>I have 5 days old six gerbils. Mothet of theese gerbils seems not to be >afraid for them. I give (sometimes) a pup who is outside the nest back to >others in the nest, and everything was OK. >So I am asking when can I handle my young gerbils without being afraid, >that >mother would not except them back? > >Spela from Slovenia, EU I have always handled my baby gerbils from day 1 without any problems. If the parents seemed a little concerned or upset over my "stealing the babies", I'd just give them fresh food to distract them. After checking and playing with the pups, I just returned them to the nest with no problems. Basically it all depends on how confortable the parent gerbils are with you. If you feel uncomfortable handling the pups, you can wait until they start wandering the enclosure on their own before handling them. If the only time you are handling them is to return the missing pups to the nest, I wouldn't worry too much about the mom abandoning them. Gerbils mom's tend to be very unlikely to cannablise pups after the pups are handled by humans. Hope that helps! Deb Adams ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
