Gerbils won't have babies!

[zookeeper85]

hi everyone...
i have 2 female gerbils and several months ago we bought a male one and slowly accustomed them together. but they don't have babies yet. the first day they were together i saw the male humping one of them, but only for a second.. could he be steril?? i read another post saying that persons two "males" tuerned out to be a female and a male and after about 9 months they had babies. could it just take mine a while?? thanks for your help. :p

[Lacre]

The "humping", lol, could have just been him rubbing his little scent gland on her.

[BrandyJo]

No offense.... But what's with the double posting? Once is plenty.

[HareTrinity]

If they were in the mood for sexy gerbil love, what makes you think they'd do it with the lights on in front of you? [Insert :p here]

You shouldn't try to get both females pregnant, though... Besides, is there any real rush?

Some of my gerbil males never seemed that inclined to go for it, but they were always super-cute pets, so who cares?

Of course, it might be the tank size or food amount (wild mice will control their breeding rates depending on the amount of food and space, and much as I wouldn't expect that instinct to be present strongly in a pet gerbil, it might still be present).

Good luck.

[LikeItOrNot]

First of all, putting 2 females in with a male is a real bad idea. The females will fight to death over who can mate with the male.

There's more to their mating ritual then humping. They also thump, hump, chase, clean their scent glands. The male has to "hump" more than once. It can even take a few hours. They usually do it during the night, or early morning.

It can also take months before the female decides she wants to get pregnant.

[doppelgangrel]

As LION said, having two females with one male is a fatal combination. In the wild, gerbils have a matriarchy, and the females all help with the dominant female's litter. In captivity, the females will probably attack each other. If both give birth, the mothers will try to eat the "rival" mother's pups.

A few more things to consider about breeding. Gestation for gerbils is approximately 21-24 days. It is typically longer if the mother already has a litter. The example you cited where a pair of gerbils had pups after 9 months shows that gerbils do not necessarily mate as soon as they are put together. All I can suggest is a great deal of patience - if the gerbils' instincts tell them that they can reproduce safely, then they will likely do so.