Hi all,
I need some input here, whatever good it will do ...
I came home today to find my previous very healthy 4 day old, 7 pup litter
down to 6. OK, that in itself is not bad. What is bad is that one of the
remaining pups has its feet chewed off of all four feet and a couple of the
others have noticable nails missing. Which leads me to believe that pup was
cannibalized.
I don't have a clue what is happening, unless I'm bothering the pups too
much. She's a single mom, having to raise them on her own, and her first
litter, but she's been a very good mother. She has plenty of food and water.
The only thing I can think of is I put some of her bedding in a dish to take
pics of the pups and when I returned the bedding and pups, she was sniffing
very carefully at the bedding. But the pups were all fine this morning.
Any ideas? What are the chances of her cannibalizing the rest of the pups?
I have a gerbil due Monday (1st litter, also a single mom), but that's my
only chance at fostering if that is necessary.
Any input/advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Emily F.
--
Owner/occasional breeder of Second Chance Clan gerbils
Governing Committee Member of the American Gerbil Society
Adopt a gerbil -- http://www.gurlpages.com/other/emandkel/adopt.html
http://www.gurlpages.com/other/emandkel/index.html
http://greenfield.fortunecity.com/bnfl/574/index.html (pictures)
