Jeremy Wheelock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>I am new to gerbil ownership. My wife and I bought two gerbils just
>short of one month ago from a pet store owner who promised they were the
>same sex...although she couldn't tell us which sex. I had my suspicions
>within a few days and could soon tell one was male and one female. Well
>yesterday morning, we found seven pups.
>
>Here is my question:
>
>I built the gerbil cage myself out of wood and hardware cloth. The
>floor is tile and all the wood corners are protected. The cage has two
>floors with a door I can close between them from outside the cage (so
>that I can clean out the lower floor without worrying about escapees).
>The second floor is made entirely out of hardware cloth so that
>droppings, etc. will fall to the bedding on the first floor. And of
>course, this is where the gerbils have chosen to build their nest. The
>hardware cloth has 1/2" squares. Now I'm concerned that the pups might
>fall through these holes, especially if they start crawling around in a
>few days. Is it safe to place their nesting material into a shallow
>cardboard box to prevent this, or might this cause the parents to
>abandon the pups?
it is not a good idea to heave rodents crawling about on wire like this.
It causes all sorts of problems in other species such as bumble foot in
rats so I guess it is not a good idea for gerbils. Pups are likely to
injure themselves etc with a surface like this. I would replace it with
something else soon. Gerbils produce only grit like dripping s and
almost no urine so there is no need for wire bottomed cages.
Gerbil parents are pretty good at coping with interruptions etc. If they
are comfortable with you they will not mind being moved. One option
would be to get a simple aquarium tank and to move the gerbils and nest
to this new home. It will be much safe for them.
>
>Second question:
>
>Last night, I watched the male (Acorn) chase down and mate with the
>female (Hickory), so I'm guessing we can look forward to at least one
>more litter.
Yep. They breed the same day as giving birth. Most rodents do.
> Obviously, I need to separate these two before the next
>litter arrives so I can prevent more pregnancy.
Yes.
> Since we are attached
>to both these animals, I don't want to get rid of one of them. The only
>option I see is to build another cage, but I don't want them to get
>lonely. Is it safe to pair them with a child of the same sex?
Yes.
Have a look at:
http://www.gerbils.co.uk/gerbils/intro.htm
There is a lot of good gerbil advice at:
http://www.gerbils.co.uk/gerbils/gerbfaq.htm
--
Julian
************************************************************************
* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
************************************************************************
