Peenie Wallie

My gerbil just had babies a nd they are so cute I want to hold them so baldly but I'm afraid the mom will hurt me!

Well, thanks for leaving a fake email address and web site. Makes it hard for me to contact you. Here's the email I composed that was returned as undeliverable:

If you wash your hands first, to get the scent off, you should be able to handle them briefly without any concern.
I'm assuming here that the mother is tame. Also, I always left the father in with the mom. Never had any problems.
Only time the mom will ever kill the babies is if she's stressed. (i.e., when the babies are old enough to wean,
and she's pregnant with another litter, she will try to run off/wean the babies before she gives birth. Because they
have no where to go, she will kill them. But, this doesn't happen for several weeks. And, if she's not pregnant
again, she'll let them live with her indefinitely, assuming there's enough room for them all. Also, it's easiest
to identify sex before they get fur. Look for nipples.

hello i just came across your site and my gerbil just had 5 babies. she was pregnant when i got her (i guess) because she had babies about a week after i got her. i also had a male that wasn't the dad and he the babies. i removed him but she still killed the babies. she's doing quit well this time (she has the father with you) but she has became very aggresive towards me and my boyfriend. do you have any clue why.
thank you
steph-

Probably the male gerbil killed the babies because they weren't his. This is a problem, I guess, genetically speaking. I personally have never had a problem with the father killing his babies. I find that he helps care for them. Possibly, though, if their space is too small, the father might hurt them. I've seen the mom kill her babies buy only right before she gives birth, trying to kick them out of the nest.

My gerbil has just given birth to 6 beautiful pups. I am worried that when they are ready to go to homes in 6 weeks time I wont be able to find suitable homes for them. Also when will I be able to have my first touch of the pups.

In theory, you can touch the pups at any time but, wash your hands with soap really well first. The gerbils go crazy over scents. That's how they recognize each other. I've had two gerbils attack each other, even though they were best friends and had lived together for some time, due to confusing scents. If they smell the scent of a foreign gerbil, or even something foreign, dog, cat, etc., they can freak out.

If you want to find homes for the gerbils, try posting a free ad on craigslist.org.

Thank you so much for your quick response. Your information is greatly appreciated. Earlier this evening, I noticed that one of the pups had been put outside of the nest and was all alone. I wasn't sure quite what to do, so I washed my hands and gently placed it back inside the nest with the other pups and all seems well at the present time. Have you any idea why this would have happened and tell me if I did the right thing. Many thanks.

I think what you did was fine. In my experience, if they're not going to nurse the litter, for whatever reason, it really doesn't matter what you do. I've had a few litters that didn't make it. The mom just quit nursing them. Maybe it was stress. I'm not sure. But, sometimes, for whatever reason, she'll just stop nursing them, and run all over them like they're not even there. I like to leave them alone as much as possible, keep them away from pestering children, bright lights, etc. They should be fine.

We've just returned from a trip to Paris and having left Grandad in charge of the gerbils, we were so excited to see how they have developed during the last 7 days. All the pups are beautiful and we have just spent the last few hours sexing them and making the necessary records. Our concern now is making sure that each one goes to a good home. We are producing an information sheet to go with each pup and my son is adamant that each prospective owner is given a thorough interview to determine their suitability as a gerbil owner. I was wondering, now that the weather is becoming warmer is it possible to buy an outdoor run for gerbils. They have a wonderful cage and are allowed to run around in a play area each day which we have set up for them, but I love the idea of them having fresh air and to be outside in a safe and protective enviroment. Many thanks. PS I was so glad that I took your advice and didn't remove Loui (daddy) from the cage when the pups were born. He has made a wonderful dad and taken on his fair share of parenting duties!

I have taken the babies out in the yard at let them play, but only for as long as they can't get away. Once they are mature, they can outrun you.

I'm not aware of any outdoor enclosures you can buy. It's kind of tricky because, you have to worry about them getting out, and also other animals getting in (birds, dogs, foxes, cats, etc.) So, if you built anything, it would have to have walls, and a top, and then, ideally, it would need to go down into the ground about a foot to keep them from digging under.

