Nikki Merriman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote I have only one mother who will take foster babies that I have found, and the last litter she started killing them. I don't know if this is because she was going to have new babies in a few days, or what. She accepted them for a while though. I had one mother that killed the foster pups right away. I don't know why. __________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com You can only put pups with a foster mother if she has pups of her own that are less than about 20 days old. Female gerbils have a strong instinct to kill pups unless they have just given birth or are already nursing young pups. On the other hand, males will not normally hurt young pups that are introduced to them. CHANGES IN THE RESPONSES OF MALE AND FEMALE GERBILS (MERIONES UNGUICULATUS) TOWARDS TEST PUPS DURING THE PREGNANCY OF THE FEMALE: Elwood, RW, 1977, Animal Behaviour, 25, 46-51 Julian ********************************************** * Jackie and Julian * * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * National Gerbil Society * * http://www.rodent.demon.co.uk/gerbils/ * * Disclaimer - Our views do not necessarily represent those of the NGS * ********************************************** -- Gary's web pages - http://home.talkcity.com/StudioDr/go5
