Breeding Question REPLY ASAP!

[PetLuver21257]

My friend's gerbils had babies about 5 weeks ago. They just had another litter today. There are 4 babies in the new litter, and they are TINY! I am going to help her sex the 5 week old babies and put the males into a separate cage with the father.

Question 1. Can the 5 week old babies be separated from the parents now, if not, how much longer will she have to wait.

2. Since the new litter's babies are small, do you think that the adults gave birth to them or the 5 week old pups?

3. Would it be ok if even though the 5 week old baby might have had the litter, the female adult take care of them?

THANKS! REPLY ASAP!

[ratbrat21]

ok i think its ok to separate the 5 week old babies now. Its possible that the 5 week old pups gave birth but i really highly doubt it! And yes female gerbs sometimes will help each other! I wouldnt worry to much! Separate the males now tho so your friend has no more baby gerbs! And if the cage is big enough you can keep all the girls together....i really dont see why not :) Hope this helped!

[gerbillover]

Ok,

1.) no, wait a few more days, untill they are 6 weeks.
2.) no, 5 week old gerbils cant give birth, that means they got pregnant a month ago....
3.) the pups did not have the babies.

When you mean small, how small?

[gerbillover]

5 week old pups can NOT give birth. its almost impossible.

[Gerbil1189]

1: Yes, they can be seperated at 5 weeks old.
2: The adults gave birth to them.
3: The 5 week olds aren't mature enough to have pups.
Seperate the father soon. If he was in with the female after she gave birth, then she is pregnant again. Sexing the pups may be hard at this age, so try to ask an expert for help. They can have babies as early as 8 weeks old, so seperate them soon! I hope this helps.

[Gerbil1189]

You CAN seperate them when they are 5 weeks old!

[PetLuver21257]

Ok thanks SO MUCH you guys!!

Well, I am not sure how small they are, I haven't seen them yet, but I will keep you posted on how they are doing!! THANKS AGAIN!! :) :D :)

[mr gerbil]

Best to wait 6 weeks.
5 week old gerbils cannot have offspring. It is biologically impossible.

[whitmoregirl]

My babies were taken from Grace about 31 days old because she was showing her litter really obviously - dad and the boys left, luckily I only had one girl in the litter :P

Dad definately needs removing or else she will have a never-ending line of gerbils!

[PetLuver21257]

whitmoregirl: Yes, she will have a lot of babies if the dad stays in there...lol

Another question: The same friend has a 20 gallon tank in her basement that was used for a lizard a couple years ago. It hasn't been washed yet, and I want her to use it for the gerbils. What would be the best way to wash out the tank so that is gets rid of basically all the germs in there? Would bleach be ok? Thanks again! :)

[whitmoregirl]

I think diluted bleach and plenty of hot water does the trick - 20 gallons is a nice big size :)

[Ryachanira]

I took ~4 week old babies once from the pet store once.. but only because they were on cedar and had respiratory infections, were in a cage with about 30 gerbils that were just about trying to kill each other, and in general were not healthy and not being taken care of well. So I took them at four weeks, but I had to take extra good care of them. The point being that you can separate them at 5 weeks, they'll be just fine.. within a week (5 wks old), my babies were fine on their own.