My gerbils that the owner of the pet shop said were 2 boys but it turned out not have just given birth to 5 babies. That was two days ago what sort of changes will they go through and when?

Well, if you leave the parents alone and give them food, water, space, and peace and quiet, they'll grow up to be healthy baby gerbils. Look for nipples to sex the babies before they grow hair. That's the easiest way to differentiate the sexes. Once they grow hair and open their eyes, only God can tell the males from females until they give birth. Once they reach sexual maturity, it's easy to differentiate the sexes. The females give birth. The males don't.

my gerbils just had babies last night when i was at a slumber party so he brought them in the cage to the slumber party and every body thought they were soooo cute.

Possibly not the best idea to bring the gerbils to a slumber party. You don't want to stress out the parents any more than absolutely necessary.

Hello -
Our gerbil had a litter of babies about 2weeks ago, and just recently while handling one of them, he hopped our of our hand from a distance of about 3 feet. He is having what seems to be severe convulsions and trouble keeping on his feet now. Every time he tries to walk he ends up on his back. He also does not appear to be able to nurse, because he mouth is frozen open. I don't know if the mother is abandoning him or what, because he seems to traverse out of the nest but is left out, because she won't retreive him like she does the others. Do you have any advice for what we can do? Like nursing him ourselves - or what could possibly be wrong with him? We appreciate it, thank you.

I'd suggest taking him to the vet. This is the biggest danger of handling the little pups. They don't have a fear of heights, and aren't used to being held. So, they tend to just bonzai out of your hand. As they get older, they develop a fear of heights and aren't nearly as prone to jumping. Be careful to hold the babies very low (close to the ground) if you handle them. That way, when they jump, they don't have as far to fall. It's sad when a baby gerbil dies, but it does happen, unfortunately, and for various reasons. If the gerbil doesn't make it, then tell the children that death is a part of life and that everything that lives in this world must surely one day die. Bury him outside and put a large stone over him so the dogs don't get him.

one of my two week old baby gerbils has been head butting the cage. I got it out and saw that its mouth was bleeding. so i got some toilet roll out of thebathroom and creared all of the blood away and i realised that one of its bottom tooth is missing .and it has seemed to be making a weird sound. i was wandering what i should do to make sure my gerbil stay healthy.

I got 2 female gerbils from a pet store 13 days ago. One of them gave birth today...I think...hard to tell. I didn't even know one was pregnant. I hear alot about how it's good to leave the dad with the litter and how he'll help care for the babies. But, what about another female. Will she help or hurt the babies?

It seems to me that two mature femles should be ok with the babies. As long as they aren't stressed out, I think that both females will help to raise the pups.

MY GERBIL JUST GAVE BIRTH JUNE 7 TO 5 PUPS...WHEN WILL THEY BE ABLE TO BE HANDLED AND WEANED? DADDY HAS BEEN A GREAT HELP TO MOMMY...

The pups wean in 3 to 4 weeks. Pay close attention to them before they grow fur, and you will see the females have nipples and the males don't. This is the best way to sex them. Once they grow fur, I can't tell the males from the females until they give birth. Then I can tell. Females have babies. Males don't. :)

I accidentally dropped one of my pups he is walking but he ends on his back, and his leg is bright red and looks puffy. What do you think? Have you every dropped one and did it die or can they survive?

This is the biggest danger of handling the little pups. They don't have a fear of heights, and aren't used to being held. So, they tend to just bonzai out of your hand. As they get older, they develop a fear of heights and aren't nearly as prone to jumping. Be careful to hold the babies very low (close to the ground) if you handle them. That way, when they jump, they don't have as far to fall. It's sad when a baby gerbil dies, but it does happen, unfortunately, and for various reasons. If the gerbil doesn't make it, then tell the children that death is a part of life and that everything that lives in this world must surely one day die. Bury him outside and put a large stone over him so the dogs don't get him.

