I am new to gerbil ownership. My wife and I bought two gerbils just
short of one month ago from a pet store owner who promised they were the
same sex...although she couldn't tell us which sex. I had my suspicions
within a few days and could soon tell one was male and one female. Well
yesterday morning, we found seven pups.
Here is my question:
I built the gerbil cage myself out of wood and hardware cloth. The
floor is tile and all the wood corners are protected. The cage has two
floors with a door I can close between them from outside the cage (so
that I can clean out the lower floor without worrying about escapees).
The second floor is made entirely out of hardware cloth so that
droppings, etc. will fall to the bedding on the first floor. And of
course, this is where the gerbils have chosen to build their nest. The
hardware cloth has 1/2" squares. Now I'm concerned that the pups might
fall through these holes, especially if they start crawling around in a
few days. Is it safe to place their nesting material into a shallow
cardboard box to prevent this, or might this cause the parents to
abandon the pups?
Second question:
Last night, I watched the male (Acorn) chase down and mate with the
female (Hickory), so I'm guessing we can look forward to at least one
more litter. Obviously, I need to separate these two before the next
litter arrives so I can prevent more pregnancy. Since we are attached
to both these animals, I don't want to get rid of one of them. The only
option I see is to build another cage, but I don't want them to get
lonely. Is it safe to pair them with a child of the same sex?
Thanks,
Jeremy
