> 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)
Hi Emily,
I had a similar thing happen with a single mom gerbil. She accidentally got
pregnant before I separated her from her brothers. (This happened a long
time ago.)
She had a litter of 6 and was raising them on her own. When the pups were
about two weeks old, she started eating them. She ate all 6 in two days,
then three days later she died.
I believe this all happened because she was forced to raise all the pups on
her own plus the stress of having a first litter.
Something else that comes to mind is be sure she has water and her bottle
isn't plugged up.
I hope the best for the litter, good luck with them.
Ann-Marie