Just wanted to give you an update on my injured pup. after a 2 days of him not eating i thought he was going to die, but i decided to take the other 5 pups out and daddy and put them in another cage so mommy could lay and feed without the other pups pushing him away...he is eating and doing great with a lot of pray i think he is going to make it.....

OK. Glad to hear he's feeding. Good luck!

Hello my gerbil spaz had one baby...i looked on here to see if there was any questions about one baby being born but there was not. So my question is when does the baby stop nursing? I have been giving the mother dryed cat food and she seems to be supplying enough milk, my second question is can the mother run out of milk? this is my worst fear that she can not produce milk and the baby will die. Other than that the baby seems fine walking around the nest. Thank you

The baby will wean in about 3-4 weeks. The mom should have no trouble providing enough milk for one pup. They can easily raise 6 or 8 at a time. I would personally suggest getting some gerbil food, however, instead of feeding the mom cat food, especially while she's nursing the pup.

On top of gerbil food i ocasional give her like 3 pieces of cat food a week. I dont give her much. Thank you for your input. it really helps me

Roger that. I'm sure she'll be fine. Make sure she has plenty of water, and try to keep disturbances down to a minimal. Be careful if you pick up the baby. It will leap out of your hand to its death. They're REALLY bad about jumping out of your hands. Hold it only about an inch off the ground if you pick it up. Once they open their eyes, they not nearly as prone to jump to their death.

The baby gerbil precious started eating/ nawing on bedding and she opened her eyes. just an update.

another update my little precious died yesterday our cat got to her so rip little precious

I have 3 baby gerbils and i need to know when it is ok to start holding them and gettin them use to me

You can start holding them right away, however, 1) wash your hands w/ soap and water first to remove any scent and 2) keep mom and dad in a safe place away from other pets and stray children and 3) NEVER LIFT THE PUPS MORE THAN 1" OFF THE GROUND THEY WILL JUMP FROM YOUR HANDS - I PROMISE!

How long after gerbil babies are born can you clean their cage?

I usually try to wait a couple of weeks so as not to stress out the parents. But, as long as they're not under undue stress from other things (noise, light, kids, etc), then you should be ok to change their litter. Make sure to wash your hands first, to remove scents. And be careful handling the pups. They will jump out of your hands. Keep them down low, near the ground at all times.

Thanks so much for your help. This is the first time we have had gerbils. When we received the gerbils we didn't know that one was pregnant. We got a surprise when we woke up and she had babies! I may be back with some more questions!!

Tina H.

hi i just had 7 pups the next morning 5 where dead we found 3 and we still cant find the other 2 but she is killing them and i dont know what to do

She's probably stressed out, but I'm not sure why. She should be in a large enough cage with the father, with plenty of food and water, in a dark location with no noise or meddling kids. If you have her in this situation already, then there's not much else you can do. Once they decide not to nurse them, there's not a lot of options. In theory, you could try to find a surrogate mom for the pups, as this is technically possible, in most cases, it isn't a practical solution.

my gerbil just had 3 baby when will there eyes open and will can i hold them

luv
sierra

i have 2 gerbils and i dont know who old or what sex they are so who do i find out

The best way to tell is to wait a few weeks. The ones that are female will give birth. The ones that are males will not. Seriously, the only way that I could ever tell was that, before they grow hair, you could see nipples on the female pups.

I was wondering...is it possible to put a female in a cage with 2 male gerbils?I was thinking of breeding my two males but i dont know what to do with the other male if i choose the other to mate with the female.

ok. I got two gerbils for my 10th birthday last june. I knew they were boy and girl, though i thought that were sibs. I named them Jack and Jill(soo cute) and They had babies. I expected that they would so that's not the problem, I got plenty of good homes for them. The problem, actually problems, are that 1. My baby gerbils are 5 weeks old.On thanksgiving, Thursday, J&J had 7 more pups, so my first intention was to remove the older litter immediantly, did I do the right thing? 2. Everytime I hold one of the weened babys up to the cage near the mom and dad the parents try to get to the pup. Is that normal or should I put the older babys back in with the parents and young litter? 3. When do the babys start breeding, because I have 2 girl gerbils and 3 boys, all siblings.i know that when they go to there perminant or semi perminate places they will be seperate( the girls will go to one of my girlfriends and the boys a very close, friendly, responsible petstore) so they can't inbreed then but i am trying to decide when they go to their homes. Is now time? I need to know. This is a lot of pressure on a 10 year old.

