>Dustin (her boyfriend) told me that in addition to having water
>and food in the tank, I should put one a water bottle of milk in there.
No. It will spoil and make your gerbils sick.
>He used to own hamsters, so maybe he was thinking of them?
I have raised three different kinds of hamsters and NEVER
put a 'water bottle of milk' in any rodent cage.
If you are worried about the calcium and protein requirements
needed for a lactating mother, then make sure she gets plenty
of a good balanced ration to eat...for mothers with large litters
(gerbils or hamsters) you can do the scrambled egg suppliment.
Scramble an egg with as little oil as possible (no stick pans
are great here) and no seasoning. Chop it up very fine as you
cook it, cook it all the way through, and cool it. I feed a measuring
spoon level (teaspoon) to a gestating mother hamster or gerbil
in her last 3-7 days, right over her food, and once the babies
arrive, go to a measuring tablespoon a day...after the babies
are leaving the nest and investigating what Mom and Dad
are eating, then increase to two tablespoons and broadcast
over to the edge of the nest so the babies can get some too.
I will suppliment feed mother and babies to two weeks old
(hamsters) and four weeks (gerbils) then cut them off until I
remove the babies.
The egg will keep in a small baggie in the fridge for a couple
of days.
Egg is high protein and they will readily eat it up instead of
hoard it, so you don't have to worry about cleaning it out of
the cage before it spoils.
Any dairy product usually spoils fast at room temperature, so
it is best to avoid those. The advice you got from the
friend's boyfriend is not accurate.
Deb
Rebel's Rodent Ranch
