I personally don't think it is worth the risk to change bedding with small pups involved. No matter the temperament of the mother, the four hours or so she may leave the pups unattended could be detrimental to health in a more drastic way than three weeks on pine.
I had a very excellent gerbil mother leave two week old pups unattended while digging at new litter. One of the pups became very dehydrated and had to be fed KMR by dropper. I didn't think he would make it but like I said about the heating pad a few inches below the cage, I think that is all that got her to calm down sooner. She became sleepy and decided to nurse her pups. And although I have switched to aspen and corn cob now, years before people spoke of pine and cedar dangers I raised gerbils for seven years on pine and cedar with not one single death due to repiratory infection or any other illness. My only pup deaths were a small number of stillborns, which happens on any kind of bedding material. This is why I think three weeks on pine should not be a death sentence or anything. But then some types of pine bedding may be worse than the brand I used. I dunno. Just speaking from my own experience. Hope the pups do fine. Jade --- Cinthia Izquierdo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Whether nor not to change the cage litter is really > dependent on the personality of the mom. I'v been > breeding for almost three years now, and have had no > ill effects due to changing cage litter shortly > after a new litter arrives. Yes, mom will be quite > interested in the new bedding and may leave the nest > for quite some time. One way to minimize this is to > mix a bit of the old litter, maybe half a cup, into > the new litter to provide a familiar scent. With > very young litters I will leave the nest material > intact while removing the rest of the cage litter. > > It is imperative that you remove the pine litter > immediately! Don't wait for problems to develop. I'd > rather have mom rooting about in new, safe litter > than keep the babies on pine. This is the lesser of > two evils IMHO. Also, forget the wire cage. It does > present a safety hazard to small pups. The can be > mashed into the bars or slip through to the other > side where mom can't retrieve them. A glass tank is > much safer and much less hassle to keep clean. Plus > the litter stays in the cage not on your floor and > furniture. > > Hope that helps ;) > > Cinthia A. Dunn-Izquierdo > The Izzy Clan __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com
