gerbil question..

[tikeyas_mom]

At what age do MALE gerbil pups become SEXUALLY mature? So I know what to take them out of their mothers cage and start the split cage method with their father.

Another quick question. What should I feed the mother gerbil for extra nutreints? She looks so skinny, and I want to fatten her up. Should I add corn and sunflower seeds back to her diet?

[shellonabeach]

They should be removed at 6-7 weeks.

Corn and sunflowers should never have been removed from the mothers diet, just fed in moderation.

[tikeyas_mom]

ok thank you.

I herd that babies were supost to be removed at 4 weeks??? I will wait itll they are 5 weeks old befor I place them with their father then.

[shellonabeach]

4 weeks is too young. They should be left with Mum until at least 6 weeks.

What is happening with Sage - are you going to get her a companion? She will be awful lonely on her own :(

I just removed my two 7 week old female gerbil pups from their parents (dad is neutered) to put them with a lone rescue adult female (who is 1.5 years old) and the parents seem rather sad without them - I thought the Mum would be pleased to have some peace and quiet!! The babies don't care because they have a new Mum!!

[CathyBogart]

I give thin ratties a bit of yogurt to fatten them up.

[cali]

the mom needs extra protein, give her some kibbles in her diet, I raised some REALLY healthy gerbils with this method:) make sure you are handling those babies lots so they will be nice and tame:) it is sooo rewarding when you gerbils learn to trust you:D scribbles and doodles trust me so much, that they will calmy stick there head in my mouth and they give me kisses on my lips!:p does sage get a companion???? if not make sure ya give her lots n lots of attention! and dont leave out the kibble! it will really help with her health and the babies:D

[apcrs5122]

My friend had hamsters who kept having babies......they started out with 2 who were "suposed" to be the same sex and by the end of 4 weeks they had around 40 hamsters :eek: ! Finally they got rid of all but 2 who were once again suposed to be mother daughter......they had babies and when those babies were 4 weeks old, they had more babies and so on.....I'm not sure how many they have now if any :rolleyes: their mom can't say no to any of the 4 kids.....the dad warned her what would happen, but she wouldn't listen so he wasn't a part of it. I just had to share that story with you guys!