Take out the older pups, or the parents will kill them. They are trying to run them off, but since they have no place to go, the parents kill them. Gerbils are sexually mature at 2-3 months old. A good rule of thumb is that, if their eyes are open and they're breathing, then they're pregnant. As far as what to do with the pups, good luck. I turned mine loose in the yard, cause there were just too many to deal with.

what happens when they kill the babies? do they eat them

I personally have never seen the parents eat the babies. I have seen them kill their babies though, but only when a new litter is on the way and the mom needs to get the babies out of the nest. She's trying to drive them away, but there is nowhere for them to go, so she kills them. I've also seen moms that quit nursing their pups, probably cause they're stressed. In some cases, she'll just ignore her pups, refuse to nurse, push them out of the nest, and then they die.

Hi, I have two black gerbils(both females) and i don't know their exact age as I didn't buy them as pups but they have been developing gray hairs in their face area and don't seem to be as alert as they were. Do you know if this is normal?

i bought 2 gerbils for my children about 3 weeks ago one was 5 weeks old the other was 12 weeks old,about a week later my son seen a baby in the cage,knowing that we had 2 females *amber* must of got pregnant before we bought her.
I didnt let my children pick the baby up just incase mother didnt approve.We could always hear the baby squeaking every day.
I did handle the baby for only a short time maybe 2 mins every other 3 days or so and mother seemed ok with this.
Baby got his fur and i was able to sex it (looking for nipples)(hence he didnt have any).
I know ppl say dont get too attached but you do dont you.
Amber only had this one *pup* and i nicknamed him lucky,as I have heard that if mom has one or two pups some do not survive.
Sadly,tonight *lucky* (the baby) was found dead,he was only 15 days old today.
We have buried him in our garden next to the other pets we sadly lost.
My daughter cried and my son was sad.
I must admit I cried too,
Why did he die?Did we do anything wrong?Could we of done something?Theses are the questions I would like to know,Maybe if I knew I could explain things better to my children.
Thanks

I'm not sure what happened. Mom will kill the pups sometimes if they are about to give birth again, and they need to make room for the new pups. Or, they may stop nursing the pup if they don't have enough food or water or if they are stressed - too much light, noise, or handling from hands that aren't washed, etc. But, then again, I've had pups die and I never did know why. It's sad when they die though. We've buried a lot in the garden. Just tell the kids that death is a part of life and it's a sad time when a pet dies and bury him where the dogs can't get him
and tell the kids he's gone to heaven.

Yesterday my gerbils had babies, I found them by going ot pick up my gerbil and accidently stroking them. They were looking fine and healthy yesterday and the dad and mom were protecting them alot. My dad was really obssesive and kept taking pictures at them with the flash.Today I went to check on them and they were purple and not moving. Later, my parents confirmed their death. All five of them were dead. Do you have any idea of how they died?

Hello how are you today? I have a quick question for you and I hope you get back to me a.s.a.p. my gerbil had pups 3 days ago she had 5 one passed away about 3 hours after she gave birth everything seemed fine I went to work came home and there were only 3 the fourth one was NO WHERE to be found. If there is something wrong with them and they pass away will they eat them? Or am I just losing my mind ..lol I have 1 female a 2 males... I bought another cage and connected the two now the mom and dad stay in one cage with the pups and the other seems to stay by himself in the other cage.Should I get him a female to partner with?? Please e-mail me and let me know something. Thank you in advance for your time =0)

Winter
vahottiee4u2c@yahoo.com

The dead baby is in there somewhere unless he got out. I've never seen a mother eat her pups. Doubt that it happened. I don't know about a 3some though. I normally leave the mom and dad in there with the pups and have no problem with both raising them. Not sure about a threesome though.

