--- Marciava Beretervide <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I need to change > the cage bedding. How do I change the bedding > without touching them or the > pups?
Don't. This could seriously upset the mother or at least, it would occupy her time for several hours remodelling her new cage. The pups would most likely not be nursed or nurtured during this time, unless kept warm by daddy. You really need to wait till the pups are at least 3 weeks old before doing a bedding change. BTW what type of bedding are they on? If it is wood chips of any type or corn cob it can last until they are older. Especially if you just bought them last Thursday, the bedding should be ok. If it is some other type or there is such a small amount in the cage that it already smells bad it is possible that you could add a little bedding to the side away from the nest. I would recommend doing this after the pups have been well nursed for a long time. That way if mom goes into a frenzy arranging and digging at bedding, they will probably be ok till she returns. > Also , all the pups were pink when they were > born, but now a few of > them are turning a black/purple color. Is that > normal? Is that dark colored > hair growing or is something wrong? This depends. It could be something else, but is MOST Likely the fuzz growing in. Even if your pups are to be Agouti brown or Honey brown, they will have black ticking at the tips of each hair. So, as it grows in it will at first look like dark fur. Also, the first couple of days dark skin develops where the darker fur will grow. See if my dark pups are like what yours are looking like. I have some pics of the development of an agouti and a Nutmeg pup along with two white pups. The Nutmeg is the tan one. here is the link, http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/spicegerbil_007/lst?.dir=/Muffin%27s+pups&.view=t Just click a thumbnail to see the enlargement Also for fun you might enjoy my gerbil website http://www.geocities.com/spicegerbil_007/index.html The mother of the pups in the yahoo photo album is not yet featured on the website, I have a lot of updating to do. Jade __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com
