Hi Kathryn,
I've had experience with two litters with a third on the way. From my (limited)
experience, I'd try to keep the pups together for body heat. I would put all
the pups in the nest the mom is on when you check on them morning and evening.
I think it is good for them to all be together for warmth.
It is common that they have more than one nest and move the pups between nests,
but mine usually move the whole litter to the new nest, rather than depositing a
few in each.
I had the situation were for the first week dad and mom slept a part and dad
kept taking a gerbil (always the same one it seemed) into his nest with him; I'd
put it back with mom and the rest.
-- Donna
Kathryn Behm wrote:
> My gerbils recently had their (and mine!) first litter of pups - 6 of them.
> They were born on Saturday 5/20, so they are now 3 days old. I work full
> time, so I am only able to check on them first thing in the morning and last
> thing at night.
> I have not been bothering them, I've been trying to leave them alone as much
> as possible.
> What I have noticed concerns me. The mom only nurses two or three of the
> pups at one time. She leaves the other pups all "scattered" about the tank.
> Dad keeps tripping over them, but sometimes he does cover one or two with
> litter. I've noticed that sometimes these scattered pups do not have the
> white milk in their stomach.
> Is this type of behavior normal? I have never noticed all of the pups in
> one nest at one time. In fact she has made three different nests in three
> corners of the tank (it is a 20 gallon long tank). The dad has a nest in
> the final corner.
> I would appreciate any input on this subject.
>
> Kathryn Behm
> Milwaukee WI
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