>I'm getting slightly concerned about my gerbil female... today is the
>27th day since she mated, and there are still no pups.
Are you absolutely certain that she didn't take on that date
and came into cycle again and was rebred later?
24-28 days is typical. No worry time yet.
>The vet was pretty confident that she was pregnant and that was about a
week ago now. She seems to go from being quite podgey to being fairly thin
(sparking hope as it makes myself and my partner think shes had them) but no
luck yet.
Or she has problems, miscarries early, or the pair (one or both)
destroy the pups from stress before you find them. There are
some pairs that the female goes fat, thin, fat, thin, and pups are
never seen....and it ends up that she is having litters in the wee
hours and either she or her mate are destroying them right away
from stress (one case the male was quite elderly and just
would freak out and munch the litter).
>The male has been sleeping on his own on the top shelf of the cage for
the last week or so, so I'm confident that she is pregnant as well.
In the last 24 hours or so she will usually spend a LOT of time
and energy on nestbuilding. A very lavish and large nest....
> I'm planning on taking her to the vet on Monday (29th day) if she hasn't
had them by then, but I was wondering if there's anything I can do to
encourage or speed things up a little?
Patience. :)
Deb
Rebel's Rodent Ranch
