I'm very upset. I'm a first time gerbil owner and breeder. My female
started giving birth last night. I heard some unusual sounds coming
from their cage, so I went to see what was going on. As I walked up,
I saw the male (Einstein) snatch the tiny pup away from the mom
(Trinity) and pull it over to a corner, where he began (I thought at
first) to clean it. When I looked closer, I could see a lot of blood,
more than I thought was normal for a delivery, and upon snatching up
Einstein I found the pup was completely mangled and beyond hope - and
past being able to screech for help any more. His face was almost
totally gone, his legs chewed off, but he was still alive and making
pathetic clicking noises fighting for air. I immediately put the poor
fellow in a bag and stuck him in the freezer - it was the only thing
I could think of to do at 3am for the poor thing to put him out of
his misery. I then seperated the male and female, and stayed up to
watch, wondering if for some reason the female had started the
mangling, or the male was being jealous. Could it be that perhaps
this female was pregnant before I obtained her, and that the male
somehow knew it was not his pup? Would this explain the odd behavior?
Trinity went on to have only one more pup, another thing I find very
odd. I'm worried that the pup may not get enough to eat, as I know
gerbils usually have larger litters. This morning both seem to be
doing well, but I'm uneasy, wondering if instead she might still be
in labor and having problems. She seems very tired for only popping
out 2 pups. Can anyone please tell me what's going on? This really
upsets me. Will it be possible to pair the two back togther if the
one pup survives to maturity? Assuming I remove the one pup. If
there's the possiblity they ARE his pups, would reintroducing him to
the scene only endager the remaining pup. My husband suggests that
perhaps there was just something wrong with the first one, and this
is why they attempted to kill it. PLEASE HELP!
