Paige McDonald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>Well, this little guy is full to the bursting with milk. I'm hoping that's a
>good sign?
>
>Paige
Yes it is.
If you see it nursing often and see signs of successful feeding then
things are going well. As has been said, there normally needs to be a
minimum of two, or better three, pups to stimulate the production of
enough milk.
This is probably a mechanism intended to maximise the rate of
reproduction. In the wild the key factors are:
a) an arid environment where the breeding season is only a few months
long;
b) nursing delays the next litter, and;
c) a gerbil's reproductive life will probably not extend into the next
year.
Therefore there comes a point where it is no longer worth raising the
current litter if it is too small. More young will be produced by
abandoning the current litter and raising the next one which will
probably be larger.
The crucial number appears to be three. Litters of three almost always
are raised successfully, litters of two often fail, litters of one most
often fail.
--
Julian
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Gerbil Society
http://www.gerbils.co.uk/
