As odd as it may seem, there may be too much room a 40 gallon tank. Place mom in a 10 gallon tank for breeding. Gerbils will be more territorial if there is room for it. It may also be time to stop breeding this gerbil. I have observed older females killing their pups. One as soon as each was born! I think they, like humans, get very tired of the baby thing as they age.
Cinthia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Spice Gerbil" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2001 1:46 PM Subject: Re: Mother Attacking Babies : YEs, The pups are a bit young for the mother to be : driving away from the nest in that fashion. But I : don't think having her put down is the answer. If she : is a good gerbil otherwise, then perhaps just stop : breeding her and enjoy her for what else there is. It : is sad, but mother gerbil sometimes don't handle the : whole of motherhood as well as some other gerbils do. : : I had one that failed to nurture a litter and we had : to foster the pups to another mother. Lucky we had one : to foster them to. I stopped allowing her to breed and : she is a companion now to an older female gerbil I : had. : : As for the pup, i have never had one as young be that : severely injured except as a newborn, and so I may not : be of much helop there. Hopefully somone else on one : of the lists will. But it sounds as if you are doing : all you can already, and I do hope it's condition : improves. : : : Jade : : : --- Shelley and Don <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: : > Hello list, : > I have a very sad situation here, the mother of 5 : > pups, only 4 weeks old, : > were being attacked by their mother :o( who is : > ready to have another : > litter any day!!!!! They have a very large tank (40 : > gallon) with plenty of : > room so that shouldn't be a problem. It's not the : > first time it's happened : > either, she did the same thing last litter to at 4 : > weeks :o( But her first : > 4 litters she was really a great mother and loved : > all her pups the times : > before. : > : > I'm really confused as to why she is doing this : > ?????? We've taken them out : > and they are all okay except for the one she : > attacked :o( and as soon as : > Shelley pulled the mother off and grabed the injured : > pup, the mother went : > after the first other pup she saw !!!!!! : > : > Why is this happening ???? and can anyone tell me : > why I shouldn't have her : > put down ???? she seems to have gone nuts for some : > reason. : > : > The injured pup is in shock, I think, and we are : > keeping it warm and keep : > giving it water but seems a little too weak to eat : > right now. It isn't : > moving allot but tries to and is fighting so we are : > giving it everything we : > can so if it's will stays it will survive :o( : > : > Any and all suggestions are welcome to help us help : > our baby pup :o( : > : > Don & Shelley : > Wilderness Gerbils : > Washington State USA : : : __________________________________________________ : Do You Yahoo!? : Buy the perfect holiday gifts at Yahoo! Shopping. : http://shopping.yahoo.com :