My boyfriend and I bought three gerbils within the past two months, we think two are female and the other is a male.. they just had two babies.. but the male is biting at them and the two females run all over them and kick them around, when they do this the babies make squeeling noises, is everything ok?

I don't really know about this. I've never had a threesome. Sometimes the mother just refuses to nurse the pups and they die. Don't know why this is. I would recommend taking out the male gerbil that is not the father, and then put the mom and dad and pups in a dark quiet area and hope for the best.

I really wish you could help me. i have had three female gerbils for four months now. one of them seems to be left out of their usual gerbil antics and when i originally bought her from the pet store she does this swaying thing when she stands up on her hind legs. i think she may have been dropped as a baby. the swaying has not gotten worse, but lately the domanant female of the group has been feircely chasing her around and biting at her genitles. i separated the feisty one from the other two. the domanent one has been acting crazy and i am unsure of what permanent action i should take. do you have any idea what went wrong?

Well, as the gerbils mature, it is possible that they won't all get along. Immature gerbils are generally more easy going. So, it's possible that the dominant female doesn't want the one in there for whatever reason. Possibly, she sees the other female as competition or as a threat. I would say that you have little choice but to separate them. As for the swaying deal, that's new to me. Never heard of that behavior. Sorry.

how long does it take for a baby gerbils to see.

My sons have a male & female. They killed and ate their first litter; we think because she was pregnant again. The second litter was doing great, when suddenly they began doing away with one at a time. (There were 4) My sons separated the parents, keeping the father in a separate cage. The mother seemed to be ok with the 2 pups. Then she killed another. Now the last pup is all alone. Is it likely he can ever be reintroduced with his parents? He has a scab on his nose where the mother bit him, so we know she was attempting to kill him as well. This was about a week ago. He has been alone since. We pity him because he has no company - it was so cute to watch the 4 pups all together. Does he feel loneliness? My boys do take him out and play with him, but this is not the constant company he was used to having.

Gerbils are social animals, so he probably does need a friend. I would recommend trying to put him with another (male) gerbil, possibly his father. You should be able to re-introduce them in a neutral environment successfully. I would separate the parents, or else you'll have more gerbils than you can count. Put the immature male with his dad, and then get another mature female gerbil at the pet store and introduce her to the mom. They will normally get along ok, so long as they are introduced in a neutral area, like a large cardboard box.

Hi. Thanks for your quick response. In my last post (Kim on July 9 @ 10:41 pm) I forgot to mention that we are not certain our baby gerbil is neccessarily a male. Also, we are not sure if both parents took part in killing the other 3 babies or if it was just the mother. Can we still put the baby with the father, being that we are not sure if it is male or female? Oh, and we know for sure the babies were eaten. This used to happen to our older sons' litters as well. His 1st litter was 9 pups - all lived. The next batch of 7 were all eaten. The younger boys who are now raising gerbils had a 1st litter of 2 and both were eaten. Now, this is their 2nd litter, and as I mentioned, only 1 is left of the 4. These gerbils have been housed in a 20-gal aquarium, and always received daily attention - numerous times throughout the day. My sons would notice the babies suddenly missing and would search the tank thoroughly without finding a trace of a pup. That can only mean the parents ate the pups. There is no possible way for them to escape such a large tank with a secure screen in place on top. We were told at the pet store that mature gerbils from 2 different litters cannot be placed together, or they will fight. You suggested we get a mature female to place with our mother - is this a good idea? Thanks very much for any further advice.

You can still put the pup in with one of the parents. Flip a coin to decide which one. Gerbils are easy to tell apart by sex. The females are pregnant if they're alive. The males don't get pregnant. This is the best way to tell, in my experience.

