Strawberry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>I'm very upset. I'm a first time gerbil owner and breeder. My female
>started giving birth last night. I heard some unusual sounds coming
>from their cage, so I went to see what was going on. As I walked up,
>I saw the male (Einstein) snatch the tiny pup away from the mom
>(Trinity) and pull it over to a corner, where he began (I thought at
>first) to clean it. When I looked closer, I could see a lot of blood,
>more than I thought was normal for a delivery, and upon snatching up
>Einstein I found the pup was completely mangled and beyond hope - and
>past being able to screech for help any more. His face was almost
>totally gone, his legs chewed off, but he was still alive and making
>pathetic clicking noises fighting for air. I immediately put the poor
>fellow in a bag and stuck him in the freezer - it was the only thing
>I could think of to do at 3am for the poor thing to put him out of
>his misery. I then seperated the male and female, and stayed up to
>watch, wondering if for some reason the female had started the
>mangling, or the male was being jealous. Could it be that perhaps
>this female was pregnant before I obtained her, and that the male
>somehow knew it was not his pup? Would this explain the odd behavior?
>Trinity went on to have only one more pup, another thing I find very
>odd. I'm worried that the pup may not get enough to eat, as I know
>gerbils usually have larger litters. This morning both seem to be
>doing well, but I'm uneasy, wondering if instead she might still be
>in labor and having problems. She seems very tired for only popping
>out 2 pups. Can anyone please tell me what's going on? This really
>upsets me. Will it be possible to pair the two back togther if the
>one pup survives to maturity? Assuming I remove the one pup. If
>there's the possiblity they ARE his pups, would reintroducing him to
>the scene only endager the remaining pup. My husband suggests that
>perhaps there was just something wrong with the first one, and this
>is why they attempted to kill it. PLEASE HELP!
It is extremely unusual for a gerbil to harm a pup. It is especially
true of male gerbils, whether they are the father or not. However, if a
male does harm pups it is probably best to remove him and make sure he
does not breed again and repeat behaviour is likely.
--
Julian
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Gerbil Society
http://www.gerbils.co.uk/
