>I am a little concerned about Cinnamon. He has been holding up his front >left paw for a few days. I have no idea how it got hurt. I suspect one >of the other gerbils laid on it or something and that we should just >continue to observe Cinnamon to see if he gets better on his own. Don't >gerbils heal on their own pretty well?
Yep, just keep a close eye on him and make sure he doesn't have anything wrong that you can see otherwise. I had one pup born with a deformity (wrist bent backwards) once and he did perfectly ok. Take him out check out the paw and make sure he doesn't have anything obviously, seriously wrong (sign of infection or otherwise) >I'm still having no luck switching the gerbils over to the healthier >food, so I just give them both - the block food and some of the mixture. You just have to use patience with them. A mix will be fine. >Although I *think* that the 4-wk.-old gerbils might be eating regular >food now. Hey! I just realized! Isn't it nearly time to check gender >and move the 4-wk.-old boy(s?) into the tank with the dad? I forgot when >it's best to do that to prevent the Mom from mating with the boys. Due to their illnesses I'd be inclined to leave them with Mom until 6-8 weeks. I never remove pups before 5 weeks - I've found out the hard way that they might not be fully weaned and they will not survive without Mom. In your case I would wait until at least 6 weeks though in case mom is still nursing them. They aren't sexually mature until 7 weeks. On a related note, I've never found a problem with this until the males are 3 months old, however, by 8 weeks they should be out of the cage or they might mate. Jenn
