I have some hope for my little (26 days) nutmeg spotted pup. I'm calling him Dewey, I think, as in uno, due, tre, quattro (the more spotting the bigger the number); now that I'm up to litter number five with six (and maybe seven) any day now I have to give the pups themed names to remember who's from which litter! He is the one with the respiratory infection. I have some hope for his making it, his fur is sleeker and eyes brighter, but he's still so very light -- he weighs just about nothing. The rest of the pups are all weaned. When I give them seeds they all attack it. This one is the only one still nursing. Today, though, he took a single sunflower seed (pealed) from me and nibbled it down in about 200 bites! I've been very fortunate so far on stillbirths (none so far, thankfully), but have had this respiratory infection problem at 3-4 weeks old. With an associated delayed/difficulty in weaning. I lost two pups this way in the past. The ornycycline (tetracycline) medicine in the water with KMR feedings have been very successful, though, if I catch the problem early enough. Plus with this pup I've added a heat lamp to one corner, and a humidifier, and am making sure to give medicated water directly several times a day (thanks for the tips Deb & Janet). Two questions come to mind: 1) It seems like there are certain vulnerable times in gerbil pup development: birth, the few days after birth, and weaning. Are there any other periods where problems commonly occur? 2) Is it unusual for a nearly four week old pup to still be nursing? Can one pup at this age stimulate the milk flow? And would continued nursing delay the next litter? -- Donna ABC Gerbils http://www.geocities.com/abcgerbils/home.html GML Codes� :C for general care, feeding, housing, bedding, etc discussions. :B for breeding discussions that are less genetics intensive :G for long, genetics discussions of the long, "alphabet soup" type :M for meta discussion -- discussion on the group itself. :$ for selling gerbils, wanting to buy gerbils or related information. :I for this is completely irrelevant and "we're just babbling" discussions. :S for information on gatherings and shows. :Z for zoological and scientific postings that do not fit into any other category :E for this relates *only* to exotic species of gerbils
