She might have done okay raising the litter alone if
the male was removed several days before the birth
(it's also nice to leave an older daughter to help
out).
Any major change can cause the mother to neglect the
pups and adjusts. That is why it is good to remove
the wheel, clean out the tank, pick the spot for the
tank, etc, etc. Well before the pups are born. I
once replaced a box in the tank with an "identical"
one and the mother neglected the 10 day old pups for
six hours until she gnawed it just right (fortunately
I was able to drip KMR into them under a heat lamp
until she settled).
Also if you removed the male any time after the birth,
the mom is pregnant again.
Hope you last pup makes it.
Donna
ABC Gerbils
www.abcgerbils.com
--- Shelley and Don <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hello List ....
> I'm pretty new to this game, and have just lost our
> first litter of pups and
> not sure why? We've gotten two other litters from
> this pair and were very
> successful in that they all made it, except for 1
> pup from the first litter
> of 6 each time :o) However, the female (Dotty) is a
> "vicious bitter" so we
> won't breed her any longer, even though all the pups
> are wonderful and
> AREN'T bitters.
> Well, as soon as she had her "third and last" litter
> of 6, last week, we
> took the male (Stripe) out and placed him with two
> of his 6 week old sons,
> hoping that Dot would or could manage to raise the
> new ones alone :o(
> Well, NO, she didn't do to well, there's only 1
> left, and it doesn't seem
> too big for a 1 week old, so it may not make it
> either.
> I guess this is a tough question, but does anyone
> know if it's common to
> lose a litter to "splitting the pair up" Another
> thing is that of the 5
> lost, we only found 2 and 1/2 of them this time. The
> 1 lost in her first
> litter she just put it out front for us to dispose
> of, and this time she eat
> them :o(
> One last question, we live in "Clearview Washington"
> and are just wondering
> if there are any Breeders in the greater Seattle
> area we could visit now and
> then? ......... Thanks for your time, list
>
> Don & Shelley
> "Gerbilview"
>
>
>
>
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