Hi Nancy,
I address some of these questions on my breeding
page...
But basically, distract the parents with cardboard and
start handling the pups for a few minutes every day
starting at from about a week. It is important to
keep them completely cupped in two hands when taking
them out of the tank and hold them directly over a
pillow or a blanket. Aways wash your hands first so
no foreign smells get on the pups. If you want more
details see below...
Yes, handling is critical for socializing them to
people. Another good way is at 3-5 weeks letting them
see and follow the parent climbing onto your hand and
up your arm.
Donna
ABC Gerbils
www.abcgerbils.com
From:
http://www.geocities.com/abcgerbils/mybreeding.html?957997338910
"Once the pups are born, from day 1-7, I check on the
nest in the morning and evening to make
sure all the pups are okay and are together in one
nest. My gerbils are fine with this, but sometime
will move the pups after I've fooled around with the
nest.
At one week, I take them all out (carefully --
they will leap right out of your hands, see below,
resulting in head trauma) to count fingers and toes.
Alway wash your hands before touching the
pups! The mom will attack them if the pup smells of a
strange gerbil or of certain other foreign
smells, such as soot or stale litter.
By day 10, I check on the sexes (nipple dents on
girls, smooth bellies on boys) and take them out
for longer periods of several minutes to socialize and
tame them. Now they are crawling around
and will fall asleep in my hand -- this is the
absolutely the best part about breeding gerbils.
Gerbils open their eyes on or about 19 days.
Some get jittery and previously calm pups might
leap out of your hands and take off like a shot. It
takes a couple of days to figure out vision and
associate you by sight, then pups are back to their
old selves.
Gerbils wean from milk at 3 through 4 weeks,
watch carefully for signs of respiratory infection.
You can remove the pups from the parents and place in
new homes at 6 weeks old."
--- Nancy Palmer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have pups coming in a few days, and I just have a
> few questions in general.
>
>
> 1. How soon after they are born is it ok to pick
> them up and start handling
> them?
> 2. What would be the proper way to pick them up and
> handle them?
> 3. How old do they have to be before they can be
> taken away from mom?
> 4. Is handling them frequently the way to get them
> socialized, or is there
> something other than that?
>
> Thanks all!
>
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