# Pregnant Gerbil?



## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

right my two albinos are meant to be girls but one keeps trying to mate the other, and the one s/hes trying to mate is rather large, do you think the other albino is a male, shes trying to stop him/her from mating with her... x


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

Gerbils mount each other in dominance to put a scent mark on each other's backs. They have a yellow gland on their tummy, where you'd expect to see the belly button. They're usually trying to rub this on the other gerbil. Gerbil mating is very quick, I'll upload a video to show you. If you're not seeing what's in the video, then it's probably dominance rather than sex.

As for whether they're boys or girls, well it's fairly easy at their age. Lift them out and check if they have testicles. If they haven't, it's a girl. Simple as that. You really can't miss gerbil testicles, they're very big for the size of the animal!


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

the other (male maybe) is tapping its foot x


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

That doesn't necessarily mean anything. Gerbils do stomp their feet when they mate, but they also stomp when they're frightened, disturbed by something, annoyed, or just want to tell someone to get lost!

Here is the video of my two gerbils Domino and Kenya mating. Is this what you're seeing? The first mating can be seen with about 1 minute to go, the second is about 10 seconds later, the last happens with about 15 seconds to go.


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

yes he's knocked her over a couple times keeps trying to sniff under her
yes thats what they've been doing x


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

Well then congratulations! You're having babies


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

after she moves he looks at his bits x


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

i better change messi's name to Blue heres hoping she got Greya's and Gazmo's gender right will check in abit x


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

Yeah they will clean themselves after they mate, that's normal. If they're cleaning themselves then they certainly have mated.

If you don't want a bloodbath, the pregnant one needs to come out of that cage before she gives birth. Females will kill pups that belong to other females. Also, if you don't want a second litter immediately after the first, you need to make sure that the mum is separated from the dad BEFORE the pups arrive. Gerbils will mate again DURING the birthing process, and immediately after.


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

yes both cleaning x

ok will it be ok till tomorrow i will get another cage, will it be ok to put male in with female so she don't get lonely for now x


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

You can keep the two that mated together for the duration of the pregnancy. She's mated now, he can't do any more harm than he already has. She will give birth at about 23-25 days from now so my advice is to separate them at day 21. You need to check NOW to see who else is male and who is female otherwise everyone else will be pregnant soon. There's every chance that they already are pregnant and you just didn't see the mating. I would be calling the person you got them from as well and giving them an earful if I were you


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

will do


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## u-look-like-a-hamster (Aug 17, 2008)

lol ha poor u


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

poor Albi  x


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## u-look-like-a-hamster (Aug 17, 2008)

aww why?????????????????


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

shes pregnant x


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## u-look-like-a-hamster (Aug 17, 2008)

lol bless

xxxx


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

they're still at it when will they stop x


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

They'll stop in a few hours, though I've had a pair that mated all day.

...poor Albi nothing, she's having a whale of a time now 

Here's a website that should help you for the "happy event":
Gerbil Breeding and Development - Index


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

:O i was college today so don't know how long they've been at it x


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## ColeosMummy (Aug 27, 2008)

does she need special/extra foods? x


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## Mischievous_Mark (Sep 9, 2008)

Loads of Protein to help produce milk when nursing :S


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

Like Mark said, she needs extra protein, and make sure she has a high quality food to begin with, even before you add extra protein. You can give her cat/dog biscuits/kibble, the stuff for puppies or kittens is great because it has extra calcium in it. Or you can give crickets or mealworms if you aren't squeamish. But if you give them live food you MUST supervise them and you need to remove the leftovers the same day so they don't go rotten and make them sick. And never let her bowl go empty, she needs lots and lots of food now and until the babies are about 6 weeks old.

Did you see that gerbil breeding website link I posted? There's a lot of info on there.


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