>The pups are doing well! They are eating seeds and Fruit and Fiber cereal,
which all the gerbils love. All >three pups have their eyes open now. They
are extremely friendly and love attention.
>
>They are now nineteen days old, and are nursing on a regular basis. From
what I have read the pups should >be weaned and ready to go to their own
tank between four and five weeks old. Is this correct? I want to keep
>them for one to two weeks after they have been weaned to be sure that they
are ready to be adopted. (I have >a separate tank set up for the tree of
them.) To clarify, I do not intend to separate them this week. I know that
>they are too young. My main question is should they be placed in their own
tank at four or five weeks?
>
>Janet & Liz
I would wait until they are five weeks old before placing them in their own
tanks. Also keeping them for another 1-2 weeks is also a good idea. Not
necessary though.
The pups could be weaned at 4 weeks if the parents don't seem to want them
around anymore due to a new litter. Some people have experience the parents
chasing the pups away when a new litter was born.
At the time of weaning, I separate the pups by sex. It is possible for
gerbils to mate at a very young age. Just ask Bill !! :o) I believe he
had a female as young as 7 weeks get pregnant.
Ann-Marie L. Roberts
T&T Gerbils
Escanaba, Michigan
Member of the American Gerbil Society
Pup Count Project creator and maintainer
Pup Count Home page:
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Reserve/1928/pupctlist.html
Please visit my website at:
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Reserve/1928/
