Gerbil babies dying off

[marisa]

I have a pair of gerbils in a 15 gallon...plenty of food, water and both are very heathly and good parents.


The last two litters my grey female gerbil has had (her only two litters) the babies do very well at first...then about the time they are walking around with their eyes either just opened or hardly open they start doing bad. They start getting lethargic and weak and die off. Not all the babies, but in the first litter of 7, 3 died. Now in this litter of 5 one has laready died and two more are looking bad tonight. The others who aren't doing badly or already have died are doing fine though....its odd that some make it but others start doing bad and die.

Anyone know why this is? Or what I can do about it?

marisa

[Tim_Cranwill]

I'm not sure why that would happen. It has happend to me with my mice a few times but not with a death ration like that.

You could just "process" the babies now while they would still have some nutritional value, assuming they are feeders. You could also get some new females. Just an idea...

[vanderkm]

The most likely reason is that the mom is not a good milk producer. The highest demand for milk quantity comes right about that time, just when eyes are opening. If she is not producing enough or she is developing mastitis (mammary gland infection) the babies may be significantly undernourished. They usually are just starting to take food, but the more important issue is dehydration - if they are not getting enough milk and they are usually too small (and not smart enough yet) to use a water source. I would consider replacing the pair because I don't think the problem will get better with future litters, unless you are able to use pinkies or young fuzzies and plan to cull half the litters in future before their eyes open.

Some other possibilities depend on a couple questions - what color are the parents? - some varieties have a lethal component to the color genetics and even some of those that are born live are less viable, so that could be a factor.

Also what bedding are you using? Gerbils can have problems with pine shavings and seem to develop respiratory irritation (bloody noses, weakness, and poor doing) when kept on pine, so apsen is preferable. Usually isn't a problem at this age though, they typically make it til they are a bit older before problems.

Are the parents carrying them around a lot? - I had some losses in a litter at this age because the father was carrying the babies back to the nest but detouring and running in the wheel with them in his mouth, then dropping them through the wires and they were being traumatized. They would survive for a day or so, but die of trauma shortly after.

Aquariums can be a problem for gerbil babies if the line is predisposed to leg weakness. Glass floors are slippery and they can develop splayed legs that make it hard for them to get around, and can progress to dislocated hips. Again, usually older than these guys before it happens and seems to be in some lines only. I had it occur in one group I had, but culled them and have not had problems with current stock, even though I keep all breeding pairs of gerbils in aquariums.

Hope this offers some possibilities and that you get the problem resolved,

mary v.

[marisa]

Hi....

The parents are both called "Dove" they are both light grey.

My bedding is Aspen. :) yay! haha

THe parents only seem to carry them around on the first day or two that they start leaving the nest. But after that I never see them do it again.

The floor of the aquarium is never exposed...they have about 8 inches of aspen in there, as well as a large toy barn they sleep in...

So since I accounted for those things...I am sure its the milk production one.

This is fairly distressing to me as they aren't feeders but pets. And the pair are my personal pets. They have been together quite some time now. How can I seperate them now to stop breeding? I would hate for either parent to have to live alone as I believe thats upseting for gerbils....maybe I have to take cranwillls idea and start feeding them off when they are fuzzies.

Marisa

[vanderkm]

It likely is the milk production since the color genetics usually involve an extreme of spotting genes. If they are pets, your best bet to separate them is to leave a litter that has both sexes in it with them until they are weaning age, then move the female and one or two daughters out and leave the male with one or two sons. I usually leave the male in the original cage because they seem a bit more terratorial, though females can be bad too. They are usually good with their offspring of the same sex, but I have had males that do not tolerate their sons and kill them after this type of change - a lot depends on your line of gerbils. Gerbils can be quite hard to manage in terms of changing partners, but this method has worked for me. Then the male and female of the original pair each have company for the rest of their lives and you don't have continul breeding. Means you have a few more mouths to feed, and depending on how old they are, it may be easier to just cull the litters from this pair as fuzzies until they stop breeding - usually litter size drops off as the pair gets older anyway.

Good luck with your decision,

mary v.

[marisa]

Thanks-

I will probably just kill off the babies as large pinks, leaving the mother two to care for. Two always seem to make it through totally healthy and fine so I assume she has just enough milk for that number. thanks for your advice!

Marisa