Re: newborn gerbil question

[Janet Morrow]

I did keep gerbils years ago and never had this happen.  The parents worked together and  kept the pups in one nest.   I did have one mating pair of hooded rats.  She had sixteen pups in one litter.  They divided the pups up into two nests.  She would nurse one, while the father kept the second group warm and clean.  Then they would switch nests.  This gave her a more reasonable number to work with only eight per nest.  I was very impressed at the way the parents worked together to care for such a large litter.  None of the pups were ever excluded, and the nests were almost in constant attendance by one of the parents.   Janet & Elizabeth Mountain Ash's Gerbils Members of the American Gerbil Society http://home.maine.rr.com/mountainash