> Question:
> I removed the father and the one boy from the first litter
yesterday to
> avoid a 3rd litter. Is it okay for the 4 girls to stay with mom for now
> when the new litter arrives? She hasn't fought with them or chased them
> away. I want to see how many boys and girls are in the next litter before
I
> decide how I want to split everyone up.
>
> Also, just to double check, it will be possible to put any boys
from the
> 2nd litter in with the father and son, right?
>
> Thanks for any input,
> Jill
As long as the mom is not chasing the older pups away, it should be ok to
leave them in there until the next litter is old enough to wean.
Several times I have had litters that consisted of (for example) several
males and only one female. I would leave the one female pup in with the
parents and would leave her there until the next litter is ready to be
weaned. I've never had any problems doing this no matter if the pup is male
or female.
I would be cautious when putting the male pups from the second litter in
with the dad and pup from the first litter. By the time the second litter is
old enough to wean, the dad and first son have already established
themselves as a group of two. It's possible that the younger pups will be
accepted. You may want to try putting them all together when the second
litter is between four and five weeks of age.
If you do attempt to put them together, I would put them in a split cage to
see if the dad or older pup is going to attack the younger pups. If they
don't show any signs of aggression, everything should be ok.
It may be best to just put the pups from the second litter in a tank by
themselves.
Ann-Marie Roberts
T&T Gerbils, member of the AGS
Pup Count Project creator and maintainer
Please visit my website and pup count project at:
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Reserve/1928/
The American Gerbil Society
http://www.geocities.com/amergerbsoc/index.html