Update from Kim: Great news! The pup and father are compatible - at least so far. They have been together for 4 days now. In our experience, apparently the mother was the one eating all the pups. Now, she is all alone, so maybe we will find her a female companion.

i have 2 males and 2 females all about 6 months i have had them since they were 8 weeks .one has had i litter of 4 a weekk ago , i want to breed from my other female she has been in the tank with the other female and the 2 males for 4 months and she has not had a litter yet do you know why this could be ,

i got a pair of gerbils from the pet shop and they had babies once the babies were ready i gave all but two to the shop then i found babies if the parents are brother and sister will the babies be healthy?

I'm getting two Male and female gerbils from my teacher and I would like to know what age I can breed them healthily, without them having deformed and sill born babies. Help please?

what age can I breed my gerbils?

Marcus,
They'll breed when they're ready. I can't remember for sure. Seems like after about 12 weeks old? In any event, they breed faily young, and they'll be fine. You can't breed them too early.

At what exact day should I take them out of moms cage and seperate the babies by gender?

UPDATE:
I got my gerbils and there about a month old. So as of what the one guy told me, I can breed them in about 2 months. SO YAY FOR ME.

A friend on mine just got a new litter of 7 baby gerbils and my son wants to take 2 from them. At what week iis it best to seperate 2 of the babies from the mother?

Irwin,
I'm going to go with 5-6 weeks. They may need to be taken out earlier than that If the person your getiing them froms gerbils are a pair and not just a random birth bunch, because chances are she's pregnant again.

my gerbils had babies on October 26, and it seems like the mother isn't nursing them and is just running on them like they aren't there but then the dad seems like he is doing a better job then her. what can i do? i don't want these little babies to die and what if the mother isn't nursing?

The babies may or may not make it. Sometimes the mother doesn't nurse them. Why? It's a good question. Probably due to stress. Keep them in the dark. Give her plenty of good nesting material (kleenex/toilet paper). Plenty of food and water. Make sure they're at a reasonable room temperature, and then leave them alone. She may nurse them. She may not. Aside from what I've already said, there's not much you can do. Sometimes the babies die, and it is sad. You can actually try to find another female gerbil that is lactating, and the other lactating mom may adopt them, but this is normally not a practical solution. I personally have never tried it.

Hi,

Our Gerbils just had babies 1 1/2 days ago. All seems well and we are keeping our distance but she has moved them several times as our cage is quite large with many levels. Is this a sign of stress? She and the father are in my daughters bedroom and away from noises and have a towel draped across the top. We have gone in to PEEK a few times and sometimes they thump so we leave. How often is it safe to peek at them and how many days old do the babies need to be before there is no risk for them to eat them? We would appreciate your input. Thanks Cathy

Hi I've noticed after the first day my mother gerbil has been seeming to hurt her 4 baby pups. She kicks them and throws them out of the nest and will eventually put them back in the nest but I'm aafraid shes trying to kill them.

Hi I've noticed after the first day my mother gerbil has been seeming to hurt her 4 baby pups. She kicks them and throws them out of the nest and will eventually put them back in the nest but I'm aafraid shes trying to kill them.

My gerbils just had 3 babies yesterday, and I found one dead in the tank today. Is it possible that the mom isn't nursing them? She and the dad are huddled up with them in a nest in the corner. This is my first litter, so I'm a total nutcase!

I was thinking about getting a male and a female gerbil, but I'm not sure if it would be too much of a hassle.
1) How often do they have babies?
2) Who would take the baby gerbils?
3) Is it hard to raise the babies?

The female gerbils are essentially always pregnant. As soon as they give birth, the first thing they do is mate again. They are non-stop gerbil producing machines. Once they get started, it's hard to stop the cycle of pregnancies. You have to be able to determine the sex of the small gerbils, which isn't easy once they grow fur. The pet stores will probably take the babies, but they'll use them to feed their snakes.

My gerbils had babies a little more than a week ago, there are seven babies and I seem to have two runts. One is so tiny it looks like it was just born, the other is just a little bit bigger. The rest are doing just fine but I'm worried that the two runts are not getting enough food. It looks like the smallest one has a broken leg, or what was a broken leg but they both move around fine. Is there some type of supplement I could give the two runts?