>..1 female gave birth about a month ago to a tiny little litter of 2.
After 2 weeks they were both dead.
>[the other mom] had a litter of 4. They were about 3 weeks old yesterday
and I found 3 dead. My question is "why are the babies dying".
Not enough pups to stimulate milk production. The general minimum litter
size needed to stimulate milk production is four. There are exceptions for
individual moms with only three pups, but not overly common. This is why it
is a good idea, when intentionally breeding, to have two females breed at
the same time (+-). If one mom has too few pups, it is possible to foster
those pups to the other mom or take a few pups from the larger litter and
foster to the mom with the small litter. This can only be done with in a
narrow time frame. I think it is within a week or so of litter birth dates.
As for the second litter I really couldn't hazard a guess. I'll have to
leave that up to the more experienced list members. Perhaps you could add
some more information about this litter. Like.....how active were the three
pups that passed on.....were they actively nursing......gaining
weight.....did they emit normal vocalizations.......what kind of setup were
they in.....what sort of bedding was used.....and so on ;)
>They were in a pretty busy room in the house but I have since moved them to
a quieter spot.
My experience suggests that this should not be a great factor in their
mothering abilities. I kept my gerbils in the living/dinning area for a year
while living in an apartment without any such problems.
>I was wondering if it would be possible to supplement the remaining baby's
food. I was going to buy some baby oatmeal >today to see if the baby would
eat
A quote for the GML archive on supplemental feeding:
From: Tana and The Little Rascals
Subject: Re: KMR
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 09:29:59 -0700
"....supplement with a bit of KMR until it gets stronger. If I recall
correctly you make it double strength for gerbils, and you want to warm it
just like you would for a human baby. Be careful to hold the pup with its
head upright rather than on its back as it could breathe in the liquid that
way. Put just one tiny drop right on its mouth, DON'T try to put it IN the
mouth. If its hungry the drop will disappear."
KMR is a milk replacement available at pet stores. Sounds like an eye
dropper would be a good tool for this. I'd wait for solid food supplements
until the pup is older and starting to take an interest in mom's food. If
you really feel the need for a solid supplement now, rice cereal might be a
better choice than oatmeal. Less fiber in the developing stomach to deal
with ;}
Hope this helps.
Good luck,
Cinthia A. Dunn-Izquierdo
