
> 
> So all the pups are still ok and the dad is helping out?


All the pups are doing great, and dad is fully active with them.

They are a week old today and have their little baby fuzz I guess also called (down)?


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## PepaCub (Sep 26, 2013)

Lovely, that is almost their best stage - I personally just love the day 16ish look, when they are all smooth and mobile but their eyes haven't opened yet.

Lets just hope she stays calm then and these little guys get every chance to grow up normally.

I suppose you just need to start thinking about getting a spare tank set up for dad in the next few weeks then, so you don't end up with a third litter and nowhere to put them all...


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

PepaCub said:


> Lovely, that is almost their best stage - I personally just love the day 16ish look, when they are all smooth and mobile but their eyes haven't opened yet.
> 
> Lets just hope she stays calm then and these little guys get every chance to grow up normally.
> 
> I suppose you just need to start thinking about getting a spare tank set up for dad in the next few weeks then, so you don't end up with a third litter and nowhere to put them all...


Dad is now a neutered male. So at most she will have 2 litters. I havr homes for all 4 babies of this litter, so the next litter hopefully will be relatively small so I can easily find homes or be able to separate them comfortably.


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## PepaCub (Sep 26, 2013)

Ah yes - forgot that.

I have never had a female and neutered male together with pups, so not really sure how that would play out. Say for example, if you had an odd number of females, whether you could leave one in with mum rather than rehome a trio? Which would be most stable long term???

Hmm. Interesting question indeed.


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

Yea I am going to see how it plays out. I know when i initially got the gerbils and thought they were both males they were very bonded in the cage -always together- thats why I got them. 

But then it turned out they were male/female and it turned into craziness pretty quickly. But I neutered the male because I didn't want to separate him from the female, and I'm sure their is a second litter on the way.


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## PepaCub (Sep 26, 2013)

Yes, it would be very unusual if there wasn't a second litter - but we can always hope...


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

PepaCub said:


> Yes, it would be very unusual if there wasn't a second litter - but we can always hope...


Yea I am hoping she isn't expecting again, idk how many of my friends are willing to take a gerbil and give it a responsible home. But if she is thats another bridge I will cross when/if it happens.


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

Nal0114 said:


> Yea I am hoping she isn't expecting again, idk how many of my friends are willing to take a gerbil and give it a responsible home. But if she is thats another bridge I will cross when/if it happens.


You say 'a gerbil', does that mean you are giving them to friends as singles?


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

Animallover26 said:


> You say 'a gerbil', does that mean you are giving them to friends as singles?


Preferably not. Id only consider it if they are willing to literally be it's best friend. I had a single male gerbil once his friend died, and he would hang put in my shirt pocket on my chest everyday, he lived for 5 years.

So if never consider that option unless they could devote that kind of time to it so it isn't lonely


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

Nal0114 said:


> Preferably not. Id only consider it if they are willing to literally be it's best friend. I had a single male gerbil once his friend died, and he would hang put in my shirt pocket on my chest everyday, he lived for 5 years.
> 
> So if never consider that option unless they could devote that kind of time to it so it isn't lonely


Oh good, so they are being homed as pairs?

I was worried when I read 'a gerbil' knowing they need to be in pairs, alls good though


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

Animallover26 said:


> Oh good, so they are being homed as pairs?
> 
> I was worried when I read 'a gerbil' knowing they need to be in pairs, alls good though


Yes I want to keep them together. In a place that isnt a circus unless they have a nice quiet room they can be in away from all the craziness. I am particularly picky when it comes to rehoming even if that means turning down a friend because I find something unsuitable for the ideal set-up for them.


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

I also won't give then to someone that has a small "hamster setup" they need to be 100% committed to giving them the best home and life a litter gerbil could possibly experience in captivity.


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## Nal0114 (Feb 20, 2019)

Happy to say that the first litter of 4 has reach the age of leaving the nest. However, I kept all 4 of them. She had 2 sets of twins 2 boys and 2 girls.

Mom is recently 4 days into her 2nd litter and she has her 2 daughters by her side helping her. And They are such incredible big sisters to the new infants.

Attached you can see the big sister laying beside mom cuddling a 2 baby siblings. I have seen them on several occasions guarding and keeping the babies warm while mom is a way from the best.


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

Nal0114 said:


> Happy to say that the first litter of 4 has reach the age of leaving the nest. However, I kept all 4 of them. She had 2 sets of twins 2 boys and 2 girls.
> 
> Mom is recently 4 days into her 2nd litter and she has her 2 daughters by her side helping her. And They are such incredible big sisters to the new infants.
> 
> Attached you can see the big sister laying beside mom cuddling a 2 baby siblings. I have seen them on several occasions guarding and keeping the babies warm while mom is a way from the best.


Thank you for the lovely update.


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