hi. woke up 3 days ago to 7 gerbils instead of the 2 male gerbils i supposedly started out with. I looked up info on sites but keep getting conflicting info. I have seperated the male and female on day 1 but am upset as this afternoon foun a dead baby. Have I done wrong? I havent touched them is this right or wrong?

It's an idea to keep the male with the female when it's her first litter as he will help out. But obviously, you'd need a expect another litter.

Are you supplementing the female with additional protein? She needs plenty of food, water and quiet. New mothers can get stressed easily.

Unfortunatly, some pups do die, especially if their the runts of the litter. Don't worry about that. Just keep an eye on them and the mother

And also, you can touch the pups within hours of birth, so that won't be a reason as to the death of one. And you havn't done anything wrong hun, don't blame yourself

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thanks for the support. she keeps kicking them out of the nest because she is digging by them all the time. i can still hear squeaks but i dont know how many have survived as i darent go near her. should i put the male back in?

No, you can leave the male out now

If it helps, my black female had 5 pups this morning and she constantly digs around the pups. She's just getting more comfy

This might help. When you pick a pup up and look at it's side, you should see what looks like a tiny white bean. This is the pups stomach and the white colour shows that the pup has a full tummy

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im afraid to go near them as she has always been very nervous around me. she bolts if i walk in the room. we adopted them from a local pet shop after they were taken back a bit worse for wear.

what should i be feeding her?

Chicken, Cheese, Yoghurt.... anything with protein and fats in.

Char
xxx

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After speaking with other gerbil breeders, cheese, youghurt and chicken is not a good idea.
Your best with mealworms (alive or freeze dried). You can buy them from pet shops, wilkinsons and morrisons
Also from speaking to a breeder in Yorkshire, gerbil mothers don't need additional fat, just protein. Although in my opinion, a little extra fat won't harm her.

Feed her whatever gerbil food your currently feeding her and make sure theres fresh water at all times.
You can give peanuts and sunflower seeds in small amounts and also mealworms

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Sorry to barge in...
Saw this thread this morning, and so while I was in town, I popped into Wilko's and got some bird meal worms - are those the ones you mean?
And do you know if they are ok for dwarf hammies?


Oh and I saw some baby gerbils in the adoption centre of my local pets at home - so so cute!

Our hamsters did that to us a few months ago - it is a shock at first, but they make up for it in being so utterly cute.

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Yep, thats them
I use them for our pregnant and lactating gerbils.

You can give them to hammies as a treat, a couple each per week

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Thank you.

I just need them to wake up now. =]

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