Hi Donna and All,
I did put the dad back last evening. We was out for less than and hour.
While I was asleep last night two more pups died. When I checked them this
morning I only saw four. I thought there were three dead. When I removed
the dead pups, not a mark on them, I saw the fifth pup. He/she is still
alive, but was buried. I'm not sure if it will make it either.
One frustrating is that this is the second time that she has moved the pups
under the water bottle! Last time I saw what she was doing and moved the
bottle. This time the nest was moved during the night, so I did not find it
until morning. The tissue was damp. I had to remove the majority of it and
give them clean dry tissue. I also moved the water bottle to the front
center of the tank. I think that most gerbils like to nest in corners.
Their tank has now been moved out of the study to a mostly unused room.
(Although the study is pretty quiet. Yesterday I kept the door locked.)
Janet and Liz
----- Original Message -----
From: Donna Anastasi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Janet Morrow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: gerbils <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2000 8:23 AM
Subject: Re: Pups
> Hi Janet, I agree with the two people who say keep the dad with the
> pups. In my first litter with Blossom I removed the dad right before
> the birth so had a single mom raise the pups. Any time she takes "a
> break" their was no one to sit on them and keep them warm.
>
> In my next two litters with Blossom dad raised the first set of pups and
> big brother and sister the second it is amazing how much time sitting
> and grooming these extra adults did!
>
> You should be fine to put dad back since it has only been about 10 hours
> separated. I had a case where I removed a pup that mom had attacked
> (long story, my fault) with a sibling late one night. The next morning
> I decided to give these two pups dad to take care of them, when I put
> them together everyone greeted each other eagerly, obviously still clan.
>
> Best of luck to you pups and God bless you all, Donna A.
>
> PS -- perhaps dad & mom still need to mate(?) Then he'll leave her
> alone. I would make sure that the pups are piled and warm until the
> parents are ready to re-focus their energy there.
>
> Janet Morrow wrote:
>
> > I took Boaz out of the tank. When I check the pups just now they were
> > spread over the tank. Some in one corner in the nest, a couple in
> > another corner with nothing, and two lying in the middle of the tank.
> > They are all still alive, but I'm not sure how long they will last. My
> > daughter and I were concerned because Boaz kept disrupting the nest,
> > and harassing Shushan.I am hoping that she will be more attentive to
> > the pups with him out. I am concerned about how I will get them back
> > together. Can they be reunited after a week or two? I assume that I
> > would have to use the split cage again. I did put all of the pups back
> > into the nest. I like nice little litters! I'm just not cut out for
> > these huge ones. Two of the pups that I had to move was noticeably
> > smaller than the rest. I'm not sure if they will make it, well then
> > again, I'm not sure if any of them will make it. Janet
>
>
